To help more industrialists embark on their advanced manufacturing journey, JTC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the tripartite partnership among public agencies, businesses and technology enablers. The MoU signing ceremony was witnessed by Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Chan Chun Sing at the inaugural Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific event today.
Under the new partnership, industrialists in JTC’s estates and developments, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), will have offerings in advanced manufacturing solutions and training programmes tailored to their businesses. This aims to help industrialists improve productivity and strengthen competitiveness through process redesign, as well as support their training efforts and accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies.
Under the first collaboration of this partnership, JTC, Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), Singapore Precision Engineering & Technology Association (SPETA), PBA Group and its network of partners will collaborate and work jointly as strategic partners to aid industrialists in their journey towards advanced manufacturing.
PBA will champion this first collaboration by working together with its partners to develop and provide smart manufacturing solutions, including systems, equipment and applications, to facilitate the process redesign and improvement for SMEs in JTC’s developments. Enterprise Singapore, SMF and SPETA will support JTC and PBA to drive the adoption, customisation and co-innovation of advanced manufacturing solutions specific to the needs of Singapore SME manufacturers across different industries. This will contribute to the overall development of the advanced manufacturing ecosystem in Singapore.
More technology enablers are welcomed to indicate their interest to be part of the partnership.
Jurong Innovation District: A District for Industries that Embrace Industry 4.0 Capabilities
JTC is also curating an ecosystem in Jurong Innovation District, a one-stop campus where industrialists can have access to a network of R&D and capability developers, startups, and technology enablers to help them upgrade their capabilities and accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies. Over the next two years, more Factories of the Future (FoF) will also be set up within the District.
Among the latest entrants to the District is PBA Group. The 260,000-square-foot robotics manufacturing facility is expected to house its training academy Robotics Automation Centre of Excellence (RACE), as well as its Advanced New Technology Incubator (ANTI) which will be open to startups and SMEs in the robotics and automation industry. The facility is expected to commence operations in 2020.
In June this year, Shimano Inc broke ground in the District for its first Intelligent Manufacturing Plant in Southeast Asia. Its FoF will include a R&D hub that will cater for studies and test-bedding of first-of-its-kind solutions such as integrating wearable technology with bicycles and use of special materials on cycling apparels.
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC), located within the District, forged strong partnerships with over 60 consortium member companies comprising global leading companies mainly in the heavy engineering sectors. In August 2018, A*STAR launched its 15,000-square-foot Model Factory @ ARTC, a public-private partnership platform where companies across industries and across the value chain can learn, co-develop and test-bed advanced manufacturing technologies to stay competitive. Two of A*STAR’s research entities, the National Metrology Centre and Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech @ NTU), are also expected to be calling the District home by 2020.
Startups in advanced manufacturing, urban solutions and engineering are also housed in LaunchPad @ Jurong Innovation District, which offers shared facilities such as a prototyping workshop and production floor.
These existing and upcoming developments are part of Singapore’s efforts to grow the advanced manufacturing ecosystem in Jurong Innovation District. The District will serve as a living lab for innovations, where companies will be able to house their full value chain of activities and bring ideas from laboratories to prototyping, test-bedding, production and distribution. Master planned and developed by JTC, the District will be developed over 30 years and is estimated to create 95,000 new jobs when fully completed.
