Behind the fresh and frozen seafood supplied by food manufacturers lies the labour of many workers taking on the arduous task of filleting fish by hand.

But seafood supplier Hai Sia Seafood has moved past such manual labour by investing in a fish filleting machine that has enabled it to weather the Covid-19 pandemic, which has kept manpower on site to a minimum.

The machine reduces reliance on intensive labour, while helping staff improve their skills. Instead of filleting fish by hand, workers learn to operate the equipment, track yields and focus on quality control.

It has also increased the capacity of this process fivefold, said deputy director Ang Junting, adding: "Since 2015, there has been ongoing transformation within the company.

"Beyond the automation of the processing plant, we have been digitalising our business through the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system and warehouse management system. The buy-in from stakeholders of the company has been strong and the results from the productivity gains have been rewarding."

The firm also has a thermoform vacuum packager that replaces the mundane task of placing products into vacuum pouches and aligning them with a typical machine.

The new equipment makes the process faster, ensuring seafood can reach the cold room more quickly. The exterior of the packaging also remains clean.

These innovations have helped the company increase production during the pandemic despite having to split into different teams and shifts.

"We could change our production line from producing bulk packs for airline caterers and food services to small retail packs for online grocers and supermarkets," said Mr Ang.

"This flexibility is, in part, made possible by elimination of choke points such as filleting and packaging, which we have automated."

Sue-Ann Tan