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Teaming up for productivity

SINGAPORE — When executive director Elise Hong first arrived at JCS-Echigo some 15 years ago, the company had fewer than 20 workers.

SINGAPORE — When executive director Elise Hong first arrived at JCS-Echigo some 15 years ago, the company had fewer than 20 workers.

Today, the company — which provides industrial cleaning services and equipment, as well as centralised dishwashing services for the food and beverage sector — has expanded to 50 workers and counting.

“We are trying to maintain the number of workers even as we increase sales,” said Ms Hong.

While the company invested in new machinery and training, in late 2012, it also decided to partner with the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to improve productivity at its centralised dishwashing facilities.

A research engineer from SIMTech was seconded to JCS-Echigo to assist in exploring and developing a robotic system to eliminate bottlenecks that would occur during the unloading of clean dishes from its machines, which can wash up to 5,000 items per hour.

Explained Ms Hong: “After the dishes are cleaned, the operators are busy sorting out bowls and plates of different sizes. The plan was for robotic arms to do some of the sorting, so that the number of human operators required would be reduced and the process would be faster.

“There are other companies providing dishwashing services, but as far as we know, we are the first to implement robotics.”

JCS-Echigo and SIMTech have since finished constructing the prototype, which will be put into action later this year.

Through A*STAR, JCS-Echigo received funding that defrayed up to 70 per cent of the project’s cost.

“Typically, we have six operators for the washing process. We are targeting a reduction to four people, but we are still assessing if it’s feasible for commercialisation. So far, the test results are good,” said Ms Hong.

While the potential benefit to restaurants may seem obvious — saving on water and electricity, cutting down on manpower needs — centralised dishwashing services are still relatively underused in Singapore.

As a result, JCS-Echigo turned to SPRING Singapore, which offers a Collaborative Industry Projects (CIP) programme to bring productivity solution providers such as themselves together with potential clients.

“For big companies, it’s about sustainability in the long run.” said Ms Hong. “Often, they are worried that when they take up our dishwashing services, we might cancel their contract after a few months, when they’ve already deployed their workers to other areas, or we might delay returning their plates. Our good reputation gives them some assurance, but the SPRING Singapore programme goes further by allowing them to try out our services while funding 70 per cent of the cost.”

Meanwhile, JCS-Echigo had to encourage its employees to accept the new technology.

Added Ms Hong: “We have to show workers that it’s not about cutting their jobs. It’s about deploying them to other areas where they can be even more efficient, and the business can grow by getting more orders.”

Designing solutions

Like many companies in the furniture industry, Star Furniture Group faced rising business costs, high rentals and intense price competition.

To address the challenges, the company tried to source for showroom locations outside the central business district.

“Furniture requires a lot of space, so rental makes a big difference. Five years ago, we began stacking up things like chairs and sideboards in the showrooms to maximise the display space while still making it look attractive,” said Ms Xu Xue Ting, Star Furniture’s group retail manager.

“A year ago, we launched an e-commerce site. There are no rental costs and it doesn’t require on-site sales staff. Sales were slow initially, but in the last six months, sales have tripled through publicity across media platforms, in showrooms and through word of mouth.”

To differentiate its products, Star Furniture turned to design. But the company’s collaborations with Italian designers did not take off, as the designs were not relevant to the Singapore market. “Their sideboards were huge, for example. The products weren’t well-received,” said Ms Xu. “But in 2012, we had the chance to collaborate with a local designer, Jerry Low, design director of A Balcony.”

Star Furniture and A Balcony collaborated on a notebook-inspired line called JotterGoods, which features a quaint, retro aesthetic. The first nine-piece collection was launched in October 2012, and a second collection has since been rolled out.

“For the last 10 months, we’ve seen sales grow by 11 per cent per month. We used social media as a way to target young working professionals who prefer things with more character and don’t like mainstream products.”

The collaboration was assisted by DesignSingapore Council’s Design for Business Innovation Grant, which provided 70 per cent of the costs involved with projects such as launching the brand and creating the collection’s prototypes.

Riding on the success of JotterGoods, Star Furniture plans to take the brand overseas through franchise opportunities and its Malaysian showrooms.

A Balcony has benefited, too. “I’ve been able to raise my company’s profile locally and overseas, as well as get new potential customers,” said Mr Low. “Through the joint exhibitions held, I’ve also managed to collaborate with three new companies.”

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