By Franklin P. Gumapon
PAGADIAN CITY – To encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technology
innovations to improve their operations, the Department of Science and
Technology is now pursuing a program dubbed “Small Enterprise Technology
Upgrading Program (SETUP)” throughout the country.
In region 9, the DOST
has assisted SMEs operating in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga
Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur as well as those in the cities of Dipolog, Pagadian and
Zamboanga.
DOST-9 Regional
Information Officer Thelma Diego told a group of media practitioners in a
recent press conference here that the “interventions” usually extended to the
SMEs include equipment acquisition, system improvement, process improvement,
plant layout, manpower development and others.
The Montaño
Foods Corp., which is based in Dipolog City and whose main product is the
Spanish-style bottled sardines, is one of the SETUP beneficiaries in the
region. DOST-9 assisted the company in process improvement through technical
consultancy on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and GMP
(Good Manufacturing Practice) compliance, technical assistance in plant layout
and product testing, and equipment acquisition.
As a result, the Montaño
Foods Corp. has been able to maintain the US seafood export standard on bottled
sardines, increase production capacity by about 20 percent, and employ 20 full-time
and 135 part-time workers.
Other SETUP
beneficiaries in the region are Bongbong Mechanical Shop of Imelda, Zamboanga
Sibugay, Deli Food Line of Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, Marc’s Balut of Ipil,
Zamboanga Sibugay, Pimentel Creative Builders of Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur,
Wood Tech builders of Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur, Polyfruits Inc. of Polanco,
Zamboanga del Norte, Jun-Ge Enterprises of Dipolog City, Goodies Milk Products
of Dipolog City, Zambo Tropical of Zamboanga City and Nutri-Booster Foods
Philippines of Pagadian City.
It can be recalled that
DOST-9 celebrated the Science and Technology week last July 16-19 in this city.
The weeklong celebration has for its theme, “Science, Technology and
Innovation: The Road to a Smarter Philippines.” (PIA9)
