Outstanding Achievement in ICT

The world of ICT is a very competitive one. The continued success of GPRO in the international arena in the field of Information and Communication Technologies is no lucky feat but simply because we have set very high benchmark to ensure our competencies and innovation are of global standards.

2007 was an exciting year for GPRO Technologies. Not only we have strengthened our footing in many more countries and our brand presence globally, we also achieved significant success on the global front, both in terms of new business wins as well as international recognitions of our innovation and the services we provide.

As a winner in the Best of Industrial Application, G.PRO IEES is recognized and honored to which it has been instrumental in pushing the boundaries of new technology, research and innovation.

MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT competition, under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, provides a platform to stimulate creativity, innovation and excellence in ICT in Malaysia, benchmark Malaysian ICT products and solutions, and recognizes outstanding achievement in ICT.

厂商的迁移与IEES的关系

服装制造业是一个劳动密集型工业，大多数的作业是以人力来完成的，因此，劳工成本对产品的价格起着决定性的作用。为了降低劳动力成本，在同行中站有优势的地位，提高自身的竟争力，计多企业选择在落后的、劳动成本低廉的发展中国家设厂，以降低产品的生产成本与产品价格。

就以马来西亚而言，几年前许多厂商将工厂设在中国，以降低生产成本，但是，随着出口征税、人民币升值、能源及劳动力成本上升，中国目前的劳动成本已超过许多东南亚国家，在纺织服装行业的“强势”地位正在逐步消失，许多投资者在生产成本的压力下转移阵地，而越南、老挝等较落后的国家已成为新兴的投资热点。

在此情况下，我们不禁会以“夕阳工业”来形容目前成衣业在马来西亚及中国的情况，那么IEES是否也受影响呢？其实不然，无论世界各国的经济发展至何种阶段，人们是不可能摆脱对衣、食、住、行的需求，这些情况只不过是纺织行业的困境和调整模式，是一个国家产业结构升级的标志和必经阶段。

IEES for the Faculty of Garment and Food Processing Technology

If you are a final year undergraduate at the Faculty of Garment and Food Processing Technology of University of Technical Education, you will have to enroll into a newly designed class called “Motion and Time Analysis for Garment Industry”. This senior level subject will be available in the first semester coming January of 2008 and it comes in two parts: classroom and laboratory.

The classroom session is concerned with the background and technique of motions analysis whereas the laboratory session is about learning IEES. Towards the end of semesters, students are required to sit for an examination and have completed a group project.

We will continue to work hand in hand with the university to design the subject with the right training materials and ensure the standard of training quality for their students is maintained.

The training for the lecturers including an assistant faculty Dean has been a very meaningful experience to me in Vietnam. I see the enthusiasm for acquiring new knowledge in each individual. They are very kind to me and they fed me well. I certainly have had a very good time with these new friends of mine now.

And the winner of the best Industrial Application is…

The wait is over.

Mr. Quek Kar Loon and Mr. Quek Kar Piaw and I dressed up in ties and suits and rode in the Camry in quest of the 10 meter long red carpet. We actually felt like we were celebrities of the night. It was not the Open House that we became so extremely excited and thrilled about, even though we enjoyed the variety of very delicious food. I certainly ate much more than the two Quek directors. But it was when they announced that GPRO was the recipient of the winner of the best of Industrial Application in Malaysia. The excitement and pleasure of hearing the MC pronouncing GPRO as the winning company is indescribable.

There are 16 categories of Apicta Awards. It ranged from primary school science project, to secondary school and tertiary education. There were no winners for 2 categories because the participant companies did not meet category requirement.

See pictures and videos below…

University of Technical Education, Ho Chi Minh City (UTE-HCM)

It is going to happen a lot sooner than I have planned and anticipated.

UTE-HCM is one of the most profound state owned universities in Vietnam. With over 40 years of development, the university is the leading technical education training institution in the whole country, which has been training qualified manpower, sound in theory, skilled in practice, and equipped with a good sense of morality, able to stand on various “fronts” – in lecture halls, on construction sites, in factories – to serve the process of industrialization and modernization of the country.

By early next year, if not this year end, IEES will become one of the teaching subjects in their Bachelor’s program. Undergraduates who enroll into the department of Garment Technology will be required to learn about IEES. It will be an academic training where students learn the theory and technique of standard motions application in the classroom; and software application in the computer laboratory. Yes, they do have to sit for a final exam to proficiently pass this subject. The laboratory is rather big. About 25 IEES Clients will be installed in the lab to give maximum access to the students.

UTE-HCM is located in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern part of Vietnam. I really miss the good food there. And I don’t mean snake, dog meat, or the many kinds of insects they are eating (I actually ate one giant insect last year in Hanoi). I mean… the Vietnamese coffee, spring rolls, beef noodles, etc.

