THE local small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) industry has about 100,000 players, and growing.
Their combined business contributes about 32 per cent to the gross domestic product, and the industry itself employs some 56 per cent of the total workforce in the country.
So, it is important that SMEs continue to maintain a high productivity level to ensure that their contributions continue, lest it will impact the country’s economic growth.
In this regard, it is encouraging to know that members in the local SME community have been increasingly looking at ICT to beef up their operational efficiency and explore new forms of channels to market their products. This certainly augurs well as ICT can play an important role to help SMEs create business opportunities and combat pressures from competition.
Appropriate ICT use can help cut costs by improving internal processes, developing better products through faster communication with their customers, and better promotion and distribution of products through an online presence.
Nevertheless, observers reckon that while most SMEs are aware of the potential benefits of ICT, they are unsure of how to select the right solution. This, in a way, has slowed down ICT uptake within a larger section of the SME community.
Based on a recent study of SMEs in manufacturing, only about 10 per cent have used enterprise resource planning software, 10 per cent have used customer relationship management software, 13 per cent have used computeraided manufacturing, and about 25 per cent have used computer-aided design.
And only 30 per cent have a Web presence and use ICT extensively in their daily operations.
The challenge now is to ensure that ICT usage is widespread, not only within a small group but also throughout the SME community. This is important as SMEs not only face competition from peers, but also international outfits seeking to expand their presence here.
So, local SMEs have to be well-prepared, and this includes leveraging on technology to remain competitive.
While the Government can play a part by providing financial aid in the form of grants and other incentives, SMEs themselves need to be a believer of ICT as an enabler towards a better business future.
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