The COVID-19 outbreak has evolved at an unprecedented scale, forcing governments and authorities all over the world to implement measures such as lockdown of cities, restricting movement of people to check and control of pandemic. This has consequently affected global trade and supply chain which has come to almost a standstill. Organizations needing to mitigate workforce disruption, harness virtual working where possible to keep employees safe, disinfecting workplaces, amongst many other things.
COVID 19 has changed the game and this has prompted companies to rethink about their manufacturing strategies, how to better manage and diversifying risk. The fact today is digital transformation has never been more critical and now, it is no longer an option, but whether it can be done in time.
According to the World Economic Forum, “the global manufacturing community is lagging behind in its adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. More than 70% of companies are still stuck in pilot purgatory.”
New SEMI Southeast Asia Smart Manufacturing Council
As part of SEMI’s global smart manufacturing initiative to help drive the adoption of Industry 4.0 best practices, SEMI Southeast Asia formed a Smart Manufacturing Council comprises of leaders from the various companies including Micron Singapore and Infineon Singapore. Both companies are part of the World Economic Forum Lighthouse Network.
The council is chaired by Koen De Backer, VP of Micron’s Smart Manufacturing and AI, and co-chaired by Chong Chan Ping, Executive VP & GM, Kulicke & Soffa. The members meet regularly to share best practices and tackle smart manufacturing challenges.Next January, SEMI Southeast Asia will partner with A*Star, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research to host a smart manufacturing conference. With all these events, SEMI hopes to create the awareness and facilitate learnings so as to accelerate the adoption of Smart Manufacturing in the industry.
Digital transformation has never been so critical. In the face of the COVID19 pandemic, it’s imperative that companies accelerate the implementation of smart factories to build resiliency in order to better withstand future challenges.
At SEMI, we will continue our mission to provide industry stewardship and engage our members to advance the interests of the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain. We are confident that, through collaboration, the semiconductor industry can emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.
More information on global SEMI Smart Manufacturing Initiative