Chapter 3: The power of tech

Bare shelves at a Sheng Siong supermarket in Boon Keng on 7 February 2020.

Source: Ms Catherine Poh Huay Suen, Wikimedia Commons

Introduction

In February 2020, panic buying hit the country after the Government raised the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level from Yellow (Enhanced Preparedness) to Orange. Singaporeans were gripped by anxiety and fear that we would soon run out of essential supplies. Long queues formed at supermarkets and shelves were emptied of toilet paper, instant noodles and many other food and household items. The Government had to respond decisively to restore calm and assure Singaporeans that there were ample supplies.

Setting up CSS task forces

People were particularly anxious to get their hands on face masks, and the anxiety only grew as they faced difficulty getting them. The SAF was quickly called to action. The mission: to pack and distribute 5.5 million surgical masks across the island. That was the first task for the Combat Service Support Command (CSSCOM) as they joined the nation's fight against COVID-19. Within 48 hours, all the surgical masks were packed and delivered. That was a time of great uncertainty, as there was still little known about the disease. It was not clear whether another sizeable task force was needed. What was clear was that the SAF would have to play its part in the WoG effort to deal with COVID-19.

"I had a similar experience as Chairman Logistics and Finance in National Day Parade 2015, when we delivered fun packs to every Singaporean household. However, we had much more time to plan and execute then. The mask distribution operation was something totally new for the SAF. But our training had prepared us well as leaders, to enable us to sense-make and adapt so that we could meet all the demands of the task that had been assigned to us."

COL Tan See Hai Melvin
Chief Transport Officer / Commander for Mask Delivery Operation

SAF personnel donning hairnets, latex gloves and surgical masks to ensure hygiene while packing masks.

Source: MINDEF

CSSCOM packed 5.5 million masks in 48 hours and distributed to 89 Community Clubs and Centres for 1.39 million households.

— -

1,500 SAF personnel packed 5.5 million masks in a 48-hour operation at SAFTI Military Institute.

Source: MINDEF

BG Terry Tan, Commander CSSCOM, knew from the onset that CSSCOM had to play a critical supporting role. This included providing specialised logistics management skillsets that other entities sorely needed as they would soon be stood up to join the fight against COVID-19. He was mindful that his resources had to be carefully allocated to where they could make the most impact. With that in mind, CSSCOM opted for a different approach from the other SAF task forces. Instead of setting up a large, centrally managed entity, a series of smaller and more nimble Combat Service Support Task Forces (CSSTFs) were specially configured to support the different bodies and agencies across MINDEF and the rest of the Government. CSSCOM could then be more agile and give more effective support as demands evolved rapidly. Numerous CSSTFs were eventually set up to support the frontline entities in their logistics planning and execution and to develop technology solutions to carry out these critical functions effectively and sustainably.

Sustaining the task force

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, the risk of being infected, and the prospect of working non-stop took an emotional and psychological toll on frontline workers. The CSSCOM leadership thought hard about how they could sustain their various CSSTFs in this long-drawn battle. They knew that their people, on whom the success of the mission depended, would have to be deployed to the frontlines for many of the CSSTFs' tasks. Their health and safety had to be taken care of, while they worked hard to care for the needs of others.

An internal Care Task Force was set up to watch over the physical and emotional needs of the soldiers and their families. Defence psychologists conducted surveys to understand the soldiers' morale and any problems they had. There was a safety team to ensure that the CSSTFs personnel adhered to safety protocols and their well-being was preserved.

A defence psychologist conducting a survey with a serviceman from a CSSTF.

Source: MINDEF

BG Terry Tan engaging servicemen of a CSSTF to ensure they are physically and mentally supported well throughout the COVID-19 fight.

Source: MINDEF

m.Detect, a face mask detection software developed by HQ MES to enforce proper mask wearing.

Source: MINDEF

In addition, HQ Maintenance and Engineering Support (HQ MES) was tasked to develop ops-tech solutions to mitigate operational risks so that the servicemen and servicewomen could focus on their mission and return home safely to their loved ones. HQ MES responded quickly with a slew of digital solutions. One of these was the development of the m.Detect software, which helped to detect and enforce the proper wearing of masks. All these efforts helped safeguard the well-being and morale of the CSSTFs soldiers, and bolstered the success of their mission.

"Ops-tech" in our DNA

In early April 2020, a 12-man CSSTF was tasked to support NTUC FairPrice in supply chain operations. Singaporeans had to be assured that they could continue to get essential goods. The task force's mission was to ensure that Singaporeans could have this confidence. The plan was to establish a distribution centre, making use of empty warehouses and implementing processes to stockpile, allocate and distribute the goods to NTUC FairPrice outlets in eastern Singapore. ME4 Lim Zhi Han, Detachment Commander, 1st Army Maintenance Base (1 AMB), was appointed stock control officer of the distribution centre. He recalled that at the beginning the operations were hamstrung by limited IT infrastructure.

