Feinmetall Singapore unveils S$6m digital manufacturing facility

Singapore

LOCAL precision engineering firm Feinmetall Singapore unveiled its S$6 million digital manufacturing facility on Wednesday.

Aimed at deepening its capabilities and improving productivity, the new 6,700 square foot facility features advanced manufacturing technologies that allow it to analyse machine data, develop measures to minimise stoppage and plan machine maintenance schedules effectively.

These capabilities help the company, which specialises in the design and manufacturing of wafer probe cards for semiconductor wafer tests, eliminate manual and paper-based tracking that is time-consuming and prone to errors.

The SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) also has an e-portal to help its clients troubleshoot and maintain products remotely using instructional videos.

This reduces the need for its service engineers to make overseas trips to clients' offices to solve common issues, and is expected to improve productivity by 30 per cent.

The company expects to increase its revenue by up to 115 per cent and to create 38 high-value jobs in Singapore in the next four years. The company currently hires 50 employees, up from a five-man team when it was first established in 2007.

During the opening ceremony, Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran, said: "Feinmetall Singapore's digital manufacturing facility is an excellent example of how our SMEs are stepping up to build capabilities, through digitalisation, to seize new growth opportunities, and serves as a success story and role model for other SMEs."

The technologies are adopted from the Model Factory@SIMTech, an initiative by A*Star's Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, and Tech Depot, a one-stop centralised platform under the SME Portal aimed at improving SMEs' access to technology and digital solutions.

Feinmetall began working with A*Star in May 2016 to develop a strategic operation and technology roadmap aligned with its business goals to guide its research and development (R&D) and innovation approach. In the last decade, the company has invested more than S$1.5 million in R&D and seen its revenue grow by six-fold.