Smart Factories 4.0 on Malaysian Shores

In the age of the Industry 4.0. Smart Factory 4.0, which refers to the combination of several major innovations in digital technology, all coming to maturity at present, is poised to transform the engineering, technology and production processes of the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers are achieving new levels of efficiency and productivity, in which costs are decreasing, and new revenue opportunities are being revealed. As machines talk to each other and robots take on more tasks, the biggest challenge of industrial leaders isn’t only technology—it is the digital maturity of its people.

Strategy, business model, technology, systems, and processes are all part of the equation for success, but the real question here is—are the people matured enough to converge with machines to create a harmonious man-machine convergence? Should organisations be investing in its people as heavily as it is investing in machines?

New technologies of smart production involve a fundamental change in the division of work between humans and machines. This brings about substantial consequences for the tasks, quality of work and competencies of the employees. Since there is still a lack of knowledge about the characteristics of the new working processes so far, potential barriers to implementation and acceptance represent a substantial risk for enterprises aiming at introducing intelligent technologies. Success largely depends on an organization’s Digital IQ, especially how well its HR leaders define, lead, and communicate the transformation. It’s also dependent upon the digital qualifications of the employees who need to roll out digital processes and services. Radical disruption isn’t always comfortable for the people who make it happen, so change management will also be critical. Data analytics will become a core capability for every organization, whilst enhancing skills and organizational structures will be critical.

Acquiring technology is easy, but employee’s engagement and competencies can only be nurtured. While tasks are being automated, the human part of work and skills such as creativity, emotional intellect, empathy, communication, problem-solving, persuasion, personal service, and strategic decision making cannot be replicated by machines.

It is evident that the gap between ambition and transformative action can only be bridged by humans. This demands significant change from the HR forefront—new ways of working, new skills up-skilling and capabilities, new operating models, and new roles and responsibilities. HR leaders must invest their talent strategies to acquire and retain the skills needed to operate in the Industry 4.0 environment. A new culture is needed to manage new “digital employees” and to encourage greater innovation, collaboration, and risk taking.

If an organisation is at the adoption crossroads, the SMART FACTORY 4.0 conference is a must attend as leading speakers from pioneering organisations such as Bosch, Hitachi, Huawei, Panasonic, Rolls-Royce, Kaspersky along with local pacesetters like Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) set out to provide a debate on the reality of Smart Factories, Industrial Workforce and the expected shift, and at the same time encourage smart thinking on how to transform your human resources strategies so that it can overcome challenges and seize the opportunities that will no doubt emerge from the fourth industrial revolution.

The 1st edition of the SMART FACTORY 4.0, Conference presents the manufacturing industry, multinationals and SMEs alike, with the knowledge, technology, strategy and debate on critical considerations to transform from traditional automation to a fully connected and flexible system—one that capable of building intelligent, efficient and agile ‘Factories of the Future’. The landmark conference will be staged as an all-in-one platform as they come together to deliberate on strategy, technology and policy imperatives and pave the way forward for Malaysia and its Asian counterparts to take a leap forward towards establishing world-class manufacturing hubs.

An audience of 100 professionals will be expected to attend this Conference and Mini Exhibition. The three-day event scheduled on 17 to 19 July 2018 at the Connexion Conference & Event Centre, Kuala Lumpur , bearing the theme Man-Machine Convergence, is presented by IBN International, one of the region’s leading business intelligence providers.

For more information visit the official conference website: http://www.intel-biznet.com/smartfactory4.0. — Construction+ Online