The Client |
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Singapore's leading specialist in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery recycling and critical mineral recovery, operating a licensed General Waste Disposal Facility (GWDF) for Toxic Industrial Waste (TIW). The company is the first recycling facility in Singapore to achieve R2v3 (Responsible Recycling) certification for Li-ion batteries, alongside ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 accreditations. With annual revenues exceeding S$100M and a headcount scaling from 23 to 44 staff, this is a high-growth, 100% locally owned Singapore SME operating at the cutting edge of the regional circular economy.
The company processes 2,500 tonnes of battery scrap monthly at a 95% metal recovery rate, serving global Tier-1 partners including multinational smelters, battery manufacturers, and commodity traders. Its operations sit at the intersection of environmental compliance and high-value mineral trading, recovering cobalt, nickel, and lithium at purity levels required by secondary smelters and international battery supply chains.
Despite its operational and commercial scale, the company's administrative backbone remained entirely manual, creating a growing mismatch between its global ambitions and its internal capabilities. As it set out to build proprietary AI capabilities to power the next phase of its growth, including a 500% scale-up in processing capacity and expanded international operations across Vietnam, China, and the United States, it needed a grant advisory partner who could structure and secure funding for the development of these capabilities.
The company processes 2,500 tonnes of battery scrap monthly at a 95% metal recovery rate, serving global Tier-1 partners including multinational smelters, battery manufacturers, and commodity traders. Its operations sit at the intersection of environmental compliance and high-value mineral trading, recovering cobalt, nickel, and lithium at purity levels required by secondary smelters and international battery supply chains.
Despite its operational and commercial scale, the company's administrative backbone remained entirely manual, creating a growing mismatch between its global ambitions and its internal capabilities. As it set out to build proprietary AI capabilities to power the next phase of its growth, including a 500% scale-up in processing capacity and expanded international operations across Vietnam, China, and the United States, it needed a grant advisory partner who could structure and secure funding for the development of these capabilities.
How RIC Helped |
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Grant Secured:
RIC secured approval under the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), Innovation and Productivity track, administered by Enterprise Singapore. The approved grant quantum is S$41K, covering 50% of qualifying software development costs for the deployment of a bespoke AI automation system, alongside an audit fee subsidy.
Scope of RIC’s Consulting and Advisory Services:
RIC secured approval under the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), Innovation and Productivity track, administered by Enterprise Singapore. The approved grant quantum is S$41K, covering 50% of qualifying software development costs for the deployment of a bespoke AI automation system, alongside an audit fee subsidy.
Scope of RIC’s Consulting and Advisory Services:
- Proposal Scoping and Programme Design: RIC worked with the client to frame this engagement not merely as a productivity tool purchase, but as the deliberate development of proprietary AI capabilities within a complex, compliance-sensitive operating environment. The two automation modules, an Import Data Entry Automation Module and an Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable (AP/AR) and Financing Automation Module, were positioned as R&D investments in AI-enabled recycling operations, building internal competencies in AI-driven workflow management, human-in-the-loop data validation, and digital logistics control. RIC ensured the proposal reflected the technical depth of developing a custom AI Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine capable of processing handwritten recycling Goods Received Notes (GRNs) with 80 to 90% accuracy, a non-trivial capability that distinguishes this from off-the-shelf software procurement.
- Milestone and KPI Structuring: RIC structured four formal project deliverables aligned to Enterprise Singapore's Annex 3 requirements, covering implemented module functionalities with AI OCR extraction and automated alerting, a data migration report evidencing integration with Google Workspace and Telegram environments, user acceptance testing (UAT) documentation, and training records demonstrating staff upskilling in AI-driven workflow management. These deliverables mapped cleanly to the 3-month development cycle and provided an auditable path to claim submission.
- Financial Cost Modelling: The qualifying cost model covered S$79,000 in bespoke AI software development across 79 man-days of work, structured under two discrete modules to maximise clarity and audit-readiness. RIC ensured the cost model reflected the genuine development effort, including AI architecture design, hierarchy mapping logic, ETA alerting systems, and invoice matching automation, while remaining fully defensible under Enterprise Singapore's audit requirements.
