ESTABLISHED in 2002, Greenpac provides environmentally-friendly packaging solutions, partnering key suppliers to customise solutions according to the needs of each client.

In 2004, the company extended its business into the warehousing arena. 'A customer came to us and said they needed warehousing services, and I wanted to give it a try,' said founder and chief executive officer Susan Chong.

Undeterred by the fact that she knew next to nothing about the warehousing business, the intrepid entrepreneur bought a warehouse management system (WMS) which came with an established framework of best practices, and designed Greenpac's operations around it.

The investment paid off handsomely. 'Since we implemented the WMS in 2004, our business has grown by about 100 per cent. The WMS has become a part of our business model. We found ourselves actually expanding into a new business, and this has contributed to our growth,' said Ms Chong.

Now, instead of clients calling Greenpac to place orders for packaging, their finished goods are brought direct to the Greenpac warehouse where they are packaged and stored. The web-based system also allows clients to track their inventory in the warehouse from wherever they are.

Last year, Greenpac upped the ante by investing in a fully-integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting system and integrating it with the WMS. Now, it no longer has to place orders with its own suppliers every time stocks run low. The suppliers can log in to the system by themselves to check on Greenpac's inventory status and replenish the stocks where necessary. This has enabled the company to reduce inventory-holding time from an average of one and a half months to two weeks.

Remarkably, Greenpac's ERP system was implemented within the short space of four months - compared to the one or two years that such a deployment would normally take. Ms Chong attributed this achievement to the groundwork that was done prior to deployment, and to the commitment of her staff.

'A lot of effort went into scoping out the project as well as re-evaluating business needs and processes in order to eliminate any duplication in work and to streamline processes,' she said.

The result is a 'solid' ERP-WMS combination that has helped Greenpac to grow its business while maintaining a lean team of only 20 staff. 'We are highly leveraged on human assets and IT,' said Ms Chong.

Like Greenpac, other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore can also make use of IT to transform their businesses through the re-engineering of operations and workflows for more efficient use of their resources.

The 2009 SME Development Survey conducted by DP Information Group found that 82 per cent of SMEs who invested in technology received material benefits - such as greater sales or profits from their investment. Half of all these SMEs recorded improvements in productivity, 41 per cent benefited from developing innovative products and services, while 36 per cent improved their cost efficiency.

For SMEs starting out on their IT journey, the investment need not be big and expensive. The setting up of a website, for example, costs just a few hundred dollars and serves as an important starting point.

Moreover, help is available in the form of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's Infocomm@SME programme, a suite of initiatives aimed at encouraging SMEs to use IT to automate and grow their business.

For example, there is an SME Infocomm Package (SIP) which provides packaged infocomm solutions tailored to the needs of SMEs, with a subsidy to encourage SMEs in developing their first website. Launched in June 2008, the SIP is readily available from an industry consortium of partners. SMEs that are setting up their first website get to enjoy a subsidy of up to $2,000, which will be available till April 30, 2010.

Two SMEs Infocomm Resource Centres (SIRCs) have also been set up under the Infocomm@SME umbrella to provide advisory/ consultancy services, prototype development and IT-related training for SMEs. The centres are located at the Singapore Polytechnic and the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Information.

Assistance is also provided for SMEs looking to use infocomm technology to drive process improvements, operational efficiency and effectiveness within their organisations. The Accounting Software Assistance Scheme (ASAS), launched by IDA and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) in August 2009, is one such scheme.

Available until March 31, 2012, SMEs that are registered for goods and services tax (GST) can apply for a subsidy to defray the cost of purchasing and setting up accounting software, as well as training on the use of the software. By automating the accounting function, businesses should be able to minimise duplication and human errors, and in the process be more productive and efficient.

SPRING Singapore's Technology Innovation Programme (TIP) is yet another avenue for SMEs to explore to help kickstart their infocomm technology projects. Co-administered with IDA, TIP has, in the past two years, supported at least 40 SMEs' infocomm technology projects.

To her fellow entrepreneurs, Ms Chong shares this advice: 'Understand what your needs are and the nature of your business. Today, we are in a low-volume, high-mix business. We face very high costs in terms of assets and human capital, so we need to leverage IT to reduce these costs. For me, it is not a choice. IT is my business tool. I need it to operate my business,' she said.

This article was contributed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

This article was first published in The Business Times.