Singapore is positioning itself as a key operational excellence hub in Asia for manufacturing in order to compete with other neighbouring developing countries with advantages such as lower costs of production. Hence, there is clearly a need for an Operational Excellence Framework for companies in Singapore to be able to assess their capability level in terms of operations. This paper presents a study of existing frameworks such as The Shingo Model, LESAT, CMMI and SQA, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses and concluding with the key barriers of adoption for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. Results point to a gap between what is currently available and what SMEs require, suggesting a need to develop a customized simple yet effective Operational Excellence Framework and assessment toolkit specifically for SMEs in Singapore.

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Productivity has been identified as a key strategy by the Singapore government to drive economic growth for the next ten years. Limited resources and time constraints make it difficult for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore to embark on productivity improvement initiatives above their daily operational activities. Hence, a new technique is needed to boost or expedite productivity initiative implementation. Based on the concepts of Lean, Quick Changeover, Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) and methods like Kaizen Event planning, the QuicKaizen TM technique was developed. This paper explains what the QuicKaizen TM technique is; its components; and how to use it effectively for productivity execution management. Results show how Singapore SMEs have successfully used the QuicKaizen TM technique to help them achieve their objectives and deliverables.

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