PRESS ROOM

        NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR MAXA 2007 - 29 March 2007

National Award Will Once Again Honour Companies With Best Manufacturing Practices in Singapore

1.    Following the success of the inaugural MAXA (Manufacturing Excellence Award) last year, companies are once again invited to participate in MAXA 2007, which will recognise companies which have achieved world-class manufacturing standards in their operations in Singapore.  Presented by the Economic Development Board (EDB), together with its partners, McKinsey & Company (McKinsey) and the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA), the award aims to identify and recognise exceptional Singapore-based operations, benchmarked to global standards in manufacturing excellence and innovation. 

2.    The inaugural MAXA in 2006 was awarded to Seagate Technology International, which demonstrated overall excellence in the award’s three judging criteria namely innovation, operational excellence and sustainability.  BD Medical (S) Pte Ltd and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care (DAP) Singapore were also recognised with the MAXA 2006’s Product Innovation Award and the Singapore Advantage Award respectively. They received the nation’s top award for manufacturing from President S R Nathan.

3.   Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, Professor of Manufacturing and Director of Warwick Manufacturing Group at Warwick University in the United Kingdom and Chairperson of the MAXA Judging Panel, said, “All the submissions for MAXA 2006 were excellent.  The panel of judges had difficulty in choosing the winners.  The Award winners were world class and Singapore should be proud of having such excellent companies.”

4.   Mr Chee Teck Huei, Seagate’s vice president, Recording Media Operations, said "Winning the inaugural MAXA was a strong endorsement of Seagate's manufacturing leadership and operations excellence benchmarked against the best global manufacturing practices.  The award process and feedback from the award partners and panel of judges provided us with extensive learning and information from which we have made improvements to our operations processes to enhance our innovation and business sustainability.  Being a MAXA winner has given our employees in Singapore a sense of pride in being a leader in the manufacturing fraternity in Singapore and in the Seagate family.  It has also allowed us to attract the best talents to the company."

5.    MAXA underscores the continued importance of manufacturing as a major pillar of economic growth for Singapore.  The MAXA winners will demonstrate Singapore’s capacity to host world-scale manufacturing activities as well as Singapore’s strengths in complex manufacturing activities. Companies participating in MAXA will benefit from an independent assessment, and by learning how their practices measure up to global best practices.

6.   The MAXA framework and methodology, which focuses on three main factors – innovation, operating systems and sustainability - is developed by McKinsey, SMA and EDB.  This year, the award partners have also included recommendations from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) to further enhance and emphasize the importance of innovation and its management in manufacturing.

7.     “Manufacturing plays an important role in the Singapore economy, contributing to about a quarter of our GDP.  In 2006, fixed asset investment from manufacturing grew to S$8.8 billion with $13.4 billion total value-added per annum generated from projects. The creation of 26,800 jobs was the highest since 2001.  MAXA is one of the major initiatives to celebrate and create greater awareness among the international business community and Singaporeans that manufacturing in Singapore is thriving and of world class standards,” said Ms Aw Kah Peng, Assistant Managing Director, EDB.

8.      Dr Roland Villinger, Director and Leader of the Asian Operations Practice, McKinsey & Company said: “McKinsey is pleased to partner the EDB and Singapore-MIT Alliance to offer MAXA. Over the years we have invested a great deal in understanding how the very best companies run their operations, and we have found that manufacturing excellence is a function of three major sets of factors: plant operating systems, people's mindsets and behaviors, and the management practices used to optimize resources. Participating in the award is a great way for Singapore-based operations to learn from their peers and to measure themselves against global benchmarks in all three dimensions.”  

9.      Professor Hardy Chan, Co-Director of SMA, added: “Through the assessment visits to the shortlisted companies, the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) was impressed with the high level of innovation in all aspects of manufacturing including product design, production, operating systems and supply chain systems that exist in local industries. This augers well for the continued competitiveness of Singapore industry in the face of globalization. MAXA is indeed an ideal platform for identifying and recognizing manufacturing excellence in the distinctive companies.  SMA is looking forward to the prospect of working with EDB and McKinsey again in the MAXA 2007."

10. The eventual winner(s) of MAXA will be selected by a panel of four eminent international judges.  The panel will be chaired by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya.  The other judges are Mr Goh Geok Ling, Chairman, Sembcorp Marine Ltd; Dr Yoshiyuki Kaneda, Executive Deputy President Emeritus, Sony Corporation; and Mr Helmut Wieser, Executive Vice President and Group President, Alcoa Inc.

11.  A MAXA winner is a manufacturing company, or an operating unit within a company, which demonstrates excellence in its operations, and continually innovates to be successful within the Singapore context.

12.  All companies with manufacturing operations in Singapore are eligible to vie for MAXA through self nomination. The selection process comprises three phases:

1. The first phase assesses companies based on their written submission pertaining to manufacturing excellence, innovation, and sustainability in their Singapore-based manufacturing operations. Companies will be short-listed for further assessment in phase two.
2. In the second phase, a team of assessors will make a two-day visit to each short-listed applicant, and conduct plant visits and interviews to validate the written submission and to enable a more comprehensive assessment. Short-listed companies receive a report on the assessors’ findings. The finalists will be identified by the end of this phase.
3. In the last phase, each finalist will make a presentation to, and answer questions from, the panel of judges who will then determine the winner.

13.  Companies interested to participate in MAXA can learn more about the application process at a briefing on Friday, 13 April 2007, 3.30 p.m. at the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation, The Enterprise #02-02, 1 Science Centre Road, Singapore 609077. 

14.  Application kits may also be obtained from the MAXA Secretariat at EDB, 250 North Bridge Road, #28-00 Raffles City Tower, Singapore 179101, or downloaded from the MAXA website, www.maxa.sg.
 

15.  Completed applications must be submitted by 22 May 2007. The process will culminate in an award ceremony later in the year, where the winner will be unveiled. 

16.  EDB reassures that all information provided by companies entering the MAXA will be treated as strictly confidential and made available only to assessors authorised by EDB, McKinsey and SMA, and the judges.

About the Singapore Economic Development Board

The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) is the lead government agency responsible for planning and executing economic strategies to enhance Singapore's position as a global hub for business and investment.  We are the one-stop agency that facilitates and supports local and foreign investors in both the manufacturing and services sectors as they seek more value-creating operations, higher sustainable returns and new business opportunities.

Singapore commands global leadership positions in many areas.  EDB is expanding and extending existing industry clusters, as well as exploring new growth areas to create good jobs and secure Singapore’s future competitiveness.  Our emphasis is on capital-intensive, knowledge-intensive and innovation-intensive activities.

For more information on how EDB can help in your business and investment, please visit www.sedb.com

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is a management-consulting firm that helps leading corporations and organizations make distinctive, lasting and substantial improvements in their performance.  Over the past eight decades, the Firm’s primary objective has remained constant: to serve as an organization’s most trusted external advisor on critical issues facing senior management.  With consultants deployed from over 80 offices in more than 40 countries, McKinsey advises companies on strategic, operational, organizational and technological issues.  The Firm has extensive experience in all major industry sectors and primary functional areas as well as in-depth expertise in high-priority areas for today’s business leaders.

The Singapore-MIT Alliance

SMA is a graduate education and research collaboration in science and engineering between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

SMA plays a vital role in contributing to Singapore’s drive to be a global hub for education and research. It is recognised as a model that is increasingly being noticed, studied and featured. SMA’s achievements can be attributed to its success in attracting and engaging top talent, in leveraging on joint expertise and resources as well as in using state-of-the-art interactive distance technology.

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