The Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI), the Vocational Training Council (VTC) and a Hong Kong-based investment holding company recently announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to launch the course “Smart Manufacturing Training Programme for Personal Protection Equipment Industry” (SMT Programme).
Also known as the “SMT Programme”, the course will include practical operation know-how on automated mask production lines and mechanical assembly, as well the introduction of new technologies to improve production quality under the trend of digital transformation, such as an overview of Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence production monitoring system, remote data collection, analysis of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the strong demand for personal protection equipment such as masks and has led to the emergence of the local personal protection equipment manufacturing industry in Hong Kong.
However, the large professional talent gap and insufficient technical support in the industry have become major challenges for the industry.
Through training programmes on production, processing, and quality monitoring, the practitioners will be able to put theory into practice to effectively ensure the efficiency and quality of the manufacturing process. The knowledge from the education chain of smart manufacturing of personal protection equipment manufacturing industry continually benefits the practitioners, while this continuous supply of professional talents to the market will help to further Hong Kong’s reindustrialisation.
The SMT Programme is running under the recently launched “Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme” (RTTP) of the Hong Kong SAR Government. While the SMT Programme will be under the RTTP, and the SMT Programme will provide practitioners in the personal protection equipment industry with both theoretical and practical training. In addition, the SMT Programme will also cover Hong Kong “Q-Mark” Scheme and related international standards of testing knowledge and certification.
The investment holding company is a pioneer in the local personal protective equipment manufacturing industry in Hong Kong. The company’s practical experience and technical resources can be learned from and be used for reference, by industry participants or potential entrants through the SMT Programme course. This will help accelerate the overall improvement to the management and production excellence of the industry.
It was noted that quality staff is the most critical contributing factor to a high-quality product. With the rapid development of mask manufacturing in Hong Kong, the whole industry is lacking experienced workers and machine technicians
According to another article, a new market intelligence report released by major market research and consulting firm titled “Global Smart Manufacturing Market”. Covering regions including US, Europe, China, Japan, India, South East Asia and more, the research provides information, statistics, facts and figures, corporate intelligence, economic data, innovation drivers which are very supportive for the companies to maximize or minimize the production of goods depending on the states of demand.
According to the latest research, the global demand for the smart manufacturing market is expected to rise from its initial estimated value of US$171.48 billion in 2018 to an estimated value of US$417.07 by 2026, registering a CAGR of 11.75% in the forecast period. The high adoption of automated machinery in several manufacturing industries is expected to drive the market growth. The increasing amount of government investments currently taking place in support of smart manufacturing is also expected to drive the market growth.
