Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the refreshed Food Manufacturing Industry Digital Plan (IDP) today, signaling an acceleration of AI-powered digital transformation of food manufacturers.
The announcement was made by Ms Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, at the opening of a new factory of soya sauce and condiments manufacturer Kwong Cheong Thye (KCT), according to a statement released by IMDA.
KCT was able to benefit from the digital solution from the refreshed Food Manufacturing IDP and the company’s soya sauce yield is expected to increase from 70 to 90 per cent.
The improved yield came from the company’s implementation of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that monitors critical fermentation variables such as temperature and humidity through streamlining scheduling and multi-batch planning.
MES, along with the Manufacturing Analytics digital solution, are designed to help businesses boost productivity and reduce downtime through AI-powered insights for production optimisation and predictive maintenance.
They are some of the digital solutions under the refreshed Food Manufacturing IDP that “incorporates AI and Generative AI solutions to elevate customer experience, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate business growth.”
Companies have been able to benefit from these AI-powered digital solutions.
Toh Thye San Farm, a poultry distributor, can now save hours from rectification of mistakes through the implementation of the digital solution AI-enabled Automated Ordering Management.
The digital solution helps businesses reduce manual workload and improve order accuracy by automatically capturing orders from WhatsApp and syncing them to existing systems.
As a result, the company is able to achieve “20% higher order accuracy, saving up to eight hours of labour per mistake avoided while freeing staff for higher-value tasks.”
Other digital solutions include AI Chatbots that help businesses reduce operating cost by providing 24/7 automated support for customer service and internal operations. Businesses can handle more enquiries with fewer resources while enhancing customer satisfaction by providing consistent and prompt responses.
More than 1,500 food manufacturers are expected to benefit from the digital transformation.
EnterpriseSG and IMDA worked closely with industry stakeholders and solution providers to refresh the IDP that “allows businesses to determine suitable digital solutions based on their specific operational challenges and business needs,” according to the statement.
“As of 2025, more than 90% of food manufacturing businesses have adopted at least one sector specific digital solution, up from 75% in 2023”, the statement added.
The refreshed Food Manufacturing IDP provides digital solutions to achieve three main outcomes for businesses.
They are automating routine administrative tasks through digitalising tedious processes, improving production processes through optimising manufacturing, scaling up and expansion, as well as maintaining real-time oversight of overseas supply chain operations through logistics control tower.
The AI-powered digital solutions also provide companies the opportunities of “upskilling and reskilling of workers, allowing them to transition from routine manual tasks to higher-value roles, while also creating new positions.”
KCT is one such company with two of their soya sauce production staff currently being upskilled to the role of Data Control Specialists, where they will be trained to monitor production data using MES.
A Cybersecurity and Data Protection Roadmap has been included in the refreshed plan for SMEs to protect their systems and data as they adopt digitisation.
More information on the refreshed Food Manufacturing IDP is available at https://go.gov.sg/foodmanufacturing-idp.
