Singapore-based Meyzer Group was recently recognised at the 70th anniversary of the 1000 Enterprises for Children-In-Need and 1000 Philanthropists Appreciation Event 2022 for the company’s contributions to the Singapore Children’s Society. The event took place on 23 March at PARKROYAL on Beach Road.

Chairman of Meyzer Group, Mr Koh Choon Hui and the company’s CEO took to the stage with Guest-of-Honour Mr Teo Chee Hean — the Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security and Patron of the Programmes.

Julian also accepted the Leading Philanthropist certificate on behalf of the Meyzer Group’s founder, Max Goh. Max was recognised as a top patron and ambassador of the Singapore Children’s Society.

OTSAW is proud to announce its official launch on 11^th February 2021, collaborating and partnering with NTUC FairPrice, IMDA, CM Logistics, HDB, URA, LTA and DHL to commence the trial of its autonomous last-mile delivery robot called Camello in Oasis Terraces at Punggol Drive for a one-year duration to provide on-demand parcel and grocery Delivery.

The event was graced by Pasir Ris – Punggol GRC MP Yeo Wan Ling and Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information, Ministry of Health Government Whip, and vice-chairmen of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town.

This exciting program is the first of its kind to learn and assess consumer habits, needs, requests, feedback, and comments including the increasing aging population coupled with a shrinking workforce that will ultimately be unable to sustain expanding volume of deliveries. The trials main aim is to assess:

• Technologies such as AI for autonomous navigation, obstacle detection and avoidance;
• Infrastructure such as communications systems and road networks (including connectivity and slopes); and
• Business models for commercial viability.

OTSAW aims to deliver sustainable processes and systems that utilize robotics to scale up amidst labour shortages without compounding to global pollution and ultimately solving pressing issues such as carbon footprint.

What is last-mile delivery and its challenges?

Last mile delivery is the final step in transporting an item from one central location (or delivery hub) to the purchaser’s location. In this “last mile,” one of the biggest challenges is customer satisfaction and establishing brand loyalty from lowered costs, same-day deliveries and accuracy. The industry challenge includes increasing parcel volumes, expediting deliveries, cutting multiple stops, and reducing traffic congestion to name a few.

The particular delivery sector affects a multitude of businesses including couriers, third-party logistics companies, direct-to-consumer retail companies, home businesses, food delivery, supermarkets offering delivery, department stores offering delivery, florists, restaurants, pharmacies and the ever increasing e-commerce industry.

Ageing population

As the older population comes to grips with transitioning to digitalization, ordering items online has certainly helped them in labor-intensive and repetitive situations which require not only time but the potential from injury due to carrying heavier parcels.

Without having to queue, this also relieves the crowding scenario while reducing the waiting time for all parties. With the arrival of the global pandemic last year, minimizing crowds in shopping malls and various public venues requiring one-on-one contact has become a top priority, which has expedited the push to more digitalization.

Lowering costs

One primary issue brought to light through initial conversations with the residents at Oasis Terrace is the question of additional fees listed for deliveries which may pose as a deterrent for residents to choose the last-mile delivery system.

Prices will directly increase with an increase for manpower to deliver an expanding volume of multiple items individually ranging from small handheld items or bulky food deliveries.

Furthermore, the growing concern of mobilizing additional petrol/diesel vehicles throughout this island state is becoming a focal point for more and more governing bodies.

OTSAW is dedicated to lowering these last-mile delivery costs on both sides for the vendor and the client. Optimizing these costs has become a necessity as the ballooning figures have already begun to affect respective logistics companies and their ability to stay competitive.

Fifty-three percent of shipping costs actually originate from the last-mile delivery sector which cut significantly into the revenue stream.

Sustainability

Delivering an assortment of packages to various destinations around town and to the heartlands on highways and local roads equates to increased stop and starts while adding to  traffic congestion, more idling, downtime and fuel usage inefficiency.

Even when surges in deliveries are not the culprit, the high number of failed deliveries comprise a significant portion of inefficiencies in existing last-mile delivery business models.

