By Shukry Rashid
As an Aerospace Component Engineering Services (ACES) technician, part of 72-year-old Mr Mohd Mohsin Khan’s job is to engrave or emboss serial numbers onto metal plates, which will then be installed onto commercial aircraft components for identification and traceability purposes.
It was a highly manual process – he first had to choose numbers from a mechanical embossing device and pull a lever down to emboss the metal plates, requiring a high level of accuracy and concentration as the font sizes were small and spaces were very minute.
There were also jams in the mechanism, with double striking that made the plates illegible and useless.
Each metal plate costs US$20–200, and Mr Mohsin said such errors happened occasionally, causing costly wastage and holding up the component overhaul process.
Job Redesign
ACES embarked on a job redesign exercise late last year to implement a new automated process that uses a laser marker equipment. It comes with an accompanying software for font setting and parameters layout, and allows for preview before engraving.
Mr Mohsin said: “The new process is much better. We can review the serial numbers first on a big computer screen and we make lesser mistakes now.”
The set-up time now is also faster, requiring just a quarter of the time compared to the previous process. The engravings on the metal plates are also neat and legible.
General Manager Brian Hunter said: “We have mature workers in this process. So when we redesigned this job, we made sure we took them into consideration.”
ACES tapped on the Job Redesign Grant as part of the WorkPro scheme. This was with the help of the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union (SISEU), which referred the company to NTUC U Live @ Work department that administers the grant.
ACES received 80 per cent funding for the new laser marker equipment costing $11,000.
Embracing Experience
Of the 47 workers employed by ACES, 11 are above 50 years old. Mr Hunter said the company values its mature workers because of their good work ethics, experience and as mentors to the younger generation of workers. ACES also employs retirees who decide to go back to work.
He added: “That’s why we take such a serious view on making sure that we create an environment that the mature workers can flourish and continue to contribute.”
Even though the company’s current re-employment age is 65, the company continues to employ mature workers who are still competent and want to continue working – evident from Mr Mohsin. The company is also looking to raise the re-employment age to beyond 65, in consultation with SISEU.
Mr Hunter added: “As long as the employee is happy, healthy and wants to continue working, we are happy to continue employing the individual.”
ACES also does not cut employees’ wages once they turn 60, an option currently available to employers to cut up to 10 per cent. This option will be removed from 1 July 2017, following the amendment to the Retirement and Re-employment Act.
Mr Hunter said: “Mature workers are contributing as much, if not more, to the economy than any younger worker.”
SISEU General Secretary Philip Lee said: “Recognising the wealth of experience of their matured employees, ACES worked with SISEU to redesign their existing workflow to make the work easier, safer and smarter for them.
“I would like to encourage more of our unionised branches to work with SISEU and NTUC U Live @ Work to look into redesigning job processes to be more age-friendly, especially when the re-employment age will be raised up to 67 years come 1 July 2017.”
Source: NTUC This Week