Knowing that it was important for the management to be able to make quick stockpiling decisions, he self-coded and implemented dashboards that were compatible with the existing system. With these dashboards, the centre could provide sharper updates for management to make more informed decisions.

Warehouse management operations dashboard

Operations dashboards were developed to assist in warehouse management which provided a clearer overview of commodity stockpile data.

MWO (RET) Francis Goh, Ops Warrant, checking on the stockpiles before moving them into the warehouse.

Source: MINDEF

A CSSTF led by COL James Liew (red mask) supporting NTUC FairPrice (at Tampines Warehouse).

Source: MINDEF

This was only one of many illustrations of how valuable it is when our service personnel have ops-tech mindsets and competencies. This must be in the SAF's DNA. Our people must be able to identify opportunities for technology solutions and have the expertise to exploit technological capabilities to find agile solutions for our operational needs.

Unlike before, this is no longer just about projects with long gestation periods. In the digital space, prototypes can be delivered in a matter of days or even hours. In a dynamic operating context, these prototypes, or Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), could well see us through a mission.

Opportunity for technology

Against the backdrop of the dynamic demands and the successes of the agile solutions delivered by the men and women in CSSCOM, some sacred cows were slain and mindsets shifted. Singapore and the SAF had to exploit technology to contain the spread of COVID-19. This was a life-and-death fight against a most fearsome enemy.

The CSSTFs realised that the situation was ripe for more ideas to surface and these could be implemented quickly. Seeing this opportunity in adversity, the task forces were actively encouraged to innovate and push for better ways to do things. One of the many CSSTFs was assigned specifically to support technology innovations and upgrades. This Combat Service Support Tech Support Team (CSSTST) developed several practical and useful customised ops-tech solutions, which supported various lines of operations.

Mobile swap stations

As COVID-19 cases among the workers residing in the dormitories rose dramatically in early May 2020, the Multi-Ministry Task Force announced its plan to test over 300,000 dormitory residents. It would be tremendously challenging for the Joint Task Force (Assurance) [JTF(A)] to isolate and transport migrant workers from their dormitories to external swab facilities. Such an operation would also be fraught with risks. A way had to be found to bring swabbing facilities to the migrant workers instead.

Taking a leaf from the swab systems in Singapore General Hospital (SGH), CSSTST developed the Mobile Swab Station (MSS). It took the team only three weeks to conceptualise, operationalise and deploy the first swab station. This proved to be a good and sustainable solution. It provided a safe and conducive environment for swab operations, and the mobility of the swab stations enabled JTF(A) to plan ahead and cover the dormitories in a systematic manner.

"We knew that time was critical and we had to deploy the MSS on the ground as soon as possible. Fortunately, the team - which included those from DSTA, ST Engineering and The Biofactory - worked very well together; we had a tight partnership. So we managed to deploy the MSS within three weeks from conceptualisation. The team took a user-centric approach. We got the SGH doctors to test out the system and give their feedback. And we took the healthcare workers' needs into account and got them to test the prototype before we moved to full-scale fabrication."

ME4 Yee Kar Kit Barry
Lead Engineer HQ MES

The Mobile Swab Station development team.

Source: MINDEF

The Mobile Express Scanner app helped to coordinate registration, testing and discharge timelines, resulting in time savings and reducing contact between patients and frontline staff.

Source: MINDEF

In the initial phase of the swab operations, CSSTF implemented technological solutions to replace the manual approach of recording swab results, which was vulnerable to human error and suboptimal coordination of registration, testing and discharge timelines. CSSTF's Mobile Express Scanner, which replaced manual recordings, reduced registration time as well as unnecessary contact time between the administrative staff and the patients. Both innovations in swabbing capabilities - the swab stations and mobile express scanners - worked so well that they were used throughout the SAF's swabbing operations in the dormitories.

Click HERE to view the Mobile Swab Station and Mobile Express Scanner in action!

Support for Singapore Expo Community Care Facility

As it became clear that not all COVID-19 cases required hospital care, the Government set up Community Care Facilities (CCFs) for patients who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, so as to ease the strain on the hospitals. When the Singapore EXPO CCF was set up, the daily Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to perform checks on vital signs for every single patient was extremely time-consuming. This “pull” method consumed most of each medical professional's day. A digital automated paging system was quickly developed which “pushed” patients to report for daily checks as required, and reduced the load on medical professionals. This system reaped significant savings of up to 90% in man-hours and freed the medical team to focus on their primary medical tasks. This was a good demonstration of how simple technology coupled with a strong understanding of operational flow could result in a force multiplier effect.

Singapore EXPO CCF with 8,500 beds.

Source: MINDEF

Singapore Expo Community Care Facility (CCF)

Managing uncertainty

COVID-19 accelerated the need to embrace technology, both to fight against the virus and also because people changed the way they worked and connected. For the SAF, our experience battling COVID-19 underscored the great value of technology-enabled innovations. CSSTFs never stopped trying to push the boundaries in making use of technology for the fight.