ENHANCING MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITYThe Manufacturing Productivity Technology Centre (MPTC) at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), is the first of its kind in Singapore. Launched in October 2011, MPTC promotes the use of technology to enhance manufacturing productivity by improving efficiency and effectiveness. It also strives to create increased value with innovation towards high-value products and services. Overall, MPTC actively engages local companies to harness A*STAR’s technologies, tools, and capabilities in automation, processes, and systems to gain “step-change” improvements in manufacturing productivity.

MissionMPTC endeavours to spur manufacturing industries towards using technologies and techniques to improve productivity, economic growth, and sustainability. The centre, which showcases productivity technologies, tools and techniques, works closely with industry partners to carry out research and development in productivity-enabling technologies, undertakes knowledge transfers, trains productivity champions, and generates awareness on productivity.

SIMTech

RolesMPTC enhances local companies’ productivity by:

Showcase and PromotionMPTC showcases the productivity gains from the use of technologies, providing “before” and “after” technology adoption comparisions. Industry outreaches, including new technology dissemination, industry forums to gather feedback on industry needs, and end-user adoption-sharing sessions are organised

Knowledge TransferMPTC uses the Learn-Practise-Implement approach to conduct productivity improvement courses by combining interactive classroom sessions with practical on-site project sessions to ensure efficient transfer of knowledge

Technology TransferTechnology transfer is achieved through creating common technology platforms to solve similar needs of many companies, resulting in cost-effective adoption of technologies by the industry

Industry DevelopmentThe centre gathers feedback from industry to understand the productivity challenges it faces, and actively engages the industry to introduce new technologies

Core Capabilities MPTC offers a wide variety of expertise to enhance manufacturing productivity. Core capabilities include Digitalisation, AI & Data Analytics, Cyber Physical System and Industrial Automation

Initiatives MPTC initiatives that address the needs of different industry sectors include:

•Lean Manufacturing To apply lean tools, techniques and concepts to

identify and eliminate wastes

•Operations Management and Innovation (OMNI) A holistic programme for training of Productivity

Champions to establish productivity roadmaps that are aligned with business objectives

•E-beacon Tracker and Mobile Marketing (Bluetooth)

Using Bluetooth beacons to enable location-based targeted tracking or marketing to improve sales and

customer service or productivity

•eDataLoggerforJobTrackingandReport Generation

Using Android devices to capture data and generate reports, eleminating manual entry and errors

• Inventory Tracking System (ITS)A RFID/barcode-based system to manage, track and audit inventory for traceability and productivity

• FITPRISE Business Process Automation and Tracking System

An IT System to help companies automate and track business processes, eliminating double entry

• Mobile Workflow wfMobile™A platform for mobile workforce to performuser-configurable business / operational transactions using Android devices

•CollectionDeliveryManagementSystem(CDMS)A mobile Near Field Communication / barcode- based solution to ensure right items are collectedand delivered to the right customer on-time

•LastMileLogistics-On-the-goPlanningand Monitoring Solution (OPMS) A planning and tracking solution to improve the

last mile logistics service of drivers / vehicles to effectively meet customer imposed pick-up and delivery requirements amidst resource constraints

•ProjectResourceManagementSystem(PRMS) A RFID technology and mobile device with GPS to provide a cost-effective solution to manage the progress and cost of projects

•ManufacturingOperationsManagement A Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM)

solution from production planning, raw material, shop floor job and quality tracking, and delivery order generation

•ShopfloorEquipmentMonitoringIntegrated software to provide real-time machinestatus, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and faster response to deteriorating machine condition to provide visibility and early warning

•MaintenanceManagementSystem A system to help companies to digitise and manage their activities from preventive maintenance, ad-hoc repairs, spares checking to generate report

•ResourceOptimisation Optimisation tools to help companies save costs in inventory, manpower and energy

•AugmentedDemandPlanning To automate the processes of demand forecasting, demand sensing and demand shaping, and validation to align with customer and market requirements

•Real-timeDashboard A real-time dashboard customised to suit the

company needs and to connect to multiple sources for aggregation and analysis of real-time data

•MassAdoptionInitiatives - E-payslip Generator helps companies comply with employment regulations to issue itemised payslip

- NFC-based Asset Management Toolkit helps in the daily asset management, reporting and stock taking

- E-datalogger Lite improves productivity in data entry, logging and report generation

- E-beacon Tracker determines an approximate location of an item, and complements marketing by showing notifications of items that are on sale nearby

Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology 2 Fusionopolis Way, #08-04, Innovis, Singapore 138634Tel: +65 6501 1800 | Fax: +65 6250 3659Email: ido@SIMTech.a-star.edu.sg | Web: www.a-star.edu.sg/SIMTech

For enquiries, please contact: Dr Lee Eng WahDirector, Manufacturing Productivity Technology Centre (MPTC) Email: ewlee@SIMTech.a-star.edu.sg Web: www.a-star.edu.sg/SIMTech-MPTC 03/2018