珠海的一间小厂

在马来西亚的服装制造业者对IE还一知半解，抱着观望态度的时候，IE却已在中国吹起了一股新风。中国近年来经济发展之快速，令人咋舌，因而各厂家之间的竟争也日益激烈，提高产量、降低成本、提供高品质的产品已是各厂家的共同目标，就在这个时候IE被引进了中国，被视为走进现代化生产的概念与工具。

上星期，由于业务的关系而到珠海公干，即是到制衣厂培训IE人员及安装IEES系统，IEES是我司以IE为基本概念研发的分析工具。当汽车停在一栋残旧的建筑旁之时，我内心的惊呀真是难以言喻，以往所到的皆是围墙亭立，保安严密，建构华美的建筑，而如今呈现眼前的竟是一栋已有二十几年高龄的残旧无华的高楼，无论怎么看皆无法将其与现代科技掛勾，当我跨进电梯时这种感觉尤为强烈，眼望电梯的门，咦！墙壁怎么会动呢！！这种情况不是只在电视里才可见到吗！哈！哈！我这是到了那个年代了！我不是要把现代化的产品送到现代化的公司吗？ 随着隆隆声的停止，我看到了—窄小的走道，两排深棕色的办公桌及零乱的样版间，嗯！这是一间有很大的改善空间的公司。

经过与该公司的管理层沟通，我才知道，原来这家公司的老板正在计划扩大公司的规模。正所谓工欲善其事，必先利其器，为了让公司稳健的发展，该公司引进了—IE，并选拨了一批人材进行培训，积极的吸收现代化管理的知识，以使公司在这个弱肉强食的竟争环竟里屹立不倒。此刻，我才真正意识到IE在中国的地位，不仅大公司重视它，甚至连小公司也需要它，可以说凡是想要改善生产，提高竟争力的公司都需要IE。

 

Jin

( Jin is an IE and Application Consultant and is my colleague in GPRO )

Critical Survival Factors

I heard the news that a sizable local garment company is shutting down its business operation in Malaysia and is transferring part of the production orders to its China factory. This is an unfortunate but trend that is happening today. The last few years we have seen foreign workers flooding into local garment factories because high local labor costs are not sustainable anymore. Though importing foreign workers from underdeveloped countries are a better alternative, the cost of importing and wages are on the rise. I am not surprised to see these foreign workers sent home within the next few years.

The impact of the end of the Multi Fiber Agreement in 2004 has made garment making industry so competitive that it seems like all garment producing countries are competing against China. China has been the biggest clothing producer in the world and it is continues to grow each year. Being the most productive one, China is a big and serious threat today.

Garment manufacturers in China are able to quote to buyers ever cheaper and shorter delivery times. While China-based manufacturers can complete garment orders in 45 days, the majority of garment producing countries are struggling to meet 60 or 90 day shipment deadlines. These manufacturers are able to quote cheaper prices because they produce more with less. That is why buyers from the US and EU prefer placing orders with Chinese based manufacturers.

I believe the key critical survival factors in this industry while maintaining an acceptable quality level is to make garments cheaper and faster. I do not deny quality as unimportant because it is the minimum entry order winning criteria. To produce cheaper and faster are easier said than done. The question is how can we deliver on these measures?

A Finalist for the Asia Pacific ICT Awards

We were off to the headquarters of Malaysia Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) yesterday. We were participating in the MSC-Apicta Awards 2007 for the best in Industrial Applications. I did a 20-minute presentation with 10-minute questions and answers to a three panel judge. Not an easy one when you have so much to say yet so little time.

The MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (MSC Malaysia APICTA), under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, provides a platform to stimulate creativity, innovation and ICT Excellence in Malaysia, benchmark Malaysian ICT products and solutions, and to recognize the outstanding achievements in ICT of students, technopreneurs, SMEs and organizations with operations in Malaysia.

We were one of 3 finalists short listed in Malaysia to give the final presentation. The judges were chaired by Dato’ Engr. Prof. Dr. Hean Teik Chuah, who is also Dean of the Engineering Faculty at Malaysia Multimedia University (MMU) Malaysia. To be among the 3 prestigious finalists was in it self already a form of recognition. How proud we would be, if we were to win the award later?

I prefer not to predict the future. At this stage, I am proud that IEES, once again, stands up high in the crowd for innovation, design and performance.

The use of Industrial Engineering techniques and concepts are fundamental to IEES. This will be one of the keys to increase manufacturing competitiveness, efficiency and profitability of garment factories throughout the region.

Khmer language is under testing …

Khmer, or Cambodian, is the official language of Cambodia. We are in the midst of embedding this language into IEES based from request from a prospect customer there.  Currently, IEES is available in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English and Vietnamese.  We are now making a provision for the Cambodian language as one of the language options.

Once the testing of the new language is done, the prospect customer will carry out assessment on IEES based on their needs.  I am optimistic that the outcome of the assessment is positive.  IEES has been designed to provide many more powerful features and functionality than those already in the market.  I am confident that not only this piece of software application is able to withstand any form of assessment ranging from meeting the requirements in a multiple-factories work setting to passing Microsoft technical test, the result will be an astonished one. 

I will post about the testing result once it is available. 

IEES in Zhuhai, China

I am pleased to announce that we are moving into Zhuhai. The Consulting team is now making deployment plans for IEES implementation. It is expected to be completed by early October.

Situated in the southwest of Pearl River Delta of Guangdong province, Zhuhai is one of the first and main Economic Development Zones as one of the factors driving geographical distribution for Apparel manufacturers in China.

To date, IEES has been implemented in 12 sites across 3 countries: China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Zhuhai is our 13^th site. 2 more sites are on its way as soon as G.PRO SDT has been fully rolled out in Singapore and Indonesia.