A failed delivery could originate from the customer not expecting a delivery with no prior notification, the customer unable to stay home due to late delivery, no convenient options of delivery scheduling, and lastly, an incorrect address for the recipient.

The delicate balancing act between profit margins and customer satisfaction has not been easy to maintain, and OTSAW understands that mobile apps will be even more prominently featured in the near future to ensure live ETA tracking and fewer failed deliveries. This will also mitigate concerns of vehicle capacity, varying customer availability, vehicle capabilities (like refrigeration), and vehicle schedules.

In summary, OTSAW’s objective of implementing last mile delivery robotics logistics is to deliver all packages affordably, in the shortest amount of time, and as accurately as possible while monitoring order status and eradicating failed deliveries.  Ultimately, this directive will boost overall productivity, lower existing overhead and, of course, shipping fees to the customer.

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The Future Of Last-Mile Delivery Has Arrived In Singapore

TranSwap, a fintech company which empowers global business growth by simplifying global payments and collections, has officially launched a new global Research and Development (R&D) centre at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK. Located at Bayes Centre, the global R&D centre aims to drive technology and market-led innovation in cross-border financial solutions, enabling TranSwap to sustain and strengthen its capabilities in fintech as well as deepen its expertise in AI-driven payment solutions. This global R&D centre follows the launch of TranSwap’s new office in the UK.

Leveraging on the expertise of Bayes Centre, the School of Informatics and the Business School, the partnership between TranSwap and the University of Edinburgh brings together world-leading data science and artificial intelligence teams, industry experts, and innovation support professionals in the fields of computation, information and cognition. R&D and product innovation at Bayes Centre will focus on state-of-the-art methodologies in the areas of speech recognition, Natural Language Processing (NLP), 5G, blockchain, data analytics and machine learning – accelerating TranSwap’s capabilities to deliver a simplified and streamlined cross-border payment and collection experience. In addition, the partnership will also help develop research talents and create new jobs at the Bayes Centre.

“Today’s cross-border payments industry is at the centre of fintech innovation which has radically shaped competitive dynamics globally. New business models resulting from emerging technologies, digital transformation of payment methods and development through tech-enabled innovation are continuously disrupting cross-border payments, by optimising and automating the transaction process. Partnering with the University of Edinburgh to transform our current digital cross-border payments platform, will allow us to tap into emerging technologies such as NLP and 5G to speed up cross-border payments, sharpen our competitive edge and maximise profitability through enhanced fraud detection system, sentiment and risk analysis. TranSwap aims to become a cross-border payments, collections and financial solutions provider that serves as a touchstone for financial innovation in major global financial centres. Such innovations can unlock opportunities to drive consistency and provide a seamless cross-border payment experience,” said Mr. Sanjay Rakshit, Head of Products and R&D of TranSwap.

Mr. Grant McKenzie, Director & UK Country Head of TranSwap, added, “TranSwap’s R&D partnership with the University underlines our commitment to drive innovation in the payments industry. The University’s research expertise, along with our design approach in our system architecture, platform development and interfaces, will help ensure a seamless user experience through our platform.”

Commenting on the partnership with TranSwap, Prof Gbenga Ibikunle, Director for Fintech at the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Futures Institute, said, “It is important for us to establish collaborative, research-driven and innovative partnerships with fintech companies that put consumer value at the heart of their proposition. We are excited that our collaboration with TranSwap brings world-leading research expertise here at the University of Edinburgh together with TranSwap’s innovative approach to addressing challenges linked with cross-border payments to unlock value.”

Dr. Tiejun Ma, the Business Informatics Theme leader within Bayes Centre and University of Edinburgh, highlighted, “We are glad to facilitate fintech and AI related collaboration with TranSwap’s global R&D division. The School of Informatics and University of Edinburgh has world-class reputation with academic of excellence in fintech and AI research.”

