Mr Teo Ser Luck at the Bluesky Exchange SME Talk, 9 Feb 2012

SPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK , MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE BLUESKY EXCHANGE SME TALK ON THURSDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2012, 7.00PM, AT GRAND COPTHORNE WATERFRONT

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

Good evening. It is heartening to note the good turnout at today’s BlueSky Exchange. Since 2003, the Action Community for Entrepreneurship or ACE, has organised many networking sessions to facilitate learning and to bring like-minded business people, aspiring entrepreneurs and working professionals together. I hope this evening’s programme will facilitate a useful session among the attendees.

ACE has been promoting and developing entrepreneurship since 2003. Over the years, we have helped to create a pro-enterprise environment and a culture that is more receptive towards entrepreneurship. Going forward, we will focus more on helping individual aspiring entrepreneurs start sustainable businesses. While we will be providing seed funding, our main focus is to link entrepreneurs with critical resources such as mentoring and networking. These will make a difference to whether they create better jobs for Singaporeans. With SMEs employing seven out of ten workers in Singapore, it is critical that new companies develop in such a way that they offer not just jobs, but ones that are sought after and of good quality.

Helping SMEs in an uncertain environment

With the backdrop of an uncertain external environment this year, SMEs have expressed concerns about rising business costs and other challenges. I understand the uncertainty and concerns among local businesses.  We are ready to support where necessary. There are already a number of schemes and grants to help businesses upgrade their capabilities and improve their productivity. The Government will continue to support businesses in these areas.

Building capabilities via ICT

Despite the challenging business environment out there, technology can help SMEs and start-ups get a leg up by improving their productivity. In particular, ICT or infocomm technology can help companies streamline their operations, reduce costs and boost productivity. ICT can provide the competitive edge for companies, by facilitating an efficient and seamless process, as well as accelerating outreach and access to new markets.

One such company that has successfully harnessed ICT to achieve greater productivity and a more seamless dining experience is Genki Sushi. Mr Nicholas Yap from Genki Sushi would be able to share more details later about Genki Sushi’s ICT journey and hopefully it would give companies here food for thought on how to increase their capability and the productivity of their operations.

Helping SMEs adopt technology

Some SMEs may hold back from investing in new technology because they lack the financial resources to do so. There are various Government schemes and initiatives to help SMEs adopt technology. For example, SPRING Singapore has several initiatives in place to help SMEs with the financial burden of adopting or even creating new technology. There are also the Centres of Innovation which are one-stop centres offering technology consultancy and advice to help SMEs identify practical technology ideas that can be quickly adopted. These centres can also help companies test and develop technology projects.

For example, precision engineering firm Riso-Seiki spent almost 10 years searching for a good IT system to support its operations. Riso-Seiki then sought help from the Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation (PECOI), which is housed at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). PECOI helped the company develop an ‘Integrated Production Planning and Shop Floor Tracking System’ to manage their staff, equipment and workflow. With practically everything at Riso Seiki done online, the company's managers no longer have to manually collate the information to generate daily work orders. Instead, the information is automatically downloaded and generated real-time. As result of this technology adoption, each manager saves a few hours a day which would otherwise have been spent planning. In addition, the company reduces wastage – for example, they have reduced the use of paper by 60 per cent.

The iSPRINT scheme, jointly administered by IDA and SPRING, is also a good introduction to technology adoption. One company that has benefitted from iSPRINT is pest control company James Pest Managers, which provides pest control services and consultancy on pest control techniques. The company tapped on the scheme to implement a Pest Control Management System. Among other benefits, the system is expected to reduce service scheduling errors from 10% to zero. Also, with the system, the number of service orders is expected to increase from 20 to 30 per day.

Reaching out to SMEs

In addition to such schemes, the Government recognises the importance of outreach to companies, and has been actively tapping on various channels to do so. For instance, the EnterpriseOne portal, Productivity@Work portal and Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs) aim to provide companies with information on how to start, sustain and grow their businesses. They also serve as platforms for government agencies to publicise their assistance schemes and to explain the schemes, so that businesses understand them better.

The needs of our SMEs are diverse, and the government alone cannot reach out to all companies. Therefore, we will step up on our partnership efforts with the trade associations and chambers (TACs). Moving forward, we hope that the trade associations and chambers can help the government to better understand the needs of the industry, and help our companies to access government schemes so that they can more effectively build capabilities and raise their productivity.

Conclusion

According to a DP Information Survey in 2011, only about 50% of SME respondents had taken action to improve their information technology innovation capabilities. In 2010, this figure was 63%. Therefore, I urge you to make technology part of your operations, so as to improve your productivity and increase your cost efficiency. Let me conclude by wishing you a productive evening of networking, sharing and learning. Thank you.