SPRING’s increased support for SMEs in 2012 helped them to step up their productivity and capability development efforts.
2012 was a challenging year for Singapore’s SMEs as they faced rising costs and a tight labour market, as well as uncertainty in global markets. To help them overcome these challenges, SPRING supported more than 5,600 SMEs in their productivity, innovation and capability upgrading efforts – a 19 per cent increase from 2011. These projects are expected to create almost 19,000 new jobs and $10 billion in value-added.
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Supporting SMEs
SPRING’s support for SMEs focused on four key areas:
1. Productivity and capability upgrading
A range of schemes, such as the Productivity & Innovation Credit (PIC) and the Productivity Management Programme (PMP), contributed to boosting the productivity and capabilities of SMEs. More than 4,300 SMEs benefitted from the PMP in 2012 and more than 1,600 SMEs used the Innovation & Capability Voucher (ICV) scheme to drive productivity and innovation, and improve their human capital and financial management capabilities.
2. Collaboration with partners
SPRING continued to strengthen its collaboration with partners such as the Centres of Innovation (COIs), Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), and Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs). A new COI for Supply Chain Management was launched at Republic Polytechnic and a new Food Automation Unit was set up at the Food Innovation Resource Centre at Singapore Polytechnic. Partnerships such as these greatly increase SPRING’s reach to SMEs and also allow for greater specialisation, ensuring that as many SMEs as possible benefit from SPRING’s assistance programmes.
EDCs assisted almost 15,000 SMEs in 2012, a 32 per cent increase from 2011. They provided business advisory services, and conducted PMP workshops and PIC clinics. A new satellite EDC, the EDC@North East was set up in June 2012 to serve the many micro enterprises in the North East District.
3. Human Capital Development
SPRING aimed to help SMEs better manage and leverage their workforces through a number of programmes. It established the Part-Time Pool Programme to assist SMEs in the retail and food service sectors, which are facing a manpower shortage. More than 2,500 part-timers were deployed to 140 SMEs in 2012. SPRING is also offering a range of schemes to enhance SMEs’ HR systems and processes so they can attract and retain talent better.
4. Nurturing innovative start-ups
Through funding programmes and partnerships with incubators and accelerators, SPRING supported and incubated 639 innovative start-ups in 2012, a 43 per cent increase from 446 in 2011. This includes investments in 12 start-ups through SPRING SEEDS Capital, and the Technology Enterprise Commercialisation Scheme (TECS), which funded 10 proof-of-concept and 24 proof-of-value projects. SPRING worked closely with the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), which aims to develop entrepreneurship in Singapore and also provides grants to start-ups through the ACE Start-ups scheme.
We hear from some SMEs who have benefited from SPRING’s support in 2012, and their plans for 2013:
“Working with EDC@ SMF was an enriching and satisfying experience. I was impressed by their professionalism and sincerity in helping us. They were very forthcoming in offering advice and linking us up with government agencies that could help meet our needs.
I look forward to continued engagement with the EDCs and SPRING in 2013. Our productivity journey has only just started and we have many other areas to work on, ranging from business processes to automation and training. productivity is a never ending journey!”
Mr Chow Koon Meng
General Manager,
City Satay (Food Industries) Pte Ltd
“Developing our present and future leadership are key factors for Select Group to achieve steady growth and remain competitive. We have, therefore, worked closely with SPRING to champion capability and talent development in our organisation.
We will continue to do so in 2013, with a particular focus on the Core Executive Programme, which will be key to our future growth and success.”
Mr Vincent Tan
Founder and Managing Director
Select Group Limited
“Our efforts to improve productivity in 2012 have halved manpower costs for welding repair, while productivity for the same processes jumped threefold. This has allowed more precise repairs with minimal supervision and we have been able to increase our capacity with the same number of workers.
In 2013, we will be looking into automation for our machining and other processes where it can enhance productivity. Furthermore, we are looking into getting a bigger plot of land to expand our services such as in-house painting, coating and blasting. This will allow us to provide better and more customised services.”
Mr Lim Yu Jey
General Manager
Lintech Engineering Pte Ltd
“Support from Microsoft and SPRING’s Incubator Development Programme has been crucial in the development of our company. The assistance provided for business strategy planning and business development has contributed greatly to our growth.
We are fortunate to be growing in an environment that is now a lot more conducive to tech start-ups, with more opportunities for networking, funding and business development.”
Mr Tan Choon Ngee
Co-Founder and Regional Director
aZaas Pte Ltd
Simplifying assistance schemes
In response to feedback from SMEs that the wide range of government support schemes is often confusing and not easy to access, SPRING is simplifying its assistance schemes and application processes. The ICV application, for example, is now a simple 10-minute online process. The processing time was also reduced from one week to two working days.
Several downloadable self-help toolkits have been created to help SMEs in areas such as financial management, customer service, human resource capability development and marketing. SPRING also launched the EnterpriseOne mobile app to provide a convenient way for SMEs to stay up to date on the latest developments in government assistance.
Stepping up in 2013
In 2013, SPRING will continue to focus on helping SMEs with productivity, innovation and capability upgrading, so that they may remain competitive and seize growth opportunities despite rising costs and a tight labour market. Another key aim for the year ahead is to support SMEs in the attraction and development of human capital.
Reproduced with permission from SPRINGnews March 2013 Issue. Published by SPRING Singapore.