80th Anniversary Commemorative Book - Singapore Manufacturing ...

F o r e w o r dOur manufacturing sector is a key pillar of oureconomic growth strategy. Over the years, Singaporehas built a globally competitive manufacturing sectorby moving existing clusters up the value chain,and identifying new growth clusters: Chemicals inthe 1980s, Bio-medical Science in the 1990s, andCleantech and Aerospace in the 2000s. The sectorcurrently makes up about a quarter of our GDP, hiresover 420,000 workers, of which more than half areSingaporeans, and has a direct export of over S$184billion.The Singapore economy is going through restructuringto transit to a more sustainable model of productivityledgrowth. At the sectoral level, the manufacturingindustry must continue to move up into highervalue-added activities, as manufacturing activitieshave evolved in complexity and are becoming moreknowledge and innovation-intensive.Established in 1932, the Singapore ManufacturingFederation (SMF, then called the SingaporeManufacturers’ Association) was set up to championthe Singapore manufacturing sector. Throughout theyears, it has constantly risen to the challenges of theday to help our manufacturing companies grow andremain competitive.For example, the SMF set up its first Centre ofExcellence, GS1 Singapore Limited in 1987 toimplement and administer the global standards usedin many manufacturing industries. Some of thesestandards include GS1 Identification and Barcodes,RFID and electronic business messaging which arecommonplace in today’s products.In 2011, the SMF has taken the initiative to set up theSingapore Innovation & Productivity Institute (SiPi)- its latest Centre of Excellence, in support of theGovernment’s call to raise productivity. SiPi championsmanufacturing excellence through innovation andproductivity for Singapore’s manufacturing sector, byproviding productivity resources and customised roadmappingand coaching support for enterprises. It aims toreach out to more than 3,000 manufacturing companiesand provide direct assistance to over 700 companies.Today, the SMF has arrived at a new milestone inits history. Recognising the trend that products areincreasingly commoditised and that manufacturersmust move towards providing whole businesssolutions to remain competitive, this manufacturers’body has renamed itself the Singapore ManufacturingFederation. This renaming is testimony to the SMF’scommitment to move with the times and to embracethe need to be involved in engineering services,design and logistics services. In doing so, it furtherentrenches itself as a key contributor to Singapore’smanufacturing landscape. I am confident that theSMF will continue to play a pivotal role in guidingcompanies and driving initiatives to raise the industry’scapabilities.I would like to extend my warm congratulations andvery best wishes to the Singapore ManufacturingFederation on its 80 th Anniversary.Lim Hng KiangMinister for Trade and Industry