- Submission and Stakeholder Management: RIC managed the full application through the Business Grants Portal, from submission in March 2026 through to offer issuance in May 2026, a turnaround of under 2 months. The case was evaluated under Enterprise Singapore's Urban Solutions and Sustainability cluster, and RIC ensured the proposal's framing aligned with Singapore Green Plan 2030 objectives and the Resource Sustainability Act, strengthening the strategic narrative for the evaluating agency.
Outcomes |
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Enterprise Singapore approved S$41K in EDG grant support for the development of two AI automation modules over a 3-month qualifying period. The project delivers a bespoke AI-powered operational layer, built specifically for the complex, multi-format document environment of a critical minerals recycling business, capabilities that no off-the-shelf enterprise resource planning (ERP) system could replicate.
On the technology front, the approved project funds the development of a custom AI OCR intake engine capable of extracting data from handwritten recycling logs, purchase orders, bills of lading, and shipping instructions with 80 to 90% accuracy. The system also delivers an "agentic" hierarchy logic layer that links documents across a transaction chain (purchase order to bill of lading to shipping instruction), a Logistics Sentinel AI agent that proactively monitors shipment estimated time of arrivals (ETAs) and triggers automated alerts 48 hours before port penalties are incurred, and an automated AP/AR matching engine that reconciles bank references to invoice numbers in real time.
The operational impact is significant. The company targets an 85% reduction in administrative man-hours, cutting the weekly burden from 400 hours to 60 hours and freeing 340 man-hours per week for reallocation to higher-value sustainability analysis and partner management roles. This administrative de-bottlenecking directly enables a planned 500% increase in monthly processing capacity, from 2,500 tonnes to 12,500 tonnes, without a proportional increase in headcount.
Two new positions will be created as a direct result of the project. A Trade Finance and Cost Control Analyst will focus on tracking cost savings and financial performance post-automation. A Logistics Process Optimisation and Exception Control Manager will oversee AI-orchestrated import and export workflows and manage operational exceptions. Beyond new hires, 19 existing Singaporean staff will be retrained from manual data entry roles into Digital Logistics Controllers and Sustainability Data Analysts, representing a meaningful workforce upskilling outcome.
The grant meaningfully reduces the capital burden of a S$79,000 AI development investment that the company projects will generate cumulative annual cost savings exceeding S$1M, driven by the elimination of recurring port storage penalties, labour efficiency gains, and operational waste reduction. RIC's ability to frame a high-revenue SME's AI investment as a credible innovation and productivity project, positioning it squarely within Singapore's sustainability and circular economy agenda, secured public co-funding for a capability that will underpin the company's next phase of regional expansion.
On the technology front, the approved project funds the development of a custom AI OCR intake engine capable of extracting data from handwritten recycling logs, purchase orders, bills of lading, and shipping instructions with 80 to 90% accuracy. The system also delivers an "agentic" hierarchy logic layer that links documents across a transaction chain (purchase order to bill of lading to shipping instruction), a Logistics Sentinel AI agent that proactively monitors shipment estimated time of arrivals (ETAs) and triggers automated alerts 48 hours before port penalties are incurred, and an automated AP/AR matching engine that reconciles bank references to invoice numbers in real time.
The operational impact is significant. The company targets an 85% reduction in administrative man-hours, cutting the weekly burden from 400 hours to 60 hours and freeing 340 man-hours per week for reallocation to higher-value sustainability analysis and partner management roles. This administrative de-bottlenecking directly enables a planned 500% increase in monthly processing capacity, from 2,500 tonnes to 12,500 tonnes, without a proportional increase in headcount.
Two new positions will be created as a direct result of the project. A Trade Finance and Cost Control Analyst will focus on tracking cost savings and financial performance post-automation. A Logistics Process Optimisation and Exception Control Manager will oversee AI-orchestrated import and export workflows and manage operational exceptions. Beyond new hires, 19 existing Singaporean staff will be retrained from manual data entry roles into Digital Logistics Controllers and Sustainability Data Analysts, representing a meaningful workforce upskilling outcome.
The grant meaningfully reduces the capital burden of a S$79,000 AI development investment that the company projects will generate cumulative annual cost savings exceeding S$1M, driven by the elimination of recurring port storage penalties, labour efficiency gains, and operational waste reduction. RIC's ability to frame a high-revenue SME's AI investment as a credible innovation and productivity project, positioning it squarely within Singapore's sustainability and circular economy agenda, secured public co-funding for a capability that will underpin the company's next phase of regional expansion.