Heng Swee Keat was shown on a tour of the $250 million research centre, which is Singapore's largest private research facility, by P&G’s Asia Pacific President, Magesvaran Suranjan.
P&G has established itself as a major innovation hub in Singapore, with the SgIC having been particularly central to strengthening this reputation over the past two years.
“P&G has contributed significantly towards our national effort in promoting innovation and enterprise,” Minister Heng said. “In particular, I appreciate P&G’s investment in innovation to serve the Asian consumers, and its focus on developing research talent within the industry.”
Partnering up
Positioning itself at the heart of innovation in the country, P&G has a collaboration agreement with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), promoting knowledge sharing between the company and the research community.
The agreement, effective until 2018, is one of P&G’s largest public-sector research collaborations.
“They have been a key partner in our journey to transform the economy, and to stay globally connected,” Minister Heng said of the multinational FMCG firm.
Research centre
The SgIC carries out end-to-end innovation, according to the company, and is the main global innovation hub for its hair, skin and personal care brands, including Pantene, Olay, SK-II and Head & Shoulders.
The facility comprises of three main research departments: the ‘Consumer Hub’, which conducts consumer research; the ‘Sniff Sensory Lab’, which simulates temperature and humidity conditions in homes around the world for product-testing; and the ‘Process Research Lab’ plant.
This plant has the capacity to make small-scale product batches for rapid consumer testing, according to the company, including developing packaging through 3D printing.
Two years on
Suranjan is vocal about the innovative impact he believes P&G is making in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region more widely.
“It has only been two years, and we have grown our innovation capabilities and R&D collaborations tremendously,” he confirmed. “The SgIC brings to life our commitment to drive innovation in Singapore through our extensive partnerships with schools, companies and SMEs.
“With support from the Government, we look forward to growing our partnerships here and to better serve our consumers in Singapore, Asia and the rest of the world.”