S$112m boost for digital drive by Singapore petrochem sector

Singapore

PLANS to digitise operations on Jurong Island so as to prepare the local petrochemical industry for the future of manufacturing received another boost on Thursday when Japanese firm Yokogawa Engineering Asia opened in Singapore its first co-innovation centre worldwide.

The centre, in which the firm will invest S$112 million over the next few years, will work with both its clients and IT companies to develop technologies to apply Big Data to industrial automation systems. These can bring about a wider adoption of remote monitoring technologies to improve planning and predictability, thereby contributing to lower maintenance costs and operation expenditures, the firm said.