Bringing out the best in companies
Ideas at APIC competition show work can be productive and costs can be reduced, as proven by Sime Darby Plantation
BENTONG
Soperational cost by 53 per cent, as well as improving process quality by reducing loose fruit contamination by 68 per cent.” Azman said handling loose fruits incurred extra costs, such as workers’ wages, transport vehicle operation as well as utility and maintenance.
“This project has significantly reduced the cost of operating vehicles by 80 per cent in terms of diesel consumption.
“From the environmental perspective, it is an 80 per cent carbon emission reduction.”
Besides that, the average monthly cost per metric tonne of loose fruit collection had been reduced by 53 per cent.
“The collection of clean loose fruits has also improved by 18 per cent compared with previous practice.”
He said significant benefits were observed when the machine was used at the company’s Chaah Estate in Johor between July and December 2015.
“In order to align the organisation’s strategy to reduce operating costs, the management of Chaah Estate, together with Sime Darby’s operational excellence unit, have identified potential benefits that can be gained by improving loose fruit handling processes.”
He said the stakeholders, including Sime Darby Plantation Upstream, were satisfied with the achievements.
“There are challenges faced in convincing people to change as well as technical skills in the fabricating stages. But we managed to address all those resistance successfully and created a win-win situation for every one.”
He said at Sime Darby Plantation, there was a five-year programme called the Operational Excellence Business Management Strategy, which detailed out targets, objectives and a roadmap to improve productivity.
“These strategies were then translated into operational key performance indicators, capacitybuilding, sharing of best practices as well as reward and recognition to encourage operational excellence and employees’ involvement.”
This year’s APIC attracted 286 teams from 155 organisations, which entered their productivity projects in two competitions — the National Team Excellence Conventions on Innovative and Creative Circles (ICC) and the Quality Environment (QE).
Sixty per cent of the teams were from the private sector, and the number of participants was 1,978, which was an increase of eight per cent from last year.
MPC chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim said since its inception in 2011, APIC had been generating interest and promoting the drive for higher workplace productivity.
“From 2011, more than 1,000 teams, comprising 9,000 members from 686 organisations, had competed in APIC, with RM938 million saved through the use of their inventions.
“APIC reflects the spirit of innovation and showcases the practices of those from the ‘best of the best’ in process and product innovation, enhancing customer satisfaction and managing costs.
“The monetary savings and waste reduction achieved by competitors are the motivating factors for others to continue their team excellence activities.”
Azman said productivity remained critical for a business to succeed and sustain itself. Its concept had evolved from resource optimisation to a holistic approach.
“This includes leveraging technology and automation, embracing innovation and value creation, facilitating capacity-building for employees and fostering collaboration.
“We need to assess our innovation readiness for Industry 4.0 as reflected in APIC’s theme. Industry 4.0 involves incremental and disruptive innovation within the digital ecosystem, leading to increased efficiency, safety and convenience,” he said.
The Industry 4.0 ecosystem of adoption and integration were associated with components, such as robotics design, sophisticated sensors for data input, predictive analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
With respect to technological readiness, the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2017-2018, Malaysia stated that the country needed to accelerate its capacity for innovation, its quality in scientific research and the number of patents filed.
MPC director-general Datuk Mohd Razali Hussain said employees needed to set their mind and develop a work culture to encourage activities that could increase productivity and spur innovation.
“This is a challenge to be embraced by all levels of an organisation with a positive attitude and open mind.”
He said it was crucial for an organisation to increase productivity as it would translate to improvements at sectoral level, and ultimately, the national level.
“This is supported by the launch of the Malaysia Productivity Blueprint in May 8, which introduced the nine Productivity Nexus for a leap in sectoral productivity in a continuous manner. It will help to realise the nation’s aspiration to achieve high-income status.”
Razali said this year, APIC had introduced an Inno Cafe session, which was a townhall involving various groups in the economic value chain.
They included industry players, commerce chambers, expert facilitators, as well as the younger generation, who would become the future workforce.
“The informal sessions gave them an opportunity to contribute ideas to improve productivity in their respective sectors. The participants are also exposed to team excellence project presentations.”