Daily Archives: November 7, 2024

Nasi lemak popcorn, kopi and business solutions from Singapore on display at Shanghai fair

SHANGHAI – Entrepreneur Zac Chua hopes that Chinese consumers will develop a taste for his popcorn with a Singapore twist: Its flavours include nasi lemak, chilli crab and kaya butter toast.
His snack company, The Savoury Nosh, is one of 44 businesses from the Republic exhibiting their products and services – from local delights to cross-border business solutions – at the annual China International Import Expo in Shanghai.
Through the six-day trade show, which runs till Nov 10, these businesses are keen to secure a larger slice of the potentially lucrative Chinese market, despite headwinds that have dampened the outlook of the world’s second-largest economy.

Mr Chua, whose products range from popcorn to corn sticks and are sold in 11 countries under The Kettle Gourmet brand, is not too concerned that Chinese consumers have been tightening their belts. “People still need to eat,” said the first-time exhibitor, citing how the sales of his snacks had doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic.
China’s notoriously competitive business environment, which has pushed its own companies to seek profits overseas, has not deterred him from wanting to establish a presence in the country.
He believes that his snacks, with their Singapore brand and unique flavours, will stand out from the crowd, saying there has already been interest from potential Chinese distributors.

Also looking to gain a foothold in the world’s second-largest consumer market is traditional coffee roaster Kim Guan Guan.

It entered China in mid-2024, supplying traditional coffee to Singapore restaurants in Shanghai. Its Kim’s Duet kopi bags are also sold on e-commerce platform Taobao.
The tea-drinking nation’s growing appetite for coffee presents “an opportunity for us to come in”, said the company’s second-generation owner Nigel Soon.
He aims to introduce more Chinese consumers in both first- and second-tier cities to traditional Singapore brews, which is “something very fresh and very new” to a population that has largely been exposed to only Western-style coffee.

The Dos and Don’ts of Productive Business Meetings

Business meetings are an essential part of any organisation. They provide opportunities for collaboration, decision-making, and sharing of ideas. However, unproductive meetings can be a waste of time and money. Follow these dos and don’ts to ensure your business meetings are as productive as possible.Gather the Right Tools
Make sure the AV equipment you need is set up and working correctly and use a meeting notes template to record what’s said.
Set a Clear Agenda
The key to a productive meeting is having a clear agenda. Your agenda should outline the topics to be discussed and the desired outcomes. Send the agenda to attendees in advance so everyone can prepare. At the start of the meeting, review the agenda so all participants understand the goals. Throughout the meeting, keep discussions focused on the agenda topics. Having a clear roadmap will streamline the conversation.
Choose an Appropriate Time and Place
When scheduling a meeting, ensure the date, time and location are convenient for all required attendees. Avoid Monday mornings when people are just getting organised and Friday afternoons when energy is low. Midweek morning or early afternoon tend to be optimal times. Also, consider an appropriate venue. If people will be dialling in remotely, choose a room with conference call facilities. For smaller groups, an informal breakout space may help stimulate creative thinking.
Require Preparation from Attendees
Don’t let your meeting devolve into an information download for people who didn’t do their homework. Before the meeting, provide relevant background materials and instructions for participants to review. Make it clear upfront that everyone is expected to arrive prepared. You’ll maximise meeting time by not having to cover basic information people could have learned on their own.
Limit the Number of Participants
The ideal meeting has between 5-8 attendees. Any fewer and you may not have the diversity of input needed. Any more, and things become unwieldy and difficult to manage. Evaluate who truly needs to participate and limit attendance to those people. For larger groups, summarise key discussion points after the meeting so others stay informed.
Start and End on Time
Respect people’s schedules by beginning and ending your meeting as planned. Start promptly even if a few attendees are late. End on time even if you didn’t get to every agenda item. Move any unfinished business to a follow-up meeting rather than running over. Making punctuality a priority will encourage good habits.
Ban Technology Multitasking
Mobile phones, laptops and tablets often prove more distracting than helpful in meetings. Insist participants turn off or mute devices for the duration of your meeting. No checking emails under the table or surreptitiously browsing social media. Multitasking divides attention, disrupts flow, and sends the message that the meeting is not important. Stay engaged and focused.
Assign Action Items
A meeting should drive progress through tasks and next steps. Before wrapping up, recap all decisions, assignments and action items so there is no confusion about responsibilities. Document clearly in the meeting notes who is expected to do what by when. Establish a system to track progress on action items at future meetings, holding people accountable.
Solicit Participation from All Attendees
An engaged, inclusive discussion leads to better outcomes than a meeting dominated by a few loud voices. As the chairperson, try to draw quiet people out by directly asking for their opinions. Gently cut off rambling monologues or tangential conversations that derail momentum. Make sure different perspectives are heard.
Meet Standing Up
Sitting down for long periods can make meetings feel sluggish. For a change of pace, hold stand-up meetings where everyone remains on their feet. People tend to make points more concisely when not ensconced in a comfy chair. Stand-up meetings work best for quick check-ins, brainstorming sessions or status updates. They help keep things energetic and fast paced.
Provide Light Refreshments
Offering drinks, snacks or light meals keeps meeting attendees content, focused and energised. Beverages help maintain hydration and foods supply a handy energy boost. Avoid heavy meals that can make people feel sleepy. Stick to bite-sized foods, fruit, nuts or energy bars. Just the occasional coffee break can also perk up participants’ concentration and mood.
By following these dos and don’ts, you can transform tedious business meetings from time-wasting frustrations into productive engines of progress. With a bit of planning and preparation, your meetings will keep people engaged, informed and motivated to achieve results. Make sure your meetings have clear purpose and run smoothly, and you’ll be rewarded with better decisions, improved alignment and stronger collaboration across your organisation.

