Collaboration among partners crucial for Industry 4.0 to take off: Tharman

Singapore

INDUSTRY 4.0 is a challenge as it will lead to fewer manufacturing jobs in the long term, even as it holds "immense opportunities" for countries and businesses around the world, said Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Tuesday.

"There will be much higher-quality jobs, but they will not be as many," he noted.

He was giving the opening address at the inaugural Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific - a Hannover Messe event, slated to be the biggest advanced manufacturing trade show in the region.

Even as Singapore makes strides in its Industry 4.0 journey, Mr Tharman pointed out that there is a need to create quality jobs outside of manufacturing to ensure that the future remains "job-rich" in every sector of the economy.

To harness the full potential of Industry 4.0, collaboration between countries, industries and the public and private sectors is key, he said.

Mr Tharman highlighted three key areas of collaboration. The first step is to create a common Industry 4.0 framework for companies.

On that front, a new industry network was launched by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) at the event to help companies speed up the implementation of their own transformation programmes through building a community of technology, financing, talent development and training partners.

Known as the Index Partners Network, it complements the Smart Industry Readiness Index, which was launched last year. The index is a diagnostic tool which companies can use to evaluate their Industry 4.0 readiness against a national benchmark.

The second priority for collaboration is to build a robust Industry 4.0 community, by catalysing partnerships to develop advanced manufacturing technologies, said Mr Tharman.

To drive home the message, a whole host of agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were inked at the trade show.

A consortium agreement valued at S$34 million was signed on Tuesday to drive the transformation of the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and to help it gear up for the future economy.

Known as the Pharma Innovation Programme Singapore (PIPS), it is a partnership between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University, the Singapore Institute of Technology, and pharma companies GlaxoSmithKline, MSD International GmbH (Singapore branch), and Pfizer Asia-Pacific.

With the sector facing global pressures on drug pricing and increased competition, the PIPS consortium will focus on increasing productivity and operational efficiency through technology and data analytics.

Next, an MOU was signed by Enterprise Singapore, EDB and German Accelerator South-east Asia to boost startup collaboration between Singapore and Germany, which will support Singapore-based startups in their quest to expand in Germany and Europe.

With that, Germany is now the newest addition to the Global Innovation Alliance Network. This allows local startups to co-innovate with German Mittlestand (SMEs) companies in areas such as Internet-of-Things, 3D printing and smart energy.

Finally, JTC also penned an MOU to help companies in its estates and developments upgrade their manufacturing capabilities.

Under the new partnership, such firms - especially SMEs - will have advanced manufacturing solutions and training programmes tailored to their business.

In the first collaboration under this partnership, JTC, Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, Singapore Precision Engineering & Technology Association, PBA Group and its network of partners will help firms in their advanced manufacturing journey.

On top of that, an advanced manufacturing campus where firms can embrace Industry 4.0 capabilities is being curated at Jurong Innovation District, with more such Factories of the Future to be set up in the district over the next two years.