Craig Skeldon, Business Development Executive of The Bayes Centre, expressed, “The Bayes Centre is delighted that TranSwap has chosen Edinburgh as part of their global R&D expansion. As the University of Edinburgh’s representative innovation hub for Data Science & AI, we look forward to supporting the development of next-generation cutting-edge financial services solutions delivered by TranSwap.”

TECHNOLOGY solutions provider Revez Corporation has acquired media company PGK Digital Networks (PGK) for S$4 million, in a bid to boost its technological capabilities

PGK is now its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Catalist-listed firm announced in a bourse filing on Tuesday.

Singapore-based PGK is the owner and operator of YOUTV network, a digital advertising network which has screens in places such as community centres, malls and coffee shops across the island. They potentially reach millions of viewers daily.

This move is strategically aligned with Revez’s business vision – for clients and partners in both private and public sectors to access “full value-chain digitalisation”, it said. Revez and PGK will leverage each other’s domain knowledge and extensive networks to offer an “exceptional value proposition” to clients and partners, it said.

Giulio Dorrucci, founder and chief executive of PGK, said: “The partnership between PGK, with its established national media networks, and Revez, with its suite of cutting-edge creative solutions, is a powerful differentiator setting us apart from other conventional media owners.

“Interactivity and programmatic advertising will be our next frontier to instantly bridge the gap between our outdoor messages and the millions of residents, professionals, shoppers and commuters we reach every day.”

Victor Neo, group chief executive of Revez, said: “Together, we want to transform the digital advertising and the digital out-of-home media landscape in more markets and grow the company’s footprint globally.”

Revez shares closed flat at S$0.350 on Tuesday.

As Singapore takes on a major role in Smart and Green Plan 2030 developments, the start of its transformation was announced recently as a “whole-of-nation’ movement advancing its national agenda on sustainability and technology.

Otsaw as a software and autonomous electric robotic company, slots right in with the variance of national plans, that are in line with global discussions about technology, energy and e-waste management. Here is the latest news in line with Otsaw’s vision of a SMART city led by SMART people.

Southeast Asia’s first lithium battery recycling plant opens in Singapore

Companies dealing with electronics, will now be responsible for collecting and recycling e-waste in Singapore at South East Asia’s first facility for recycling lithium-ion batteries, located at Jurong.

The S$30 million (US$22 million) plant owned by TES aims to recycle 14 tonnes, the equivalent of 280,000 lithium batteries smartphone batteries a day. It’s said to be able to recover more than 90 per cent of precious metals from the batteries for reuse in battery production.

The potential raw material shortage from the uptake of mobility devices and electric vehicles is due to the sheer volume of lithium-ion batteries that will be sold which is said to expand fivefold.

Mr. Steele, TES chief executive, said that the recycled items can be reused at a level that is five to 10 times more energy-efficient than metals smelted from virgin ore.

This comes as part of the extended producer responsibility scheme that takes effect July 1 this year. Under the scheme, producers will have to finance the collection and proper treatment of e-waste. This will help dispense 60,000 tonnes of e-waste generated by the country annually.

SP Group building South-east Asia’s first large-scale underground substation

SP Group is constructing South-east Asia’s first large-scale underground substation, a move that centres around space-saving in land-scarce Singapore.

Once in service, the 230kV will power electricity to nearby towns like Alexandra, Clementi, Keppel, Pasir Panjang and the Science Park district, plus space saving for a 34 story commercial property.

“In our business of enabling a low-carbon, smart-energy future, we are building sustainable and resilient infrastructure… This is in line with Singapore’s urban renewal plans and our own SDG (United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal) of ensuring access to reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and tapping innovation to build sustainable infrastructure, said Stanley Huang, SP Group’s chief executive officer.

Singapore among top 10 data centre markets in the world

The Arcadis Data Centre Location Index 2021 ranked Singapore the second most attractive city to build data centres, out of a total of 50 cities. Meanwhile, Cushman & Wakefield’s 2021 Global Data Centre Market Comparison report ranked Singapore’s data centre market fifth out of 48 markets.