Production lines mark the new frontier for Singapore innovation
Singapore-based manufacturers are exporting not just consumer goods, but production know-how as well
Annabeth Leow
Singapore
MULTINATIONAL fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) giants are no strangers to high-tech factories, with their factory sites here no exception.
Singapore-listed Fraser and Neave is building a new S$80 million non-alcoholic beverage facility in Tuas, billed as a "future-ready, smart factory", with features such as an automated storage and retrieval system.
Similarly, Kimberly-Clark Corp has sunk roughly S$450 million into its Tuas plant, lately pumping in S$25 million in May to expand capacity and to roll out solutions such as automatic guided vehicles and advanced warehouse management systems.
But, with the general manufacturing industry spending S$136.9 million on research and development (R&D) in 2017, the production line - and not just products - marks the next frontier in industry innovation.
Using the Republic as an R&D hub, Singapore-based manufacturers are exporting not just consumer goods, but production know-how as well.
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) last year extended its Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) model factory to FMCG firms, on top of aerospace and engineering before.
So far, 10 companies - FMCG household names, such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola, as well as local system integrators and technology providers - have, together with A*Star, put some S$38 million into its R&D in FMCG.
Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon noted at the launch that FMCG companies are "increasingly looking at adopting digital technologies to improve their operations, products and services", using advanced manufacturing tools such as robotics and automation.
Procter & Gamble (P&G), which is among the well-known consumer giants to have signed on with the ARTC, has previously announced trials for the production of hyper-personalised goods, as well as using visual analytics and artificial intelligence for quality control inspections.
Now, P&G is also working to automate perfume drum-unloading at a Pioneer plant that makes fragrances for more than 200 products across the brand portfolio, it has told BT.
The "large pour automation" project, which is under testing with the ARTC and local engineering business Malayan Daching, would boost efficiency and operational flexibility by getting technology to replace a repetitive task normally done manually.
According to Samuel Garcia, P&G's Asia-Pacific vice-president, the barrel automation will be implemented in the Singapore plant - but that will just be "the beginning of sending these technologies out to our other factories around the world".
The Republic also has "an ecosystem we don't find everywhere" of home-grown firms that offer digital solutions such as data analytics more cheaply than big tech firms, he said.
P&G's Mr Garcia said that there is a growing need for advanced manufacturing in the region, so companies can stay competitive with not only big multinational rivals but "more agile, more cost-competitive" small local players in emerging markets.
R&D director Fabienne Attal, from snack maker Mondelez, added that businesses here can uniquely work "with different actors within the R&D community and food industry, including accelerators, startups, suppliers, government agencies and academia".
David Low, chief executive of the ARTC, told BT that the agency sets up "multi-party collaborations", including with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) coming on board.
"For instance, we recently kicked off an initiative for hyper-personalised manufacturing together with industry partners, including multinational companies and local SMEs.
"Public-private partnerships play an important role in innovation, especially in the age of Industry 4.0."
READ MORE: Asian boom drives Singapore R&D in consumer goods
