21 hours ago
Eye care giant Alcon keeps 'lens' on the future with expanded manufacturing and logistics facility in Tuas, Singapore News
Eye care-device giant Alcon officially opened its expanded state-of-the art manufacturing and logistics facility in Tuas Biomedical Park on Friday (June 27) morning.
This brings Alcon's investments in Singapore to more than US$600 million (S$765 million) since it began operations in Singapore back in 2005.
The completed Tuas facility is one of the Swiss-American firm's largest high-tech manufacturing sites with Industry 4.0 capabilities, advanced automation and smart manufacturing systems to meet the increasing global demand for its contact lenses.
Amid a growing middle class and rising demand for quality healthcare, the Asia-Pacific region continues to be the fastest-growing market for medical technology, with its market value projected to reach nearly S$300 billion by 2030. This puts the region second only to the US as a source of demand for medical technology (Medtech).
"Singapore is home to some of the world's best-in-class Medtech manufacturing palnts. The sector has been growing steadily, with a manufacturing output of S$19.4 billion in 2023. This marks a $5.2 billion increase over the past decade," said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling at the opening ceremony of Alcon's expanded facility.
Beyond strengthening innovation and supply chain resilience within Singapore's MedTech ecosystem, Alcon's investment is also expected to benefit Singaporean workers and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore.
Muhammad Haiqal Bin Sapuan, an associate supervisor at Alcon made the switch from the oil and gas industry, through the Career Conversion Programme (CCP), in 2022 to have more time with his family. A year and a half into his role as a senior technician, he was nominated by his peers to step up as an associate supervisor.
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"That recognition gave me confidence. I started off as an interim, and it was tough at first, but the team's support made the difference," said Haiqal.
To date, nearly 180 Singaporean workers have benefitted from the CCP to become Alcon associates.
Alcon's new facility is expected to create new job opportunities in production operations, quality control and supply chain management.
It is also expected to strengthen innovation and supply chain resilience within Singapore's Medtech ecosystem through initiatives such as the Partnership for Capability Transformation, which partners local SMEs to buiild capabilities from precision moulding to packaging, helping them to scale and compete globally.
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