“OPS-TECH” IN OUR DNA
In early April 2020, a 12-man CSSTF was tasked to support NTUC FairPrice in supply chain operations. Singaporeans had to be assured that they could continue to get essential goods. The task force's mission was to ensure that Singaporeans could have this confidence. The plan was to establish a distribution centre, making use of empty warehouses and implementing processes to stockpile, allocate and distribute the goods to NTUC FairPrice outlets in eastern Singapore. ME4 Lim Zhi Han, Detachment Commander, 1st Army Maintenance Base (1 AMB), was appointed stock control officer of the distribution centre. He recalled that at the beginning the operations were hamstrung by limited IT infrastructure.
The existing warehouse management system had rich data but it lacked data visualisation features. So we could not have a full situation awareness picture.
ME4 Lim Zhi Han
Detachment Commander 1 AMB
Knowing that it was important for the management to be able to make quick stockpiling decisions, he self-coded and implemented dashboards that were compatible with the existing system. With these dashboards, the centre could provide sharper updates for management to make more informed decisions.
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WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS DASHBOARD
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Operations dashboards were developed to assist in warehouse management which provided a clearer overview of commodity stockpile data.
MWO (RET) Francis Goh, Ops Warrant, checking on the stockpiles before moving them into the warehouse.
Source: MINDEF
A CSSTF led by COL James Liew (red mask) supporting NTUC FairPrice (at Tampines Warehouse).
Source: MINDEF
This was only one of many illustrations of how valuable it is when our service personnel have ops-tech mindsets and competencies. This must be in the SAF's DNA. Our people must be able to identify opportunities for technology solutions and have the expertise to exploit technological capabilities to find agile solutions for our operational needs.
Unlike before, this is no longer just about projects with long gestation periods. In the digital space, prototypes can be delivered in a matter of days or even hours. In a dynamic operating context, these prototypes, or Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), could well see us through a mission.
