Yokogawa receives Singapore's highest national accolade for manufacturing excellence

1. Yokogawa Electric Asia Pte Ltd received top honours in the 2010 Manufacturing Excellence Award (MAXA) for its outstanding achievements in operational excellence, innovation and sustainability as a core global manufacturing site in Singapore.

2. Yokogawa’s Singapore facility is the most productive in the company’s global network and accounts for 75% of the group’s global supply of distributed control systems and measuring instruments. Leveraging Singapore as a vantage point to integrate the best of production management methodology from Japan with automation knowledge from Europe and the U.S., the Singapore facility has increased its output five-fold from S$200 million to S$1 billion over the past three decades. With the Singapore team recognised for its expertise in manufacturing excellence, Yokogawa’s Singapore facility is also designated as the company’s Global Training Centre to share and impart best manufacturing practices for its employees in all overseas plants and offices. In addition, Yokogawa’s Singapore plant is the first site outside of Japan to develop and carry out scale-up manufacturing for the company’s foray into avionic products.

3. Outstanding finalists for MAXA 2010 are Becton Dickinson Critical Care Systems Pte Ltd, Nestlé (Singapore) Pte Ltd and STATS ChipPAC Singapore. Local company Biosensors Interventional Technologies Pte Ltd received the Growth Award, which commends promising Singapore companies in their quest for manufacturing excellence. The companies received their awards from Singapore’s Finance Minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, at a celebration dinner this evening.

4. “We are delighted that this year’s MAXA recipients have developed and implemented innovative solutions for the future. They exemplify the deepening of capabilities and entrenching of R&D activities that is taking place in Singapore, which will ensure that high value manufacturing remains a lynchpin of our economy,” said Mr Shanmugaratnam.

5. Mr Aaron Tham, Director, MAXA Secretariat, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), congratulated the winners for their achievements. “This year’s MAXA 2010 winners are outstanding global industry leaders who have achieved excellence in various areas related to manufacturing. Through MAXA, Singapore not only showcases the best in manufacturing excellence, but also reaffirms our commitment to work together with companies in achieving new heights in manufacturing.”

6. The highest national recognition for manufacturing excellence, MAXA was launched in 2006 as part of Singapore’s efforts to raise manufacturing standards and develop a culture of innovation, elevating the nation’s manufacturing sector into a globally-competitive hub where multi-national companies and local enterprises thrive with their world-class manufacturing practices. In 2009, MAXA launched the Manufacturing Excellence Community that serves as a platform for MAXA winners to share and promote best manufacturing practices amongst Singapore-based manufacturers.

7. MAXA is organised by EDB together with partners — McKinsey & Company, the Singapore-MIT Alliance (comprising the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University) and the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation (SMa).

8. For more information on MAXA, please visit www.maxa.sg

ANNEX: Yokogawa Electric Asia Pte Ltd

ANNEX: Becton Dickinson Critical Care Systems Pte Ltd

ANNEX: Biosensors Interventional Technologies Pte Ltd

ANNEX: Nestlé Singapore (Pte) Ltd

ANNEX: STATS ChipPAC Singapore

For media enquiries, please contact:

Ms Karen Lin
Senior Officer, Marketing & Communication
DID: (65) 6832-6587
Mobile: (65) 9623-0355
Email: karen_lin@edb.gov.sg