Speech by SMS Lee Yi Shyan at the Singapore Refining Company and Contractors’ Productivity Roadshow at 1 Merlimau Road, Jurong Island

Mr Xia Hongwei, Chairman, Singapore Refining Company,

Mr James Er, General Manager & Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Refining Company,

Mr Bob Edwards, General Manager of Singapore Manufacturing, Asia Refining Development, Chevron,

Mr Francis Tay, Vice President of the 10th Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) Executive Council and Chairman, ASPRI Productivity Committee,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Introduction

Thank you very much for inviting me to join you at this morning’s roadshow.

The Energy and Chemicals industry is a key pillar of our economy and the Process Construction and Maintenance (PCM) sector is an important enabler

Our Energy and Chemicals sector has grown over the years. On Jurong Island especially, there are more than 100 global energy and chemical companies operating in a highly-integrated fashion. The cluster as a whole has invested S$42 billion and employs about 25,000 people. It accounts for one-third of our manufacturing output in 2013.

The Process Construction & Maintenance (PCM) sector has grown in tandem with our Energy and Chemicals sector. PCM companies provide construction and maintenance services for new and existing chemical plants. Some have built up their capabilities and international footprint along the way. Hiap Seng Engineering, founded by Mr Tan Kuay Hoe in 1950, has since grown into a listed company with presence in Qatar and Malaysia. 

However, competition is not static. As the Energy and Chemicals sector continues to advance, as chemical plants seek higher energy efficiency, higher product yields, and produce more complex products, their processes also become more complex. PCM companies will therefore need to constantly upgrade their capabilities to best serve their customers.  It is thus logical that PCM contractors work closely with plant owners to bring in new technologies and adopt best practices. 

Importance of plant owners and PCM contractors collaborating to raise productivity

Today we are holding this roadshow here at the Singapore Refining Company (SRC) because SRC and its PCM contractors understand the importance of the need to work closely together to achieve higher productivity. In fact, in 2011, SRC and its contractors set up a Contractor Productivity Committee to look into improving productivity in its labour-intensive plant maintenance activities.  One initiative by this Committee was to encourage contractors to adopt powered tools such as the self-propelled bundle puller and the automated hydro-jet cleaning machine.  SRC thus took the lead, and invested in Singapore’s first refinery-wide compressed air system to power these PCM tools.  This effort has enabled contractors to achieve productivity improvements of up to 40%, reduced worker fatigue, and contributed towards a safer working environment for workers.

While SRC and its PCM contractors establish their close partnership, the same collaborative spirit is now being realised across the industry.  I am also pleased to learn that the industry has taken the initiative to form a Productivity Council comprising plant owners, PCM contractors and the Association for Process Industry (ASPRI) to drive the adoption of global best practices.

Amongst many things, the Council will lead the development and implementation of management practices and certification systems for productivity and safety.  It will also encourage benchmarking to demonstrate the benefits of productivity improvement, and is aiming to establish a Centre of Excellence to provide training and consultation to PCM contractors to sustain longer-term productivity growth. 

Government will continue to work with industry to support productivity efforts

Sustaining change and overcoming inertia are never easy, but with the constraint of worker supply the industry now faces, there is greater urgency for plant owners and the PCM sector to introduce changes quickly. The Government will assist by offering a Capability Development Grant to support companies’ efforts to adopt mechanisation and automation technologies, and upgrade their workers’ capabilities.

To support efforts to build up the talent pool within the PCM sector, the Government is reviewing our manpower policies to help companies attract and retain more experienced workers.  We are also looking into training programmes to groom more productive workers, to equip them with an expanded suite of skills and deepen their expertise in particular skill-sets.  We will share further details on this later in the year.

 
The Government will remain closely plugged into the needs of the various stakeholders.  We set up a PCM Management Committee (PCMMC) in 2013 as a platform for all stakeholders: plant owners, PCM contractors represented by ASPRI, and relevant government agencies, to coordinate our efforts in productivity improvements.

With the PCM Management Committee and industry-led Productivity Council in place, we hope industry partnerships will continue to grow from strength to strength, and mutually beneficial solutions will continue to be developed to benefit the local PCM industry as well as plant owners.

Conclusion

Finally, I would like to thank SRC and the eight contractors for leading the way in adopting mechanisation, and for sharing your experience with the rest of the industry today.  I congratulate you for taking the lead to strive for changes and achieve higher productivity.

Thank you.