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Enterprise Singapore’s Group-based Upgrading initiative helps SMEs adopt technology

Enterprise Singapore’s Group-based Upgrading initiative helps SMEs adopt technology

Enterprise
Singapore announced
that with SME Centres
efforts to aggregate common capability needs of SMEs and help to facilitate
group-based solutions for mass deployment its Group-based
Upgrading (GBU) initiative
has resulted in a total of 22 projects.

Introduced
in 2013, SME Centres are one-stop centres set up to provide SMEs with free
business diagnosis and advice, capability workshops and guidance on assistance
schemes.

Collectively,
SME Centres assist over 20,000 SMEs every year though face-to-face business
advisory sessions, capability workshops and outreach events. Most of the SMEs
helped by the centres were micro and small enterprises with less than S$1
million in annual revenue, and between S$1 million and S$10 million in annual
revenue respectively.

SMEs
often seek help in new business set-up, business capabilities diagnosis and
advice on government assistance programmes. In 2017, some 1,100 SMEs embarked
on and completed capability development projects, which nearly doubled the
number of SMEs in 2013. Of these SMEs, 70% embarked on some form of technology
adoption, such as point-of-sale system, customer relationship management
system, HR IT system, etc.

Since
2017, the GBU initiative adopts a group-based solutions approach in tackling
these common business challenges. Individually, SME owners may face resource
constraints in their capability and growth efforts. By pooling resources and
ideas together, SME Centres help these businesses discover collective solutions
to tackle common problems and overcome the challenges together.

The GBU
projects resulted from Business Advisors’ interactions with SMEs surfaced
similar business challenges and issues faced by businesses in the same locality
or trade. These projects, which include both digital and non-digital solutions,
have since helped over 100 participating businesses to improve their sales and
revenue, productivity, customer service levels and shopping experiences, and
are projected to benefit another 200 SMEs by the end of 2018.

One
of such ongoing trade-based GBU projects is led by SME Centre@Association of Small and Medium
Enterprises
(ASME) for the tailoring sector. The project aims to help
businesses in the sector to raise productivity levels by using a 3D body
scanner, where details like body measurements are captured directly into a
customer database through the use of the body scanner. This reduces human
errors and the time needed to manually record the appropriate measurements. An
order management system is also being introduced to help speed up and track the
order taking process and enable easier retrieval of customers’ orders. This GBU
project is targeting to reach out to 30 tailoring businesses by end of 2018.

Another
example of a locality-based project is the One
Kampong Glam GBU initiative
by SME
Centre@Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry
(SMCCI) and the
merchant association One Kampong Gelam. This digital makeover project of
Kampong Glam involves identifying technologies to uplift the appeal of the area
by creating a richer and more immersive retail experience. The project
introduces an integrated point-of-sale, CRM and inventory management system to
help improve the productivity of the merchants. With the customer data
collected, businesses are able to use data analytics to enhance the shopping
experience in this heritage-rich area and encourage footfall to the stores.
Currently, there are more than 10 businesses participating in this GBU project,
and the project is expected to see 100 merchants come on board by end of 2018.

According
to the statement, with increasing digital disruption across various sectors
SMEs will need to build stronger digital capabilities and actively adopt
technology to grow their businesses.

SMEs
that need assistance to upgrade or transform their business are advised to
approach the SME Centres and their Business Advisors for free one-on-one
business advisory and business diagnosis, as well as for help to strengthen
their capabilities through capability workshops.

Moving
forward, SME Centres will be driving more impactful group-based upgrading
projects to help SMEs, including businesses in the heartlands, to solve common
business problems and adopt appropriate technology solutions.

SME
Centres will also be deepening their scope of business diagnosis, advisory
services and capability workshops in areas such as:

(1)   
 Digitalisation and e-Commerce

This
aims to help SMEs to recognise the need to digitalise and embark on e-Commerce,
curate available digital solutions and e-Commerce platforms and make
recommendations to SMEs , and organise specific digital solution and e-Commerce
workshops.

(2)   
Internationalisation

For
SMEs new to internationalisation, SME Centres will help organise basic
export/import and market entry advisory workshops, give basic market advisory
(starting with ASEAN markets), and provide advice on relevant
internationalisation tools and programmes, and connect them to Enterprise
Singapore’s overseas centres and/or Plug and Play Network partners.

The Plug
& Play Network
is designed to provide in-market assistance to Singapore
SMEs. This network of in-market partners aims to address challenges faced by
SMEs when venturing overseas in the areas of market knowledge and insights,
business leads and business matching, and co-working spaces options.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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