1.               Six organisations have won top honours for their success in the pursuit of business excellence. Four of this year’s Business Excellence Awards winners are from the private sector and two are from the public sector. They have received the awards from Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs at the Business Excellence Awards Ceremony on 31 October.

 

2.               The Singapore Quality Award (SQA) 2013 winners are Building and Construction Authority, Nanyang Girls' High School andTiong Seng Contractors Pte Ltd. In addition, Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company Pte Ltd is awarded the SQA with Special Commendation, while Qian Hu Corporation Ltd and Biosensors Interventional Technologies Pte Ltd won the Innovation Excellence Award (I-Award).

 

3.               All six award winners share the common attributes of being people and customer centric, with a leadership that invests in innovation and capabilities for future growth. These attributes have enabled the organisations to benefit from productivity improvements, greater staff and customer engagement and superior results for their organisations. They will join the ranks of 89 past Business Excellence Awards winners which have distinguished themselves in the various aspects of business excellence.

 

4.               The winner of this year’s SQA with Special Commendation, Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company Pte Ltd (SSMC), has committed itself to business excellence since it started operations in Singapore. This has enabled the company to grow rapidly, from producing 1,000-2,000 semiconductor wafers a month in 2000, to some 55,000 wafers a month. It enjoys a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue of 33% from $20 million in 2001 to $486 million in 2012. SSMC first won the SQA in 2005.  It has since achieved global industry leadership on many fronts, including profitability, product yield and cost efficiency. Productivity and innovation projects allowed the company to save a hefty US$130 million per year over the past three years, while its strong customer focus has propelled its growth in many customer segments. Its wafers are now widely used in end-user applications such as smart cards, smart phones, tablets, credit cards and e-passports.

 

5.               SQA winner, Tiong Seng Contractors Pte Ltd, is the first construction builder to win the SQA. A home-grown company, Tiong Seng has an established track record of over 50 years. It is committed to building leadership at all levels. As an industry leader, Tiong Seng has innovated to develop Singapore’s very first precast automation hub. Tiong Seng is also a pioneer in leading the trend to adopt advanced construction technologies, such as the modular formwork system which reaps more than 30% productivity improvement compared to conventional technology. At the same time, its “Charge Hand Grooming Programme” proactively identifies those with potential and grooms them to become site supervisors to ensure the quality of work and inspire other workers.

 

6.               The two SQA winners from the public sector are the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and Nanyang Girls’ High School (NYGH). BCA constantly adopts technology to increase productivity for its stakeholders. Advanced technologies such as the Building Information Modelling, has allowed a large majority of contractors, architects and engineers to explore a building project digitally in 3D, and to analyse and resolve potential design clashes before construction begins. NYGH impresses with its focus on developing forward-looking, holistic, bilingual and bi-cultural students who excel in culture, sports and arts, in addition to academics. NYGH also uses technology extensively to enhance its curriculum and to enable the students’ access to resources through multiple channels. It is the only secondary school in Singapore to have its in-house teaching resources uploaded on iTunes U.

 

7.               Singapore-based Biosensors Interventional Technologies Pte Ltd, this year’s I-Award winner, started out as an SME in 1990 and has grown to be a global player in a highly competitive medical technology industry. To boost productivity, Biosensors has automated its manufacturing process with innovative technologies that were developed in-house. This has allowed Biosensors to market first-of-its-kind products and yet maintain cost effectiveness. Its open culture and commitment to quality and innovation have led to a robust revenue growth since 2009.

 

8.               The second I-Award winner is local enterprise, Qian Hu Corporation Ltd. Qian Hu has transformed itself from a traditional fish farm into a technology and knowledge-driven business. Exporting to 80 countries, Qian Hu is focused on creating greater value for fish hobbyists by investing in new breeding technologies, fish food and pet accessories. A Research & Development division was set up in 2009 to develop innovative offerings such a patented water filtration technology called “Hydra” for aquariums and to introduce new fish breeding methods which resulted in a natural-bred Arowana variety. Qian Hu also practices a culture of “creating value from mistakes” that ensure a constant flow of new ideas from all levels of employees. Its innovative spirit has enabled it to weather the downtrend in its industry over the past years.

            (Refer to attached PDF for the detailed Winners' Highlights)

9.               “We are heartened to witness the achievements made by organisations on the Business Excellence journey. The internationally benchmarked Business Excellence framework is a proven enabler for organisations to drive their business strategy effectively through investing in people, technology and sound management processes to deliver higher customer value and business results. The continuous learning and innovation helps improve performance and hone competitiveness,” commented Professor Cham Tao Soon, Chairman, SQA Governing Council.

 

 

 

 

10.           Organisations which have benefited from their Business Excellence journey can now play an important role by helping others who are keen to do better. For instance, larger organisations can share their expertise and help build up the capabilities of SMEs. On the other hand, nimble SMEs can help test-bed new solutions as innovation partners for larger organisations.

 

11.           A group of 20 organisations on the Business Excellence journey have stepped forward to offer to work with SMEs to form such win-win partnerships under the newly initiated Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) Circle. This is announced at the Business Excellence Awards Ceremony.

 

12.           The PACT Circle aims to benefit some 100 SMEs within the next year, through projects to share the best practices of these large organisations in areas such as service delivery, productivity, product innovation and business continuity management with SME suppliers and partners. (Refer to Fact Sheet on PACT and PACT Circle below for more information.)

 

13.            “It is encouraging to see the group of organisations come together to initiate this collaboration to help SMEs, as part of their Business Excellence journey. This effort will help to raise the overall competitiveness of key industry sectors benefiting both these organisations and SMEs in productivity, quality and innovation. We hope to encourage more organisations on the Business Excellence journey to come forward, as there is significant potential for more win-win collaborations between these successful organisations and SMEs,” said Mr Tan Kai Hoe, Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore.

 

 

 

 

Email: veron_huang@spring.gov.sg