Smart Manufacturing's Potential Still To Be Realised

The potential productivity gains are huge, but the readiness level towards smart manufacturing in Malaysia is not quite there yet

Industry 4.0 has become a buzzword in Southeast Asia, and the potential for it to revolutionise manufacturing in countries in the region is huge indeed. For instance, a recent study by McKinsey & Company predicts that Industry 4.0 will deliver between USD1.2 trillion and USD3.7 trillion in productivity gains by 2025 and of this ASEAN has the potential to capture productivity gains worth USD216 billion to USD627 billion.

It is no surprise then that South-East Asian countries have increased awareness levels towards the need for Industry 4.0 implementations, which include smart manufacturing. For the uninitiated, technology website WhatIs.com defines smart manufacturing as follows: “Smart manufacturing (SM) is a technology-driven approach that utilises Internet-connected machinery to monitor the production process. The goal of SM is to identify opportunities for automating operations and use data analytics to improve manufacturing performance.”.

Ng Kai Fai, president of SEMI Southeast Asia, notes that there has been a rise in companies embracing smart manufacturing in the region. “Nations across the region are embarking on Industry 4.0 efforts on similar ground – by developing new policies, new tools to evaluate Industry 4.0 readiness and of course, introducing smart factories.”