80th Anniversary Commemorative Book - Singapore Manufacturing ...

Mr Douglas Foo, the founder and CEO of sushioutlet Sakae Sushi, recalled how the productivitytraining sessions were eye-openers both for himand his staff who attended the course.“There are a lot of important productivity toolswhich are being used in the manufacturingindustry, like the business management strategytool Six Sigma, which I found were applicable toSakae Sushi, and indeed, to any industry.”Another SMF member who has benefited fromproductivity training is Mr Tan Jit Khoon, the ChiefExecutive Officer of Winson Press.The Chief Executive Officer of Winson PressMr Tan Jit Khoon (R) discussing ways toincrease productivity with his employees.“I had a steep learning curve when I first joined our family business as Idid not have prior business experience. The SMF provided a great avenuefor me to pick up essential business skills and build a network fast,” saidMr Tan, a mechanical engineer who had worked in Hewlett Packard forthree years before joining the family printing business which his father setup in 1965. He attended various courses and appreciated the knowledgehe picked up in areas like lean manufacturing and boosting productivitymost. “We applied the concepts to our workplace and found that theyyielded good results,” he said.Boosting standardsThe SMF has also been very much involved in the standardisation programmewith SPRING Singapore over the last decade. In view of the SMF’s abilityto leverage on its members’ extensive industry knowledge and experience,SPRING Singapore, as the national standards and accreditation body,appointed the SMF to administer standards development work on threestandards committees: The Biomedical (BMSC), Food (FSC) and GeneralEngineering & Safety Standards (GESSC) Committees.This resulted in the establishment of the Standards DevelopmentOrganisation (SMF-SDO) on 1 April 2011. The SMF-SDO is currentlymanaging the development, promotion and implementation of standardsand participating in relevant international standardisation activities.Initiating Change 1997 – 2012 83