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A new Lean Enterprise Development (LED) project announced on 21 November 2016 will help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food manufacturing industry operate more efficiently through upskilling food technologists, who specialise in food product innovation and development.
With a number of SMEs today lacking the resources to equip employees with the necessary skills, the project aims to help SMEs produce higher quality food products with a manpower-lean workforce.
The project, titled ‘Towards Healthier Food Product Innovation’, is a joint effort between NTUC U Associate, Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology (SIFST).
Benefiting More SMEs
The project got off the ground in July this year when Faesol Pte Ltd, one of the pioneer SMEs of the project, took the lead and gathered support of local SMEs to organise a food product innovation management masterclass with support from WSG.
To date, 22 locals from 13 companies have attended the masterclass. As a result, participating SMEs have been able to cut product development time by as much as half. Nine of these companies have also developed healthier products. Another 50 companies are expected to tap on the project.
“We have developed six high-value and healthier products by leveraging shared resources and masterclasses under the LED scheme. The process has saved me manpower and resources with the product development time being reduced by half,” said Managing Director Simon Tay of BHF Pte Ltd, which was one of the participating SMEs.
New U Associate
On the same day, NTUC and SIFST signed a memorandum of understanding, making the latter the 41st addition to the U Associate family.
Under this collaboration, and with the support of WSG, both parties will aim to develop structured training programmes to continue the development of food technologists.
SIFST President Koh Boon Liang said: “The demand for healthier food products is growing and local food technologists need to enhance their technical capabilities in R&D (research and development) to develop innovative and healthier food products. This can be achieved through resource sharing where food technologists from various entities work together as a team to cross-pollinate ideas.”
NTUC U Associate and U Future Leaders Director Vivek Kumar said: “As a niche profession, we want to help food technologists gain valuable cross-sectoral knowledge and skillsets by leveraging the U Associate ecosystem. With the tripartite support, we are confident that the new project will enhance Singapore’s competitiveness in the food manufacturing industry and bring about better jobs for the workforce.”
A Sunrise Industry
Guest-of-Honour NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing said that the investment in food technology would result in better, healthier products, better skilled workers and more support for SMEs.
“Raising productivity in SMEs is a painstaking effort. We hope this is the start, but not the end of these collaborations, and we will harness the expertise we have from the Labour Movement, U Associate and WSG for SMEs to level up their competencies and help them succeed.
“In Asia Pacific, as the middle class grows, there will not only be a growing demand for food, but also a growing demand for quality food. While we may not be able to compete on price and cheap sourcing, Singapore’s advantage lies in its ability to produce quality food that is among the most trusted in the region,” SG Chan said at the announcement.
Source: NTUC This Week
