Nominations Open for Maxa 2008

Third Year of National Award to Honour Companies With Best Manufacturing Practices in Singapore

1. Following two successful years of MAXA, companies are once again invited to participate in MAXA 2008, 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, and MAXA 2007 was awarded to Tetra Pak Jurong Pte Ltd. Both companies demonstrated overall excellence in the award’s three judging criteria namely innovation, operational excellence and sustainability.

3. In MAXA 2007, Kenwood Electronics Technologies Singapore was also selected for the Innovation Award, while 3M Singapore Pte Ltd and Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co Pte Ltd (SSMC) were recognised for Operational Excellence. Beyonics International Pte Ltd received the Singapore Advantage Award. They received the nation’s top award for manufacturing from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

4. 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, “The overall caliber of MAXA 2007 was excellent and made the judging process more challenging. The Award winners demonstrated that they have world-class manufacturing capabilities and Singapore should be proud of having such excellent companies.”

5. Said Mr Alberto Tureikis, Tetra Pak South and Southeast Asia Supply Chain Director, “The MAXA award has indeed further engaged our people to their work as it is a testimony of what they have all along believed in – world class manufacturing through innovation and creativity. It has also increased pride, team effectiveness and helped to retain and attract talent to our Company particularly when there is a shortage of resources.”

6. 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.

7. The MAXA framework and methodology, which focuses on three main factors – innovation, operating systems and sustainability - is developed by

McKinsey, SMA and EDB – with inputs from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) on the importance of innovation and its management in manufacturing.

8. “The manufacturing sector plays an important role in the Singapore economy, contributing to about a quarter of our GDP. In 2007, fixed asset investment from manufacturing exceeded S$10 billion, for the first time ever, with a wide margin. The creation of 28,600 jobs was also a record. MAXA is gaining recognition as an award that celebrates the global success of Singapore's manufacturing sectors, recognises our highly skilled engineering talent, and puts Singapore on the map for world class manufacturing excellence,” said Ms Aw Kah Peng, Assistant Managing Director, Industry Development, EDB.

9. Mr Chinta Bhagat, Partner and Leader of the McKinsey & Company's practice in Singapore said, “McKinsey is pleased to partner the EDB and Singapore-MIT Alliance for this important manufacturing award. Over the years we have worked to understand how the very best companies run their operations. And we have applied these learnings to help companies achieve lasting operational improvement. 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 optimise resources. Through MAXA, Singapore-based operations can learn from their peers and measure themselves against global benchmarks in these three dimensions.”

10. “SMA is glad to contribute our manufacturing engineering expertise to help shortlist finalists for MAXA 2008. Selecting the finalists is expected to be rigorous, as with past years, with the challenging evaluation criteria upholding the global standards attained by past MAXA winners. This makes the award all the more a golden opportunity to showcase the best practices of Singapore-based companies to the local market and the world. SMA would like to encourage more participants to compete for this year’s pinnacle award that celebrates the excellence in standards of manufacturing operations based in Singapore,” said Prof Hardy Chan, Co-Director, SMA Singapore.

11. 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 Dr Yoshiyuki Kaneda, Former Executive Deputy President and Representative Director, Sony Corporation; Mr Tan Teik Seng, Former Senior Executive Managing Director at Advanced Micro Devices Singapore; and Mr Helmut Wieser, Executive Vice President and Group President, Alcoa Inc.

12. 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.

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

a. 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.

b. 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.

c. 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.

14. Companies interested to participate in MAXA can learn more about the application process at a briefing on Friday, 11 April 2008, 3 pm at EDB, 250 North Bridge Road, Raffles City Tower #28-00, Singapore 179101. 15. Application kits may also be obtained from the MAXA Secretariat at EDB or downloaded from the MAXA website, www.maxa.sg.

16. Completed applications must be submitted by 9 June 2008. The process will culminate in an award ceremony later in the year, where the winner will be unveiled.

17. 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.

See MAXA Partners

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Ms Tjandra Chew Ching Lu
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