Speech by SMS Sim Ann at the official opening of The Nook and learning journey

​SPEECH BY MS SIM ANN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND YOUTH & MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NOOK AND LEARNING JOURNEY ON THURSDAY, 5 APRIL 2018, 3.10PM, AT 36 LOR MAMBONG SINGAPORE 277693

Mr Steven Foo, Executive Director at The Nook,

Dr Ahmad Magad, Chairman of Singapore Productivity Centre

Mr Michael Tan, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Productivity Centre,

Industry representatives and colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon.

1. I am delighted to be here today for this learning journey organised by the Singapore Productivity Centre (SGPC) and the official opening of The Nook, a new and innovative, resource-efficient concept by the Quayside Group.

Raising the Productivity of Singapore’s Food Services Sector

2. In 2017, Singapore’s overall labour productivity, as measured by real value-added per actual hour worked, increased by 4.5%, an improvement from the 1.8% growth in 2016. This is the highest productivity growth rate since 2010.  At the macro-economic level, the good productivity growth has enabled firms to stay competitive.

3. Indeed, raising productivity is a key strategy of the Food Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) launched in September 2016, in addition to others such as adopting innovative business formats, internationalising, as well as investing in workers, to deepen their skills and professionalise jobs in the sector.

4. I am encouraged that our food services companies have heeded the call to take steps to transform themselves, to drive future growth and seize new opportunities. Many of our F&B businesses have taken steps to improve operational efficiency by redesigning their processes and adopting new technologies. As of end-2017, more than one-third of food outlets in Singapore have adopted at least one technology solution to improve productivity. Their investments in automated kitchen equipment have saved an average of two headcounts per outlet; while automated dishwashing has saved at least 12 man-hours per week per outlet. The time savings mean that employees can be redeployed to higher value-added tasks such as customer engagement. This, in turn, makes the business more competitive.

The Nook: Raising Productivity and Redesigning Jobs

5. The Nook is an example of a resource-efficient format. With support from Enterprise Singapore (formerly SPRING) and the Singapore Productivity Centre (SGPC), The Nook has embraced innovation and technology to implement a concept that reduces reliance on manpower through streamlined processes and redesigned job roles. 

6. A key feature of The Nook’s concept is the adoption of self-service technology, through the use of automated dispensers for beers, wines, and spirits, as well as digital service ordering and payment apps. Customers can now self-serve, while enjoying the flexibility of exploring various beverages – thus adding a new dimension to improve consumer experience at The Nook. Apart from enhancing customer experience, it also increases productivity and improves business profitability. This has helped The Nook achieve two times more seating capacity, a 50% smaller footprint of kitchen space, and 50% less manpower needs, as compared to other traditional F&B concepts under the Quayside Group.

7. Furthermore, the use of technology has enabled The Nook to redesign jobs from ‘Service Crew’ and ‘Bartender’ to enhanced roles, such as ‘Service Ambassador’ and ‘Specialist’. Since these roles require customer interaction skills and specialised knowledge like wine pairing, they offer better pay and promotion opportunities for employees. With better skills come better careers – this is the kind of transformation that we hope to bring about for F&B service professionals through the Government’s Skills Framework for the Food Services sector. Such transformation is within the grasp of many of our companies. Business owners who are interested in helping their workers by redesigning jobs and upskilling can approach both Enterprise Singapore and Workforce Singapore, or attend the next Job Redesign Capability Transfer workshop for the Food Services sector, which will be conducted by SGPC at the end of this month.

Launch of Business Improvement Series 

8. The Nook is one of many companies which have moved to transform their businesses. But we must keep up the momentum of transformation. To do so, we need to help many more companies realise that there are proven technologies and solution to help them achieve better sales and profitability, that there are support schemes available to make transformation less costly for them, and more importantly – that there are fellow businessmen who believe in sharing the lessons they have learned in transformation, so as to help shorten everyone else’s learning curve. These are the folks who believe that individual businesses can do even better only when the entire industry is doing well. 

9. Today, I am pleased to share that the SGPC, with the support of Enterprise Singapore, has worked with businesses who are generous sharers of their experience, to create a Business Improvement Series for the Food Services Sector. This is a series of case studies of companies such as the Gratify Group and Yum Cha, among others, which have achieved commendable productivity improvement. 

10. I urge companies in the Food Services to avail themselves of these case studies. I am certain these stories will inspire and encourage you to step forward and be part of our overall industry transformation effort, and take your business to the next level. The Government will continue to work closely with our industry partners, such as SGPC and the Trade Associations and Chambers, to support businesses in this endeavour. 

Conclusion

11. Once again, I congratulate The Nook on your official opening, and thank the SGPC for taking the lead in organising this learning journey for all of us. Thank you.