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The Covid-19 pandemic has forced more companies in Singapore to think about how to use digital technologies to increase operational resilience by improving business processes and upgrading workers.

But when it comes to rolling out digital solutions sustainably, many still fail.

Last year, 74 percent of business leaders surveyed by the global management consultancy McKinsey & Company said that although they had tried Industry 4.0 use cases, these initiatives never went beyond the pilot phase. One of the main causes: These companies did not have the know-how to successfully implement changes on a large scale.

To help them, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), with the support of Workforce Singapore (WSG), has launched the Industry 4.0 Human Capital Initiative (IHCI).

The IHCI is the first program in Singapore to promote digitization with an equal focus on technological aspects and human capital development. In collaboration with consultants from McKinsey and Ernst & Young, the participants will identify key areas for digitization based on the business impact and adapt Industry 4.0 solutions directly to their production space – while going through change management and job redesign at the same time.

Since March 2020, 67 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies have successfully completed the IHCI’s eight-week enabler program. On average, they identified opportunities to increase productivity by 10 to 275 percent by redesigning around 1,159 jobs in line with technology upgrades.

The program started its fourth cohort in May of this year with another 21 companies on board.

“The IHCI program aims to support 300 companies on their way to the transformation to Industry 4.0 by 2022,” says Anderson Ee, Director of Manufacturing at WSG.

Freeing up your capacities for more value-adding tasks

Semiconductor manufacturer AEM signed up for the IHCI program last year.

“We signed up to better understand how Industry 4.0 can be used to help our employees redesign and upgrade their job roles – and to increase their job satisfaction while increasing productivity for the company,” says Lee Chee Kiong, AEM Quality Director.

Prior to the IHCI program pilot, AEM’s software engineers spent a significant amount of time physically monitoring the test benches and manually reconciling the data for reporting. During the pilot phase, data was collected from the programmable controllers (PLC) of the AEM machines so that performance could be monitored and visualized in real time.

Without the need for manual data aggregation, these engineers can now perform higher-value activities that require specific skills, such as: B. condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance, which may add new revenue streams.

To aid this advancement, AEM conducted a skill mapping exercise to identify new skills that would be required compared to the skills of their engineers. The learning gaps were then compared with the training programs available in the SkillsFuture Training Exchange and integrated into AEM’s learning and development roadmaps.

“Using technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness is critical for us to stay competitive and provide a better work environment for employees,” said Tay Cheng Hoo, Human Resources Director of AEM.

“This puts the company in a better position to attract good employees and to retain these talents. With a stable workforce, we can also look at additional human capital strategies such as preparing employees for leadership roles, providing better incentives, and investing in training and retraining as we move forward on our Industry 4.0 journey, ”he adds.

“If anything, the IHCI program gave them an exciting insight into the future of work.”

However, the road ahead is not without its challenges, as Mr. Lee notes. “Exploring new ways to conduct operations and changing established, ingrained practices while meeting business goals and managing costs is a difficult balance.”

AEM, aware of the ROI required, ran its Industry 4.0 pilot with minimal financial risk to litmus test feasibility and business impact. That approach has allowed the company to build confidence in expanding the company’s Industry 4.0 efforts, he notes.

Make better decisions, improve processes

Original equipment maker Completion Products (CP), which supplies equipment to the oil and gas industry, has joined the program to find opportunities to grow productivity and reduce reliance on outsourcing.

By integrating digital technologies into their operations, companies will be better able to improve machine effectiveness and productivity on their way to Industry 4.0. PHOTO: MCKINSEY & COMPANY

“In the past two years alone, our accessories division has seen unprecedented growth of 300 percent, resulting in long backlogs as we were unable to meet all of our customer orders on short notice. That is why we turned to subcontracting, ”says CP Managing Director Anush Rajaram.

“Our biggest challenge in increasing capacity was the lack of reliable data to identify bottlenecks. With IoT solutions, we can now plan our production capacities precisely and maximize our efficiency, ”he adds.

Previously, CP had relied on manual barcode scanning to estimate production capacity, which was often counterproductive as the data was not tracked in real time.

During the pilot phase of the IHCI Enabler program, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors were deployed on four of the eight most commonly used CNC machines to examine the actual device utilization of CP and to identify performance gaps.

“The measured values ​​refuted earlier estimates and showed an average machine utilization of 40 percent compared to the originally calculated 70 percent,” says Rajaram.

He adds that the data made it possible to increase OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) by at least 50 percent through targeted efforts under the guidance of employees.

This visibility into workload enables line workers to communicate better with their managers and plays an active role in promoting productivity improvements. At the same time, it allowed CP to balance the work capacity of existing employees and reduce outsourcing expenses, creating savings that employees would benefit from as the company continued to grow cost-effectively.

About the IHCI program

1. You don’t have to be in the manufacturing industry to benefit

People from related industries such as logistics and construction will also benefit from the enabler program. Both large companies and SMEs can participate as the program is specially tailored to the needs of each individual company.

2. Expect a combination of experiential learning and actual testing of digital solutions

The IHCI program is carried out in five structured steps:

• awareness
  Participants will initially take part in a three-day awareness bootcamp to deepen their understanding of Industry 4.0 technologies and transformation tools while at the same time gaining an insight into the best human capital management practices.
• Build your IoT solution
  Consultants then conduct on-site diagnostics and interviews to identify bottlenecks and install appropriate IoT solutions to tackle the pending problems without investing capital on the part of the participating company.
• “See” it for yourself
  The collected data is analyzed and used to identify productivity gaps and develop recommendations for optimizing operational processes. The consultants will also review and redesign workplaces and recommend training courses to equip workers with the right skills to drive and sustain change.
• Do-it-yourself roadmap
  Finally, based on the IoT pilot, companies receive a tailor-made roadmap that enables them to continue their digital transformation according to the IHCI enabler program.
• Ecosystem for scaling Industry 4.0 implementation
  After the pilot, participants will have the opportunity to join the Community of Practice path for the next 12 months, where they can work closely with solution providers on curated paths to support their scale-up plans.

An affordable journey into Industry 4.0

The eight-week IHCI Enabler program provides companies with a cost-effective and empowering environment to find out what is required for a successful Industry 4.0 transformation and a bespoke implementation roadmap.

While the unsubsidized fee for the program is S $ 63,250, it qualifies for up to 90 percent funding from the WSG. Further financial support can also be found under the SSG SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) program and the SBF Rising in Support of Enterprises (RISE) program.