Sheng Siong Partners SkillsFuture Singapore To Enable Its SME Suppliers Build Capabilities to Accelerate Digitalisation

15/06/2021

Sheng Siong Partners SkillsFuture Singapore To Enable Its SME Suppliers Build Capabilities To Accelerate Digitalisation

Sheng Siong, one of Singapore’s largest supermarket chains, has partnered SkillsFuture Singapore under the SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme to support its Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) suppliers build up capabilities to accelerate digitalisation. Through this partnership, participating SMEs will be able to identify their skills gaps and benefit from a customised training plan to address these skills gaps.

Sheng Siong understands the challenges faced by its suppliers, particularly the smaller and traditional SMEs. They require more support in transforming their business operations and coping with new technologies in marketing, sales, payment, inventory management and logistics. The SkillsFuture Queen Bee initiative provides Sheng Siong with the platform to assist its suppliers to deepen capabilities to accelerate digitalisation.

As the first SkillsFuture Queen Bee partner to be appointed for the retail sector, Sheng Siong will share valuable lessons from its own digitalisation journey and the importance of having the right skillsets to sustain a company’s digital transformation. SMEs that participate in the SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme will be supported by a Skills Manager from Sheng Siong who will engage the companies to understand their business needs, and identify skills gaps and training programmes to address these needs. To date, more than 30 SMEs have joined Sheng Siong’s SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme.

Mr Lim Hock Chee, CEO of Sheng Siong: “As we grow as a company, we are keen to help our partners to grow. Much have been done for our digitalisation journey and we realise everyone in the ecosystem have to keep abreast of the latest developments in order to have significant improvements made to the whole supply chain. We are open and enthusiastic in sharing our knowledge and practices with our suppliers, so that everyone can improve their capabilities with new digital technologies and skill sets for the win-win situation we are working towards.”

Mr Ong Tze-Ch’in, Chief Executive of SSG said: “We are pleased to partner Sheng Siong as our first SkillsFuture Queen Bee company in the retail sector. The rate of technological change in this sector is fast and the needs of the companies in this sector are great. Through this partnership with Sheng Siong, we hope to expand and deepen the reach of the SkillsFuture movement to SMEs in this sector.”

Sheng Siong’s SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme will focus on the following four aspects:

a) People

SMEs will learn how to create a conducive workplace learning environment to support employees’ skills development and help them to achieve their full potential.

b) Process

SMEs will learn Sheng Siong’s best practices in process optimisation and productivity improvements through Communities of Practice.

c) Technology

SMEs will learn how to enable employees to build confidence to work in a technologically-rich environment through the SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace programme and other curated training programmes to acquire relevant digital skills. This will enable them to operate more effectively in integrated supply chain systems.

d) Data

SMEs will learn how to manage and process operational data to increase efficiency and optimise processes in areas such as inventory management and logistics.

Ms. Evan Tay, Business Development Director, Sin Mui Heng Food Ind Pte Ltd said: “Change has become inevitable and upskilling is an ongoing process for Sin Mui Heng. We need to reposition ourselves in the market, and reskill our workers to be prepared for the changes that will come. Hence, it’s a golden opportunity for us to be mentored and learn the ropes from a market leader like Sheng Siong.”

Mr. Ng Chin Nyan, CEO of Sing Long Foodstuff said: “Through this partnership, we are able to learn about Sheng Siong’s best practices in how they conduct their operations and work processes, which will be beneficial for Sing Long Foodstuff. We also hope to help our employees benefit from utilising advanced technology to enhance productivity and minimise errors. The programme will improve our capabilities and competitiveness, reduce costs, and on the whole help us achieve resilience and grow our business.”

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