According to Chee Yih Tzuen (centre in pic), CIO of IJM Corporation and member of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Industry 4.0 Working Committee, the last decade had seen a collection of technologies such as IoT (internet-of-things), artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing, robotics etc. widely adopted to support innovation-driven growth strategies. These technologies are part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0.
He added, “With the additive effect of COVID-19, the overwhelming majority of manufacturers are describing Industry 4.0 as an important element in their strategy to adapt the changes and serve the community better. Now, the pace of change and the rates of production are increasing exponentially.
“We need to see this technological revolution as a means of accelerating new ideas and opportunities that can serve all manner of business, markets and workers. This is how value and competitive advantage is created and sustained.”
He said this during the Industry 4.0 for the Manufacturing Industry – The Road Ahead online event, held recently in association with SAP, ABeam Consulting (Malaysia), and FMM.
SAP Malaysia’s managing director Hong Kok Cheong (left in pic) agreed with Chee, noting that given the critical role the manufacturing industry plays in spurring Malaysia’s economic development, and with the ongoing pandemic resulting in a disruption never seen before, Industry 4.0 adoption is an urgent requirement to retain competitive advantage, reduce costs, and improve productivity.
Globally, Industry 4.0 adoption and implementation by manufacturers and suppliers is estimated to result in US$3.7 trillion worth of value creation by 2025, said Satya Narayan Sahu, Senior Director of SAP’s Industry 4.0 APJ Innovation Office (pic), quoting McKinsey & Company.
“According to a study from the MPI Group, 84% of manufacturing companies see an increase in product quality and 82% see an increase in customer satisfaction. A majority of companies see an increase in productivity by up to 6%, and profitability of up to 5%,” he added.
SAP is a member of the Industry 4.0 working group and a driving force behind the initiative, being a co-founder of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance.
SAP’s Industry 4.0 strategy, also known as Industry 4.Now, aims to move from factory-focused initiatives to a company-wide, competitive business strategy, combining manufacturing automation with enterprise business execution by being customer-centric, reinventing production to enable customisation in a mass-production environment, and connecting the entire company together.
“Our strategy rests on 4 pillars; intelligent products, intelligent factories, intelligent assets, and empowered people, and for each of them, there are a number of out-of-the-box solutions running on a strong technical platform. But it’s not possible to adopt all of them in one go.
RISE-ing with SAP
“Hence, SAP launched the ‘RISE with SAP’ campaign. Through this single contract, we can help companies with their core business processes using S4/HANA, develop their unique innovations via the SAP Business Technology Platform, and connect to partners within the ecosystem via SAP Business Network Starter Pack.” Sahu explained.
Vincent Cheah, Director – Industry of ABeam Consulting (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (right in main pic), highlighted that as one of SAP’s partners, the 40-year-old Japanese consulting firm fully supports Industry 4.0 and SAP’s ‘RISE with SAP’ campaign.
“When you talk about the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Industrial Revolutions, the focus was on self-sufficiency, on the scale of a single business. With Industry 4.0, it’s not only about scaling up your own processes in general, but also to upscale your organisation to connect to a larger ecosystem – your business partners, customers, and suppliers.
“ABeam’s ‘Accelerated Manufacturing Template’ aligns with ‘RISE with SAP’; we will conduct, free-of-charge, a readiness assessment where we look at your business processes, system landscape or even a template fit-analysis.
“We can deploy an intelligent factory with a tested, preconfigured system equipped with all the accelerators; and it comes with intelligent technologies like SAP Analytics Cloud, and optionally Robotic Process Automation, Digital Supplier Network, Logistics Business Network, and Asset Intelligent Network,” he concluded.
