Philippines partners with Singaporean group to digitise manufacturing sector

The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has partnered with Singapore’s International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) to drive digital transformation in manufacturing facilities across the country.  

INCIT will help DTI adopt the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) framework throughout the Philippines spanning over a timeline plan of five years. 

SIRI provides a framework to help solve production problems, whether across silos, processes, technologies, or the organisation itself. It allows manufacturers to prioritise their key focus areas to streamline resources to achieve productivity.  

INCIT’s CEO Raimund Klein told iTnews Asia that DTI will use SIRI to evaluate smart industry maturity levels in manufacturing facilities. 

“To create the desired impact, we expect a minimum of over 400 official SIRI assessments to be carried out within the first two years of the project,” he added. 

SIRI and its associated tools, frameworks and programmes are expected to have a tangible, positive impact on the Philippine manufacturing sector, boosting the adoption of Industry 4.0 and enhancing productivity.  

In the initial phase, the partners will focus on scaling their network of Certified SIRI Assessors (CSAs) and developing SIRI Training and Examination Centres along with parallel assessments of individual factories. 

Further, the firms will work on environmental social and governance (ESG) data aggregation and also develop data use cases to provide transparency to manufacturers and other industry players, Klein explained. 

“This data transparency will help create Industry 4.0 taxonomy recommendations regarding future industry segment-specific training.”

According to the new agreement inked between the firms, the developments are said to contribute towards the DTI’s new science, technology, and innovation-driven industry strategy, which aims to leverage innovation to expand economic opportunities and catalyse inclusive, sustainable and resilient industrialisation. 

The roll-out of SIRI in manufacturing facilities across the Philippines will be financially supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

“The adoption of SIRI will enable manufacturers throughout the Philippines to unlock the full potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, so they can rapidly grow and develop,” he said.