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SUCCESS CASE
How a Critical Minerals Recycler Secured S$41K for AI Automation
RIC helped a Singapore critical minerals recycler secure EDG support for bespoke AI automation across import, logistics, finance, and document workflows.
CATEGORY
Enterprise Digitalisation
CLIENT TYPE
Critical minerals / battery recycling
GRANT TYPE
Enterprise Development Grant support
FUNDING SECURED
Above S$41,000
About the Client and Project
Client Profile
The client is a Singapore-based Li-ion battery recycling and critical minerals recovery company with annual revenue exceeding S$100 million. It operates a licensed toxic industrial waste facility and is the first Singapore recycling facility to achieve R2v3 certification for Li-ion batteries, alongside ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 accreditations. The company processes 2,500 tonnes of battery scrap monthly at a 95% metal recovery rate, serving global Tier-1 partners across the battery supply chain.
Project Nature
The project involved developing a bespoke AI automation system for a high-volume critical minerals recycling operation. The system covered two main modules: import data entry automation and AP / AR and financing automation. Key capabilities included AI OCR extraction from handwritten recycling logs and shipping documents, hierarchy mapping across purchase orders, bills of lading and shipping instructions, shipment ETA monitoring, automated alerts before port penalties, and real-time reconciliation of bank references to invoice numbers. The system was designed for the client’s specialised recycling and logistics environment, not generic ERP automation.
Funding Objective and Challenge
Funding Objective
The funding objective was to support the client’s EDG project under the Innovation and Productivity track. The grant covered 50% of qualifying software development costs for bespoke AI automation, including an Import Data Entry Automation Module and an AP / AR and Financing Automation Module. The project was intended to reduce manual administrative work, improve logistics control, prevent avoidable port penalties, strengthen financial reconciliation, support staff upskilling, and enable future processing capacity growth without proportional headcount expansion.
The Challenge
The client operated at significant commercial and operational scale, processing large volumes of Li-ion battery scrap while serving global Tier-1 partners. However, its administrative backbone remained heavily manual, creating a mismatch between its growth ambitions and internal operating capacity. The challenge was to frame the project as more than an automation tool purchase. The grant case had to show how AI-powered OCR, logistics alerts, AP / AR matching, and human-in-the-loop validation would create proprietary workflow capabilities within a complex, compliance-sensitive recycling environment.
How RIC Supported the Client
RIC supported the client in structuring and securing the EDG application for its AI automation project.
RIC’s support included:
• Framing the project as the development of proprietary AI capabilities, not off-the-shelf software procurement.
• Structuring two automation modules: Import Data Entry Automation and AP / AR and Financing Automation.
• Articulating the technical value of a custom AI OCR engine for handwritten Goods Received Notes and recycling documents.
• Designing auditable deliverables aligned to Enterprise Singapore requirements, including implemented modules, data migration, UAT documentation, and training records.
• Building the qualifying cost model around bespoke AI software development and 79 man-days of development effort.
• Positioning the project within Singapore’s sustainability, circular economy, and resource efficiency priorities.
RIC’s role was to turn a practical operations bottleneck into a credible innovation and productivity funding case.
Outcome
FUNDING SECURED
Above S$41,000
The client secured S$41,000 in EDG support for two AI automation modules over a three-month qualifying period. The project funded a bespoke AI-powered operational layer for OCR intake, document hierarchy mapping, shipment ETA monitoring, automated alerting, and AP / AR invoice matching. The company targeted an 85% reduction in administrative man-hours, two new roles, and retraining of 19 Singaporean staff into digital logistics and sustainability data roles.
What This Means for Similar Companies
For high-growth SMEs, enterprise digitalisation is not always about adopting standard software. In complex sectors such as recycling, logistics, manufacturing, and regulated operations, the strongest projects often involve bespoke systems that reflect the company’s real workflows. This case shows that AI automation can be fundable when the business case connects technical development, productivity gains, staff upskilling, compliance-sensitive operations, and strategic growth. The key is to show why the project creates internal capability, not just convenience.
