Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the Launch of Manufacturing Plan for Learning and Advancement (Manufacturing Plan)

​SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE LAUNCH OF MANUFACTURING PLAN FOR LEARNING AND ADVANCEMENT (MANUFACTURING PLAN) AT GOLDEN BRIDGE FOODS MANUFACTURING PTE LTD ON THURSDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2012, 9.30AM

Mr Ong Bee Chip, Managing Director, Golden Bridge Foods Manufacturing

Mr Stephen Lee, President, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF)

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to this launch event.

Singapore’s Manufacturing Industry

Singapore’s manufacturing sector has played a key role in the economic development of Singapore. Since our early industrialisation efforts in the 1960s, manufacturing has created numerous jobs, and generated spin-offs in other sectors such as logistics, financial services, telecommunications and trade. As our industries moved up the value chain, the process and skill level of the economy grew too. By exporting our manufactured goods to the world, we have been able to achieve economic benefits not limited by the size of Singapore’s domestic market. The manufacturing sector created many skilled and well-paying jobs for Singaporeans.

Yet the benefits of manufacturing go beyond economics. A competitive manufacturing sector has also made us value science and technology in our education, and enabled us to generate intellectual property through deliberate investments in R&D, to develop core competencies that cannot be replicated by others easily, to develop an innovative culture for problem-solving, and to create real and tangible goods that improve lives.

However, the form and shape of manufacturing are changing rapidly. The emergence of China and India as prime “factories of the world” has raised doubts over the traditional "manufacturing power-houses" such as U.S, Europe, Germany, and Japan. Skeptics are asking if there would still be a profitable future for them in manufacturing.  The skeptics are not wrong in asking since globalisation has re-ordered the distribution of manufacturing activities and supply chain in a fundamentally different way.

Amidst these changes, how would we reposition our manufacturing sector? I think the 2008 financial crisis has taught us that there were high risks in placing the gravity of our economy in an over-extended financial sector. We must remember that it is important to retain a strong and robust manufacturing sector, so as to have a diversified economy. This is a surer strategy for stability and growth.

In fact, in our case, when the economy rebounded with a strong 14.5 per cent growth in 2010, manufacturing was leading this recovery with close to 30 per cent growth.  For sure, our manufacturing sector must continue to adapt its roles in the global setting. It must continually upgrade and adopt new technologies in products and production, to remain relevant and competitive.

Some economists have predicted that the future factories would be highly automated, one that is driven by knowledge applications. Its processes will be complex, yet flexible in offering mass customization or personalization to meet very specific functional needs of customers. Automation in processes and integration of supply chain could also mean localised plants serving regional markets. There is therefore a role for both low cost producers of basic goods and higher-cost producers of complex and specialised goods. Singapore can play the role of the latter.

Against this backdrop, this is where I am happy to launch the new Manufacturing PLAN. It is a joint initiative by WDA and SNEF to help manufacturing firms, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to further upgrade their workforce. Let me elaborate.

Elements and Benefits of Manufacturing PLAN

WDA has set aside $3.8 million under Manufacturing PLAN to benefit more than 1,300 workers, over a period of two years. It is targeted at rank-and-file employees (RnFs) as well as Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs). Essentially, this initiative allows manufacturing companies to embrace workforce training via three elements

a.     HR System: A one-time grant for companies to develop human resource (HR) systems,

b.    WSQ Alignment: Funding to help companies align their in-house training programmes to the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system, and

c.     Course Subsidy:  more course subsidies when companies send their workers for training.

Collectively, these three elements will boost the in-house training capabilities of local manufacturing companies. Through Manufacturing PLAN, we hope to make it more affordable for SMEs to holistically upgrade their training systems and workforce.

Industry Support for Manufacturing PLAN

I am pleased to note that Manufacturing PLAN has attracted 30 companies across different sectors, and, 22 of them are SMEs. They include: Golden Bridge Foods Manufacturing, Completion Products, Chasen Logistics Services, Hup Fatt Brothers, among others.

Success Stories for Manufacturing PLAN

As Mr Ong mentioned, Golden Bridge Foods Manufacturing is one company that has benefitted under the scheme. Through Manufacturing PLAN, the company gained valuable assistance from HR experts, formulated training roadmaps and identified relevant courses for their workers based on their skills gaps.

Mr Roland Tang, aged 58, is an Assistant Maintenance Manager at Golden Bridge. Thanks to the various training programmes under the scheme, Mr Tang helped his company reduce wastage by 50 per cent and increased his efficiency by 40 per cent. I will be presenting Mr Tang and 17 other Golden Bridge employees with their WSQ Statements of Attainment (SOAs) later on. Well done!

The other SME that I would like to highlight is Completion Products, a company that manufactures screening products for the oil and gas industry. Earlier this year, they acquired a manufacturing facility which will increase their headcount from 90 to 110 by January 2013.

To support its business expansion, the company leveraged Manufacturing PLAN to develop a HR system and a comprehensive training plan. The employees have undergone WSQ courses in areas such as problem-solving, decision-making and business excellence assessment, and have gained highly-relevant skills. Since adopting Manufacturing PLAN, Completion Products has increased its manufacturing output by at least 30 per cent, and raised its productivity by at least 50 per cent.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to congratulate Golden Bridge, our venue host, on the opening of its new Annex Building. I would also like to commend WDA and SNEF for their efforts in rolling out Manufacturing PLAN to benefit manufacturing SMEs in Singapore. Let me repeat my call for more manufacturing firms to come forward to adopt Manufacturing PLAN. Doing so will sharpen your competitiveness.

Thank you.