With the objective of familiarizing participants with the latest trends in productivity improvement for SMEs, including digitization and technological advances, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) along with the National Training and Productivity Centre (NTPC), Fiji, is conducting a Course on Basic Productivity Tools for SMEs in Suva, 21–25 August 2017.

The program is attended by 24 participants, including SME executives, consultants, and policymakers, from 13 member countries to understand productivity concepts and fundamental tools and techniques that can help improve management and operational efficiency as well as prepare SME leaders for the arrival of the widely anticipated Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In most APO member countries, SMEs provide the major source of employment and momentum for economic growth. Ensuring SMEs’ capacity and competitiveness thus plays a pivotal role in national socioeconomic development. However, unlike larger enterprises and public-sector agencies, SMEs usually lack sufficient resources and expertise for their development.

This APO training course aims to provide fundamental productivity concepts, tools and techniques that contribute to quality management and operational efficiency. The course is also intended to help participants understand how to leverage simple, powerful technologies such as digitization and data analytics to increase productivity. It is conducted by two APO international experts, Qualitymind Sdn. Bhd. Principal Consultant Mohd. Lizuan Bin Abd. Latif from Malaysia and independent consultant Niña Maria B. Estudillo from the Philippines, along with a Fijian resource person, NTPC Quality Service Officer Sandeep Kumar, who has been an APO-certified Productivity Practitioner (Basic) since 2016. Participants will observe practical applications of productivity techniques in two Fijian enterprises, Mark Once Apparel and FMF Foods.

Encouraging participants to pursue continuous improvement, APO Director for Fiji Salaseini Serulagilagi Daunabuna recalled that, “The core value of the productivity mindset is that it always makes us want to better ourselves in terms of knowledge, skills, discipline, efforts, and teamwork. I am glad that the APO is taking care of the basics through its program mix and reminding us of the significance of approaches like productivity tools which many economies, and certainly Fiji, need enormously.”

The APO has been endeavoring to disperse productivity knowledge and techniques through its publications and activities, including key annual projects to develop and certify productivity practitioners. It has also organized condensed training courses on basic productivity tools for SMEs in the Republic of Korea, the female labor force in food processing in Malaysia and India, and consultants’ and trainers’ programs in Indonesia to equip participants with effective management skills.