SINGAPORE: Renowned United States management consultancy McKinsey formally opened its McKinsey Productivity Sciences Centre on Thursday (Oct 16), during the McKinsey Innovation Forum. 

The centre is a first for McKinsey and is said to provide research, bench-marking tools and technology-based solutions to help companies drive productivity. It is an initiative under the McKinsey Innovation Campus, a partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). 

The centre will initially focus on three sectors: Construction, manufacturing and retail and food service. McKinsey said it hoped companies will leverage the new centre to achieve marked improvements in time and cost savings.

"In our experience, if companies really push themselves to implement the best practices, latest management systems, right tools and approaches - the improvement potential can vary from 10 to 15 per cent, in some cases even 40 per cent, depending on the sector," said Mr Oliver Tonby, managing partner for McKinsey & Company South East Asia.

"If we're talking about the construction and manufacturing industries, a 10 to 15 per cent improvement can be achieved by implementing best practices," he added.

COMPANIES SHOULD TAP ON SINGAPORE'S INNOVATION SYSTEM

Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran was Guest-of-Honour at the forum on Thursday, and in his keynote speech, urged companies to tap on Singapore's innovation system to develop productivity-related initiatives.

"As an island-state with limited domestic resources, productivity is key to Singapore's economic competitiveness and sustainable growth of our businesses," said Mr Iswaran.

"Our Government agencies have therefore committed substantial resources to supporting all companies, big and small, in their efforts to enhance their productivity."