TO DRIVE the adoption of sustainable and innovative business practices in the process sector, the Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) has launched a benchmarking tool that companies – particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – can use to assess themselves.

The Process Construction and Maintenance Industry (PCM) Digitalisation Readiness Index (DRI) will show companies where they stack up against industry standards, and suggest solutions they can adopt to improve their processes.

It builds on the association’s existing efforts to encourage digital transformation in the industry, such as the PCM Industry Digital Plan launched last year, said ASPRI president Danny Chua at the association’s 25th anniversary dinner on Wednesday (Jul 20).

Speaking at the event, Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said that PCM companies not only need to embrace digitalisation, but must also set their sights on becoming more sustainable.

The increasing focus on climate change and sustainability has led to a greater impetus for the energy and chemicals industry to use cleaner energy sources. “As companies adapt to decarbonise their operations and provide products relevant to the low-carbon transition, the PCM sector must also adapt by re-assessing their services and product offerings as an essential partner to the energy and chemical industry,” said Dr Tan.

Speaking to The Business Times, Chua stressed that digitalisation and sustainability go hand in hand. “There has been a lot of talk about why digitalisation is the key element to sustainability,” he said – which is what spurred the association to come up with the DRI.

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The DRI journey is meant to be an “intimate” one, with relationship managers guiding SME owners through the process and interpretation, said Chua.

In the first stage, companies answer questions grouped around 6 main pillars: people, strategy, technology, integration, processes, and sustainability. These questions, formulated through a peer and literature review, were road-tested with more than 40 of the association’s members, he added.

After completing the survey, companies receive a customised report showing where they stand compared to industry standards, as well as an assessment of how they performed and can improve in each of the 6 areas. They are offered solutions specific to the 6 areas, and information on the grants that they can tap to adopt these solutions.

“We understand that different companies face different challenges when it comes to digitalisation, so we cannot pluck any solution off the rack and expect them to adopt it,” Chua said.

“Maybe they do not even know which areas they need to improve,” he added. “So the idea of having the DRI is to create awareness... and we hope that, in the process, it will pave the way for greater innovation among our member companies”.

By adopting these new technologies, local process sector SMEs can create a niche for themselves to compete on the global stage. Ultimately, these plans are aimed at giving SME members a springboard to expand overseas, said Chua.

To complement these efforts, ASPRI has set up a sustainability chapter to look at the best solutions in sustainability which the industry can adopt. The chapter will also work with industry experts to learn and co-create technologies that can be adopted in Singapore.

For example, Chua told BT that the chapter has organised a study trip to the Netherlands to understand what companies in Europe are doing to develop sustainability. “We are also visiting some of the major plants to see what they are doing to transform the nature of their business,” he added.

In addition, the chapter holds monthly events where members can meet industry stakeholders to understand the sustainability solutions currently available.

“The whole idea is to create awareness and get more stakeholders involved so that (the sustainability chapter) can eventually become an ecosystem,” said Chua.