By Ryan Chan
A good example of a company that has incorporated machinery and automation into its production process to increase productivity – Yamazaki Mazak Singapore Pte Ltd, a manufacturing hub for tools and machines production. The company is the first company with a ’cyber machine factory’, where fully automated machines can process and communicate data between the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and Central Processing Unit (CPU).
They have also made use of machines tagged ’Done in One’, which renders manufacturing and production process to be completed within one machine, compared to two or three machines previously.
The company’s investment in robotics and automation over the years has led to the transformation of the factory into a lean manufacturing system that produces more than 10 models of machines today.
“Without an increasing manpower level, we have been able to increase our productivity level by three folds,” said Mr Toshimitsu Kito, Managing Director of Yamazaki Mazak’s Southeast Asia Headquarter.
Career Progression
The company has also taken steps to ensure workers are given opportunities for more training to progress in their career.
Apart from being sent on courses that are relevant to the manufacturing field, workers are also sent to Japan, where the Yamazaki Mazak originates from, to learn how to operate new models of machines.
These workers then return to Singapore, where they are given leadership roles to teach other workers to use the new models.
Siah Mun Kiat, 46, a Supervisor with Yamazaki Mazak for 19 years, is one of the workers thankful for what the company has done to help groom him into who he is today.
“I was one of those selected to receive training in Japan. Progression in the company has also been fast. I first joined as a Junior Technician back in 1996. Within a year, I was promoted to Senior Technician, before becoming an Assistant Supervisor after a few years,” he shared.
Ground Visit
The Metal Industries Workers’ Union (MIWU) organised a tour of the facilities at Yamazaki Mazak on 15 June 2015 with MIWU President Toh Hock Poh, NTUC President Diana Chia and Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing.
Mr Toh applauded what the company has done for the workers, and called on other companies to find innovative ways to increase productivity yet nurture and upskill workers at the same time.
“The union is happy to see that our workers are able to progress in their career doing higher value jobs in a clean and safe environment,” he said.
SG Chan and President Chia also held a dialogue session with staff to exchange ideas and discuss challenges faced in the sector.
SG Chan said: “Many countries are trying to provide sufficient jobs for their people. Our challenges are not just the quantity of jobs but also the quality of jobs. It is always hard to compete in the mass market, low margin segment.
“But we can always compete in niche markets, higher margin products, if our workers have deep skills and high productivity. Yamazaki Mazak, a precision manufacturing company we visited today, is one such example where our people can compete on higher value-add per employee. This allows our employees to command higher pay.”
Source: NTUC This Week
