Technology and automation can help companies simplify processes, enhance efficiency and reap significant productivity gains. Two SMEs share their success stories.
Realising the constraints posed by a tight labour market and rising operating costs, BoBo brand fishball and fishcake maker Ha Li Fa knew that it could not continue to rely on manpower alone to drive sustainable growth.
“Productivity improvements were necessary if we wanted to stay in the business,” says Ms Florence Toh (right), Ha Li Fa’s Assistant General Manager. Harnessing technology Hoping to streamline its processes and boost operational efficiency, Ha Li Fa took advantage of SPRING’s funding to strengthen its technology capabilities last year.
The company purchased a multihead-weigher that accurately sorts and weighs finished products before packaging them. This allowed the company to reduce food wastage and contamination, and ensure that the weight of its packaged food products remains consistent.
Today, only five staff are required to pack the company’s products, as compared to six in the past. Ha Li Fa’s production output has also increased by 64 per cent, as staff are no longer required to weigh the products manually before packing them.
“The machine has enabled us to control the quality of our products better. As a result, customer complaints have decreased significantly,” adds Ms Toh. Despite this success, Ha Li Fa’s staff were initially sceptical about the changes, as the machine was not customised to their needs.
“We made a few modifications to the machine after getting feedback from our staff, such as adjusting the angle of the conveyor belt to prevent the products from falling off. Our staff came to realise how the machine could boost their productivity, and today they can’t live without it,” says Ms Toh.
Ha Li Fa has also implemented an electronic ordering system for its customers, which include supermarkets, hawkers and wet market stall holders. Mobile devices are now used by its staff to capture new orders at the point of delivery, thus reducing the need to enter the information into a computer manually. This has led Ha Li Fa to increase its delivery volumes by 30 per cent per day.
A continuous journey
Despite making significant gains in efficiency, Ms Toh believes that more can be done. The company aims to introduce an enterprise resource planning system to track its inventory.
“Productivity is about cutting waste and streamlining processes to make the job easier for our staff. These improvements may incur an initial cost but are definitely worthwhile.”
The idea of using technology to simplify the three-dimensional (3D) sign-making process came to Mr Steven Teo (above) four years ago, after he realised how much manual work is involved in creating one.
“When it comes to making a 3D product display, a craftsman must first create a mould, before sculpting and painting the fibreglass model by hand. This is very labour-intensive and proved to be a challenge to our company given the tight labour market,” explains Mr Teo, Creative Director of Digimax Sign Engineering, a 3D signage and product display company.
Mr Teo notes that automation has not only helped Digimax to cope with manpower shortage, but has also improved the quality of its products. “Automation is key to boosting quality and productivity.”
Improving processes
With SPRING Singapore’s support, Digimax invested in a vacuum forming machine.
The machine helps to form plastic sheets into 3D shapes through the application of heat and pressure. Apart from eliminating the need for manual sculpting, the machine has enabled the company to produce precise complex shapes at a faster rate. For example, it now takes about two days for Digimax to produce multiple, identical pieces of a 3D sign – a task that would have taken a craftsman about one week.
Reaping productivity gains
Digimax also took advantage of the Inclusive Growth Programme offered by the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to invest in a computer numeric control (CNC) machine. This machine automatically cuts the timber moulds used to create a 3D product from concept drawings.
Complicated products that would otherwise be difficult to carve by hand can now be produced easily. More importantly, the machine only requires one staff to do the programming, and can be left to run unattended. This allows staff to focus on other tasks.
Despite the high costs of technology adoption, Mr Teo says that the benefits are evident. Digimax’s turnover has more than doubled in the past six years, and the company has increased its production capacity.
Digimax will also be looking to expand its facility in Tannery Lane this year. “Without this technology, we would not be able to expand our business so quickly. We are now able to fabricate 3D display products and models of virtually anything that a customer may request for,” says Mr Teo.
Reproduced with permission from SPRINGnews June 2013 Issue. Published by SPRING Singapore
