Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to adopt infocomm to raise productivity and reduce business costs have found a source of inspiration in the info-educational series Project-i, which is being aired on four consecutive Monday nights from 14 November.

The series, supported by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), SPRING Singapore and six other industry partners, showcases how SMEs can operate more effectively and position themselves for growth through the use of infocomm.

“The show is timely because we are in the midst of talking to IDA about embarking on an infocomm project that will benefit our industry by bringing down business costs and increasing productivity,” said Mr William Yeo, Director of Operations at the Spa & Wellness Association Singapore, which has over 3,000 members. “It is a great source of motivation for us and affirms that we are moving in the right direction.”

Mr Yeo cited the example of a florist featured in the first episode, which reported a 50 per cent increase in sales as the result of more efficient accounting and inventory processes and online marketing initiatives. The programme was very informative and explained the company’s infocomm adoption experience very clearly, he said. “This will certainly help us in convincing our members of the benefits of infocomm.”

Ms Brenda Chan, Chief Operating Officer of Sen Wan Timber, was another viewer who found the series very informative, especially the coverage of a transport company which made use of a vehicle monitoring system to track its vehicles on the move. “We have often talked about implementing such a technology on our vehicles. By seeing a good case study of how effective it is, we are more certain that we should have such system in our company,” she said.

Besides the florist and the transport company – Lily Florist & Gifts and Loh Gim Chong Transport – other SMEs featured in the series include IT retailer Juzz1, Carl’s Junior franchisee Aspac F&B, Kwong Ming Optics, Paradise Group, Metro Parking and Genki Sushi.

Juzz1, for example, adopted an enterprise resource planning system which enabled its staff to view the inventory at its eight retail outlets at a glance, and greatly reduced the time needed for monthly stocktaking. This was done by tagging all its items with barcodes and capturing the inventory online. When a product was sold or transferred to another branch, the barcode was scanned and the information instantly reflected in the system. With the new system, customer records are also captured on a shared database. With this, corporate salespersons can access and update a common price list at any time, minimising confusion about quotations both internally and with customers.

At Aspac, the implementation of a customised e-procurement solution has enabled the Carl’s Junior franchisee to do away with time-consuming and error-prone manual processes. Instead of dealing with 30 different suppliers, it now works with a single logistics company, which is also linked to the e-procurement platform, to manage the ordering process. This means employees no longer have to sift through more than 100 faxed order forms daily, and inventory information is now available at their fingertips for analysis or budgeting.

“Each episode of Project-i gives viewers an in-depth perspective on how real businesses have applied infocomm to great effect in areas such as inventory control, warehouse management or customer relationship management,” said Mr Edwin Low, Director of the SME Infocomm Enabler Division at IDA. “The experiences of these SMEs show that IT adoption need not be complex and it can be catered to their individual needs, while also bringing about tremendous benefits to the business.”