By Shukry Rashid
It may be a traditional family business that manufactures noodles, but Tan Seng Kee Foods Pte Ltd (TSK) is also looking ahead into progressive practices. Since siblings Raymond and Annie Tan took over, TSK has implemented many initiatives to diversify its products and increase productivity.
The fresh noodle industry traditionally supplies only to markets locally because of the short two- to three-day shelf-life of the products. To tackle this problem, TSK became the only manufacturer to extend the shelf life of preservative-free fresh noodles up to 12 months under frozen conditions with the use of pasteurisation.
Research and Development
Previously, the noodle manufacturing process began the night before at about 7pm, and the first batch of noodles would be ready before midnight to meet the daily demands of the market the following day.
“The process made it difficult for us to get workers because the noodles had to be made in the middle of the night, and the short shelf life made it very challenging for us,” shared Mr Tan, the managing director.
The challenges spurred TSK to look into research and development, where they spent more than two years to produce the pasteurised range of noodles. They finally got the formula right in 2010, and now the company carries out production in the day.
In 2014, TSK became the first company in Singapore to export fresh noodles to overseas markets like the United States, the Netherlands and the Middle East.
Automating Work
TSK also implemented its ‘Hokkien noodles processing line’ when it moved to its current production facility at the Gourmet East Kitchen in Bedok in 2003. The production line produces bulk of TSK’s Hokkien noodles, and is 90 per cent automated. The only manual labour needed is the adding of the flour and the weighing of the noodles before packaging.
The packaging machine implemented in 2009 is also another innovation. Previously, the packaging process alone was labour intensive and needed at least six workers. Now it requires only three workers to weigh the noodles before being packed by a machine.
As part of the line, the processed noodles also go through five levels of cooling. The siblings recalled the cooling procedure back when their parents ran the business.
Mr Tan said: “In the past, the noodles would come out wet, oily and hot. We would then lay it on a stainless steel table and put two or three big fans around to cool and dry them off.”
This cooling process needed at least three workers back then. Now, it is fully automated.
Mr Tan said the processing line and packaging machine play an instrumental role in the production of the noodles, saving about 200 per cent on production time.
“The important part of this process is to release the workers out from the mundane and routine tasks to other value-added jobs such as quality checks. That’s why we have been looking to train and upgrade these workers at every function,” said Mr Tan.
Grants to Help SMEs
Mr Tan acknowledged that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore need all the help they can get to compete in the market. TSK has tapped on multiple national grants in Singapore to help it innovate and improve productivity.
TSK is also interested in exploring NTUC’s e2i’s (Employment and Employability Institute) Inclusive Growth Programme.
“Whatever grants that we can tap on to help our company, and for our workers to upgrade and increase wages, we are more than glad to try,” said Ms Tan.
Source: NTUC This Week