Creating the Business Case for Warehouse Automation

summit art creations/stock.adobe.comThe warehouses and distribution centers that play a central role within supply chain operations today have never been more valued. Operational teams are realizing that to keep manufacturing running smoothly and make sure retail orders are delivered accurately and on time, the right materials handling talent, equipment, and facilities are required.But despite the gains made in how brands view their supply chains, warehouse leaders who need to improve existing facilities with automation or build new ones face greater scrutiny and longer due diligence periods than ever before. Competition for the funding of capital projects is fierce.The reasons are varied. Uncertainty reigns and planning for demand is increasingly complex in light of consumers’ increasingly paradoxical buying behaviors – from saving on staples to simultaneously splurging on luxury items. The cost of capital also remains relatively high, a top-of-mind issue in boardrooms.As a result, capital and operational expenditures are being closely scrutinized as organizations strive to balance flexibility, costs, current requirements, and future warehouse needs. For leaders looking to new automation to solve challenges like the endemic shortage of warehouse labor and the need for higher throughput and greater storage capacity growing brands need, the takeaway is clear. To attain the required capital, they must create a comprehensive business case that definitively shows how an improved or new warehouse will make the business more successful.Business Case BasicsSo what considerations, factors and steps should warehouse leaders consider to ensure they create and present the most compelling business case? Keeping the following in mind is a great first step.Define ROI goals: The ROI of all automation can be summed up by determining if the costs associated with it outweigh those of manual processes. However, numerous expenditures must be factored in, such as the modernization of an existing facility, building a new facility, the desired automation, labor rates and the injuries associated with manual work, the value of capital, and numerous other factors. All of these must also be balanced against the timeframe required to achieve ROI. For example, a 3PL may require an automation project to pay for itself in three years, while a retailer looks at the impact of a new facility over two or three decades. Include the right people: Most projects to improve brownfield warehouses or build new, fully automated greenfield facilities will by default involve the CEO and CFO. Additional departments, among them finance, human resources, legal and procurement should be informed that a business case is being developed, and that their input may be needed. As with all capital projects, a comprehensive business case addresses not only the automation required, but also the people and processes involved. Consider the basics: The most basic metrics of warehouse operations, including throughput needs, the number of SKUs processed, and the amount of storage space required should be factored into the business case for new automation. Warehouse leaders should also endeavor to determine how these metrics will change over time in light of expansion efforts and other long-term strategic goals. Gather data: Every organization is unique. Data on what comes into your warehouse and when, how it is moved, how long it remains, and how it exits helps determine what automation is needed and what processes are optimal. Brands that are transitioning from fully manual warehouses understandably may not have detailed data. Automation providers should spend time observing and quantifying how existing facilities operate and can be improved. This includes analyzing existing processes, defining and analyzing potential concepts for improvement, selecting the optimal concept, and exploring it in detail in the business case. Consider potential “gotchas”: No one has a crystal ball, but the business case should account for potential contingencies, and their impact. Questions such as “what happens if we exhaust our storage capacity in five years instead of ten,” or “what if we no longer need three shifts” need to be factored into any comprehensive business case for warehouse automation. Don’t spring automation on decision makers: Many leaders and board members are not familiar with automation. Proactive action should be taken to educate decision makers on the basics of automation, its value, and how it works before the business case is presented. Remember that automation is not automatic: Even the most advanced, fully automated distribution centers require OpEx spending. Yes, state-of-the art warehouses radically decrease labor and real estate costs by doing more with a smaller footprint, but they require maintenance and the oversight of skilled engineers. Such factors must be included in the business case.By considering these factors, warehouse leaders can begin their efforts to create an effective business case for warehouse improvements and new automation. Perhaps most importantly, it must be remembered that automation is not a simple, one-time purchase. Whether installing a new automated case-handling mobile robot or creating an entirely new distribution center with the latest shuttle-based automated storage and retrieval system, automation should be looked at as an investment with long-term implications – something best addressed collaboratively with a true partner rather than a one-time vendor.

Bombardier’s third-quarter revenue rises 12% on services business boost

Bombardier’s third-quarter revenue rises 12% on services business boost | WTVB | 1590 AM · 95.5 FM | The Voice of Branch County Close For the health and safety of everyone, our offices are temporarily closed to the public. If you have won a prize from us we will be mailing it to you or…