The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez is calling on all manufacturing firms to innovate and go into digital transformation, to be ahead of the curve and be competitive.
The Department Secretary cited the accelerating pace of technology solutions in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which companies must adopt.
According to a recent press release, the Secretary invited an industrial conglomerate to be a digital partner, which will help provide digital solutions to manufacturing firms in the Philippines, during a recent meeting with the company’s Philippine President and CEO.
Smart manufacturing
The Department is committed to continuously increase the manufacturing industry’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Any company that it helps will be an addition to the industry’s growth.
Just like in Singapore, they consider technology providers as a digital transformation partner that will inspire a digital revolution in the Philippines, one company at a time.
The company is an industrial conglomerate that focuses on electrification, automation and digitalisation, which established its first fully integrated Digitalisation Hub in Singapore in 2017.
Supported by the Singaporean government, the Hub brings the company’s expertise and innovations in the Internet of Things (IoT) to support digitalisation efforts of companies in Southeast Asia’s urban infrastructure, industry, energy and healthcare sectors.
For the Philippine food and beverage industry, the company devised a “Digital Factory” that simulates machines and plants in a digital platform.
This helps factory managers remotely monitor their production and find ways to streamline their business. This concept can be similarly adapted to other industries.
Instead of physical models and tests, companies may also utilise artificial intelligence (AI) in order to create a “digital twin” of a product and conduct tests virtually.
This reduces the cost of and wastage of material needed to make models and tests.
Future plans
The Secretary has invited the company to present their technology during the upcoming Inclusive Innovation Conference 2019, which is happening on 23 September 2019.
The event’s theme is “Bridging the Transformation Divide: Fostering Regional Inclusive Innovation Centers and Startup Ecosystems.”
The DTI, the Board of Investments (BOI) in collaboration with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Berlin, and the company have also agreed to explore collaboration in producing a Philippine Roadmap that focuses on smart manufacturing.
The initial identified areas for participation in the roadmap included rail, intelligent transport systems, future grid, and building technology.
Additionally, a composite team from BOI provided inputs that would possibly focus the roadmap in upscaling the Philippine manufacturing sector through promoting the benefits of Industry 4.0 among local industries.
Furthermore, the Secretary requested the company to provide insights on the Philippine e-vehicle industry roadmap being crafted by the Department.
Their goal is to set up the necessary infrastructure and incentives to make e-vehicles a viable choice for Filipinos.
OpenGov Asia recently reported on The Philippines releases standards for electric vehicles. The release of these standards is in line with the government’s drive to modernise the public transport system.
