80th Anniversary Commemorative Book - Singapore Manufacturing ...

“Many of these SMF-organised training programmes are heavily subsidised,some even up to 90 per cent, by the WDA,” said Dr Moh Chong Tau, thePresident and CEO of Makino Asia.“We send our staff to these courses quite regularly. I would say, within ayear, about 30 to 40 of my staff would attend the courses. Clearly, I get morein return than the membership fees I pay.”Innovation-led productivityProductivity is currently being emphasised in SMF’s training courses, in linewith the Government’s call.Local companies, particularly SMEs, are faced with dauntingchallenges from labour market shrinkage and emerging regionalcompetitors.In order to stay competitive, SMEs are looking for new methods toinnovate their business processes. The Singapore Innovation & ProductivityInstitute (SiPi), is positioned as a first-stop gateway and collaborates withthe Agency For Science Technology & Research (A*STAR) to provideadvisory services to SMEs, helping these companies jumpstart their questfor innovation-led solutions to improve productivity. The Government hasalso pumped in funds to help workers and has started various schemes,such as the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) programme.“Over the last decade or so, productivity growth has averaged only 1 percent a year,” said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in January 2010. “Wehave to double this and improve it to 2 to 3 per cent per year and this willtake a major effort. But we have to do it so that progressively and inexorably,our economy will be transformed.” SMF President Mr Huang concurred. “Tobe able to react quickly to changes, we need to be more nimble, innovativeand productive.”To this end, the SMF has charted a productivity roadmap for each ofthe manufacturing sectors, specifying areas for improvements to helpmanufacturers review their business processes.The SMF organised the inaugural Singapore Innovation and ProductivityConference in June 2010 with more than 300 members attending. Expertsshared their experiences and provided insights into ways of increasingproductivity and competitiveness. The same year, the SMF also set up theInitiating Change 1997 – 2012 81