Speech by Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry at the Launch of #PlayatJCube the Corner, 1 December 2017, 3.45 PM, at JCube

Mr Chew Hock Chye, General Manager of Westgate, JCube and IMM,

Industry representatives and colleagues,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Good afternoon.

1.     I am delighted to be here at the launch of #PlayatJCube the Corner.

2.     The development of innovative concepts, and the use of technology to create new resource-efficient formats, are key strategies under the Food Services and Retail Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs). Collectively, the food services and retail industries employ about 9% of manpower and contribute approximately 2% of GDP. Clearly there is scope to improve productivity and raise revenues. To reduce reliance on labour, and improve operational efficiency, companies in both sectors must be open to technologies like self-checkout, RFID and vending machines, or emerging areas such as data analytics, robotics and artificial intelligence. At the same time, they need to relook at their business models and find new and innovative ways to engage their customers.

 

.     Today’s launch of the vending machine cluster is timely, as it combines both productive technology and an innovative retail concept to overcome space and manpower constraints. CapitaLand, the Singapore Productivity Centre (SGPC), JR Group, Decks and U-Star Singapore have harnessed each other’s strengths for this collaboration. It is a combination concept, covering food, retail and entertainment, with fashionable apparel, trendy consumer electronics, delicious ready-to-eat meals and a fun karaoke experience. And all these are from vending machines that can serve the needs of JCube’s visitors at any time of the day, from late-night movie goers, to athletes training at the ice rink in the early morning.

4.     Shoppers can try out Decks’ smart vending machines, which retail a variety of merchandise including apparels, footwear and accessories. The M-Bar karaoke-in-a-box by local company U-Star Singapore allows singers to enjoy quick singing sessions at affordable rates. While users can have their privacy in the booth, they can also have their time in the limelight, as all performances are automatically recorded and can be shared through social media. Hearty hot ready meals in the vending machine cluster are provided by JR Group’s Chef-In-Box.

5.     This space is an ideal meeting place for patrons young and old to bond over good food and entertainment in a casual setting. It goes to show that vending machines, with the right concept and technology re-modelling, can create an engaging self-service experience for consumers. I understand if the pilot is successful, CapitaLand Mall will roll out similar formats in other shopping malls.

6.     I am glad the increase in take up of the vending machine concept by our companies offers convenience to customers while enabling businesses to expand sales channels without the need for more frontline staff. For example, since the launch of VendCafé by JR Group at Anchorvale last year, Chef-In-Box has expanded to five locations. There has also been a healthy interest by other players in food and retail vending machine concepts, with several operators developing and customising their own machines to better serve customers’

needs.

7.     I hope to see more key players proactively pursuing such innovative projects. For instance, shopping malls and solution providers can encourage open innovation to develop new experiential retail concepts with enterprises. Shopping malls play a crucial role in supporting retailers through avenues such as providing spaces for pilots and experiential pop-up spaces.

8.     I also encourage our enterprises to explore how technology can help improve their productivity and help make your workers’ jobs better by relieving them of manual and tedious tasks. For example, Decks implemented RFID technology to improve backend operations in 2014. The system allows Decks to stock-take its inventory at a speed of 100 items per minute with an accuracy of 99.8%, reducing man-hours required by 90%. Ms Lilian Yeo, a sales supervisor at Decks, used to spend around 8 hours every month on manual stock taking, and 4 hours weekly on stock replenishment. Now, she can scan the shop using RFID for stock take and stock replenishment within 10 to 15 minutes, and access real-time stock information via apps. She has used the time savings to focus on customer service. Decks has also implemented a RFID self-checkout systems at its stores, offering greater convenience to its customers.

9.     As retailers and food services businesses – whether individually or in collaboration – look to implementing productive technologies, revamping businesses models and expanding overseas, the Government and our industry partners stand committed to support you. If you are keen on taking the next step, I encourage you to talk to SPRING and IE, seek free business advice from any of the 12 SME Centres and SGPC, or approach the Trade Association and Chambers in your industry. Support will strengthen when Enterprise Singapore is formed through the merger of IE Singapore and SPRING next year. 

Enterprise Singapore will provide comprehensive support for our local companies in their efforts to innovate and internationalise.

10. Congratulations once again to CapitaLand, SGPC, JR Group, Decks and U-Star Singapore for the launch of #PlayatJCube the Corner. 

11. I look forward to more malls, retailers and food services businesses developing innovative and productive retail and food service concepts, and injecting vibrancy into our retail and food services landscape.

12. Thank you.

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