In October 2010, SPRING launched the Productivity Management Programme (PMP) to help SMEs diagnose their productivity performance and get advice on how they can make improvements. To reach out to as many SMEs as possible, SPRING supported five Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs) to administer the PMP. With funding from SPRING to hire qualified productivity advisers, the EDCs have been able to organize workshops, conduct advisory sessions, and undertake assessments. These services are offered free to all SMEs.

The workshops are conducted by productivity advisers monthly at the EDCs to educate SMEs on what productivity is, why it is important, and what they can do to improve it. The EDCs also share the relevant government assistance programs that SMEs can tap to finance their productivity projects. The advisory sessions are conducted on a one-on-one basis between a representative from the SME and a productivity advisor from the EDC. The objective of the advisory session is to provide SMEs with advice on the broad areas that they can address to improve productivity.

To assist SMEs in identifying specific areas of weakness and pinpointing areas for improvement, SPRING launched the Integrated Management of Productivity Activities (IMPACT) assessment tool in September 2010. The EDCs use this tool to assist SMEs in diagnosing their productivity performance and gaps over a two-day period. At the end of the IMPACT exercise, a productivity roadmap is created for each SME.

Together, these three services of the PMP have assisted more than 6,000 SMEs to date.  

Contributed by SPRING Singapore.

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