Disrupting a market isn’t as easy as asserting your dominance or spreading your influence. Sometimes, it has to do with meeting the standards.
This is what the Standards Mapping for Singapore Smart Industry Readiness Index (SmS) is all about. Developed by Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Standards Council, the SmS maps relevant national and international standards to the Singapore Smart Industry Readiness Index. The manufacturing industry is provided with good practices to address the key requirements for interoperability, reliability, safety and cybersecurity.
Making the Mark
Not too long ago, the Singapore Smart Industry Readiness Index was rolled out by the Singapore Government. It was the first in the world to develop an Industry 4.0 tool for the transformation of various industry sectors at the national and enterprise levels. As a comprehensive tool, the Index aims to help all companies regardless of industry and size to reap the opportunities in Industry 4.0 in a systematic and comprehensive way.
The Index was created in partnership with global testing, inspection, certification and training company TÜV SÜD. Consequently, it was validated by an advisory panel of industry and academic experts.
Through a four-step approach, the Index outlines Industry 4.0 concepts for firms to learn, and eventually evaluate their present capabilities with what is possible. Following which, the Index instructs firms on how to architect a transformation roadmap and deliver sustained value for their business.
On a national level, the Index serves as a benchmarking tool for governments to design better sector-specific policy interventions which can speed up the transformation process.
A Cut Above the Rest
The latest SmS is builds upon this.
Mapped to the Index’s eight pillars of focus and containing sixty standards, SmS supports the adoption of smart manufacturing, robotics, automation and cybersecurity. The eight pillars of focus are namely operations, supply chain, product lifecycle, automation, connectivity, intelligence, structure & management, and talent readiness.
Examples of how this will deployed are listed in the media factsheet.
In operations, capability areas which can be expanded upon are the standardisation of information flow across various systems and should be interoperable. A useful standard to measure against is the IEC 62264-3:2016 Enterprise-control system integration Part 3: Activity models of manufacturing operations management.
Or perhaps in the area of connectivity, the TR 47:2016 Technical Reference for Internet-of-Things reference architecture for Smart Nation might be useful to enable connectivity between the sensor networks.
The Importance of Industry Standards for Industry 4.0
The detail to which the SmS goes to will no doubt be useful for any organisation. These standards will help businesses establish consistent specifications and procedures that can be easily understood and adopted. By complying, innovations will be compatible. Moreover, the production and product development process is simplified, shortening time-to-market.
Business which depend on standards can facilitate new growth and market opportunities, drive productivity, optimise resources efficiency and support safety and social needs.
Developed by industry experts from the Manufacturing Standards Committee and with support from TÜV SÜD, the SmS is a comprehensive benchmarking tool.
SmS will be available on the Singapore Manufacturing Federation – Standards Development Organisation’s website. Guiding questions will be available to assist businesses in identifying the standards to address key areas of need.
In time to come, businesses can look forward to future reviews of and updates to the SmS.
