MPTC Annual Conference 2019

Digital Transformation is the buzzword for those hoping to revitalise their businesses. In this conference, businesses learnt how to optimise existing procedures and make their line of work relevant for future changes. The conference reinforced the theme that partnerships are the engine for growth. By engaging in such partnerships, companies ensure long-term sustainability by reforming entrenched mindsets in the industry.

Many SMEs struggle to kickstart the process of digital transformation on their own. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, the forum ensures businesses are IIOT-ready and well-prepared for future disruptions by attaining the Industry 4.0 standard.

The MPTC Annual Conference 2019 held on 9 October 2020 discussed anecdotal cases of companies that have pursued public-private partnerships and embarked on strategies to develop a strong and vibrant digital ecosystem in Singapore.

The conference kicked off with welcome remarks and the opening address made by A*Star SIMTech, a government-funded public organisation that develops high-value manufacturing technology. The RCA Signing Ceremony and presentation of Partners Recognition Awards followed soon after.

Three Guest Speakers who were invited to contribute their insights then shared their expertise for the rest of the morning through keystone talks. In keeping with the topic of digitalisation, Mr Jeremy Fong, CEO of Fong Engineering Manufacturing Pte Ltd, spoke about having a SMART Factory for Better Growth. To emphasise on the importance of partnering with different sectors, Mr Richard Koh, the CTO of Microsoft Operations Pte Ltd, elaborated on the Role of Partnership in Accelerating Digital Transformation.  After a short tea break, this was rounded off by a talk with Mr Lim Hock Chee, Sheng Shiong Group CEO, on Retail 4.0 – The Importance of Digitalisation.

Moving forward, the Digital 4.0 Roadmap was shared by Nakul Malhotra, Vice President at Wilhelmsen Ships Service, one of our industry partners. There was also a panel discussion on Partnering to Accelerate Growth via Digitalisation, with organisations from both the private and public sector represented, such as eGenie and e2i.

After lunch, participants were split into two tracks, Track 1 (Manufacturing & Services) and Track 2 (Maritime). Track 1 benefited from talks dealing with local and global partnerships, technological disruption, improvement in maintenance & productivity, product diversification, operations excellence and IoT (Internet of Things). Track 2 benefited from talks on customer-centric digital solutions, maritime & command centre digitalisation, remotely-operated machinery, autonomous shipping control, e-data logger implementation and intelligent RPA & data analytics.

The conference was a deeply enriching one for members as they learnt how to better optimise their businesses for partnerships in the era of digitalisation.