Enhancing skills in manufacturing
07 Nov 2024
PLANS are afoot by SIRIM National Precision Tooling (NPT) for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence (COE) to cater for bumiputra-owned industries that utilise tools, dies and moulds (TDM).
With this centre, these companies in the TDM segment can have ready access to a Smart Factory that employs Industry 4.0 technologies.
It would serve as a hub of innovation, offering a scalable and adaptable environment where small and medium enterprises (SMEs), industry leaders and even academic institutions could collaborate seamlessly under one roof.
Recent developments with more modern manufacturing machines such as 3D printers would allow companies to combine such resources and utilise smart manufacturing technologies like the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve their manufacturing processes.
It would also be possible for them to monitor production in real-time, predict maintenance needs and optimise resource use with the use of these latest factory technologies.
These plans follow the success of the TDM 2.0 Project which saw selected beneficiary bumiputra-owned companies undergo capability developments under SIRIM NPT’s Coaching and Certification Building Program, Equipment Acquisition Program and Design Capability Development Program.
“Initially we started with the automotive sector, but now we are expanding it to cover three other industries – aerospace, medical devices and rail.
“So far, NPT has helped more than 40 companies – mainly SMEs from these four sectors – by providing access to modern equipments or machine tools such as the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine, which is crucial in the TDM sector,” NPT’s chief executive officer Ts. Mohd Fauzi says.
The planned COE is to be equipped with modern facilities which can communicate over the Internet cloud for product development.
“This serves as a heart for innovation, where the industry can collaborate seamlessly through a digital platform – the design can be done elsewhere and be manufactured here, for example.
“It will also be a centre for learning, especially for younger talents, to acquire knowledge and new technologies in the various industries,” Ts. Mohd Fauzi says.
SIRIM NPT also highlights its aim to develop 1,000 high-skilled talents in the TDM sector within five years.
“Let’s say there are 100 companies and each one develops two talents per year – in five years this will be 10. So from 100 companies, this will amount to 1,000 talents. The plan is for NPT to subsidise half of their salaries during the one-year period,” Ts. Mohd Fauzi says.
He notes that companies which hire talents from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres may find this useful.
“With this type of training, these are considered high-value added kind of jobs. This would also help to attract younger talents to the industry to ensure its sustainability moving forward,” he adds.
Ts. Mohd Fauzi hopes these initiatives can start in the year 2026.
“This is planned under the 13th Malaysia Plan. We have grown from 15 companies when we started this under TDM 1.0.
“And these latest plans will see NPT aim for 100 companies,” he adds.
Source: The Star
