Speech by Second Minister S Iswaran at A*STAR's SME Day at Suntec Singapore Convention Centre and Exhibition Centre

Prof Raj Thampuran, Managing Director, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Mr Tan Kai Hoe, Chief Executive Officer, SPRING Singapore

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Good morning.  I am pleased to join you today at A*STAR’s annual SME day and T-Up Awards presentation ceremony. This event showcases how our SMEs have worked with A*STAR to leverage R & D and innovate for growth.

Why innovation matters

SMEs are an important part of our economy – they employ about seven out of every ten workers and contribute nearly half of our GDP.  They are, therefore, crucial to Singapore’s economic resilience and vitality.

Budget 2015 emphasised innovation as a key strategy to help SMEs achieve productivity-driven growth, strengthen their value proposition and to differentiate themselves from the competition.  The measures in Budget 2015 build on the groundwork which has been laid by A*STAR and SPRING, in helping our SMEs leverage technology and innovation to enhance competitiveness and drive top-line growth.

Helping SMEs Innovate

A*STAR has worked with SMEs to build up technology capabilities and deploy technology solutions primarily through the Growing Enterprises through Technology Upgrade (GET-Up) programme, and the Technology Adoption Programme (TAP) respectively.

GET-Up Programme

Through GET-Up, A*STAR offers a suite of assistance to SMEs, from the secondment of researchers to help SMEs undertake in-house R&D, to the provision of technical advice and technology road-mapping services to SMEs.  Since the start of the programme in 2003, 500 SMEs have benefitted from the programme.

Through the Get-Up programme, Dynaglass Reinforced Plastic Pte Ltd, which manufactures fibreglass products for Process and Chemical Engineering Industries, was able to develop and commercialise a low-density foam module with lower weight and increased buoyancy.  The module now contributes

70 per cent of Dynaglass’s annual revenue.

The researchers who are seconded under GET-up have helped SMEs to enhance their capabilities, refine operational processes, and generate intellectual property that can help the business grow.  To recognise the efforts of the researchers who have made outstanding contributions to their host SMEs during their secondments, the Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) Excellence Awards were introduced in 2011.

T-Up Excellence Awards

I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the winners of this year’s T-Up Excellence Awards, Mr Lim Wei Yi, Dr Guo Hong Chen and Dr Meng Yusong.

Mr Lim Wei Yi of A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME) was seconded to BeCe Pte Ltd, a company specialising in the production of test sockets for various applications in the semiconductor industry.  By applying his knowledge of interposers, or electrical interfaces between sockets, Wei Yi helped to develop more than five new semiconductor testing products.  He also helped in the characterisation and classification of BeCe’s interposers, allowing BeCe to achieve tighter inventory control leading to cost savings of up to 30%. The launch of the company's new high frequency test sockets in the American and European regions secured more than half a million dollars’ worth of orders in 2014, representing a 100 per cent increase in sales compared to the previous year.

The second winner, Dr Guo Hong Chen of A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), was seconded to SOLVES Innovative Technology Pte Ltd.  Hong Chen helped the company to develop a method to apply a thin layer of hybrid materials on complex miniature objects, such as screws and fasteners, to give a readily identifiable and consistent colour.  Trademarked as Chameleon Colours, this technology allowed SOLVES to produce coloured fasteners which garnered the interest of electronics MNCs including Seagate, Western Digital and Stanley.  Following Hong Chen’s secondment, SOLVES has established an R&D department comprising 6 new staff members, and occupying 800 square feet of space, to focus on further developing this technology.

The third winner, Dr Meng Yusong of A*STAR’s National Metrology Centre (NMC), helped to develop a handheld network cable analyser for Psiber Data Pte Ltd, a company providing network testing and measurement solutions.  Yusong helped Psiber to ensure that this analyser met current industry standards for accuracy, thus allowing the company to obtain the US Electronics Testing Laboratory (ETL) certification.  Building on Yusong’s contributions, Psiber has increased the number of technical staff members from seven (before the secondment) to the current 13.  The company has seen a doubling of sales revenue from S$2.5 million to S$5 million in 2014 after the conclusion of the T-Up project.

Technology Adoption Programme (TAP)

Besides helping SMEs to undertake in-house R&D, A*STAR has also implemented the Technology Adoption Programme (TAP), which helps SMEs deploy ready technology solutions to improve productivity and grow their businesses.

Since July 2013, more than 900 companies have benefitted from TAP, with the companies collectively achieving more than 20 per cent productivity improvement as a result of the technology adoptions.  Companies which have benefitted from TAP span a spectrum of industry sectors, including construction, food services, and precision engineering.

For example, through TAP, Ichiban Sushi adopted Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology developed by the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), to track the number of rounds each plate makes in their restaurants.  This resulted in a 90 per cent reduction in the time needed to check the food manually, from 200 minutes to 20 minutes, and also led to reduced food wastage. 

Further Enhancements to TAP

TAP is a valuable programme, and A*STAR is working hard to further improve it.  To expand the outreach of the programme, A*STAR will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Singapore Productivity Centre (SPC) to step up technology adoptions in the Food Services, Retail, and Hospitality sectors.  Under this partnership, SPC will identify productivity gaps that could be addressed by the use of technology, while TAP will match the companies with solutions to address the identified gaps. 

A*STAR will also be improving the provision of Ready-to-Go (RTG) technology packages under TAP, which are pre-developed tools and process innovations meant for immediate deployment.  To ensure that these RTGs fit the needs of SMEs more closely, A*STAR has teamed up with SPRING to issue a Joint Call-For-Collaboration (CFC) for partners who can customise and deploy these RTG packages based on SMEs’ specific needs.  Subsequently, A*STAR will provide the RTG packages and the technical expertise to operate them, while SPRING will provide funding to defray part of the customisation and deployment costs.

Finally, A*STAR is setting up a Technology Developer (TD) Fund to spur the creation of deployment-ready business solutions that can be rolled out to SMEs via TAP.  The TD Fund will support projects in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) like National University of Singapore (NUS), Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and in A*STAR’s Research Institutes.  For instance, Ngee Ann Polytechnic will be tapping on the TD Fund to develop, design and build an automated machine that can improve the efficiency of servicing scaffold couplers, which has the potential to increase productivity by 50 per cent.

Conclusion

The success of our SMEs will hinge on their ability to adapt quickly and to adopt new business models through innovation.  SMEs will also need to harness technology to drive productivity and remain ahead of competition.

The Government remains committed in supporting our SMEs in their restructuring journey.  A*STAR, SPRING and other government agencies have sought to make technology-aided innovation more accessible to SMEs through programmes such as TAP, GET-Up and other initiatives.  And, we will continue to provide strong support to our SMEs in leveraging R&D and innovation to grow, compete and succeed.

It is equally important that our SMEs take the initiative to fully benefit from this effort.  You best understand your business’ imperatives, operating environment, and customers’ needs.  A platform like A*STAR’s SME Day allows you to better understand the capabilities of our public research institutions and how you can work with them, as have several of the SMEs present here today.  I urge our SMES and industry associations to continue partnering with A*STAR and SPRING to take advantage of the various schemes on offer, and to reap the benefits that innovative technology has to offer to your enterprise.

I wish our SMEs, A*STAR and SPRING many more productive collaborations.  Thank you.