AMIC, MTA2015 exhibitor, says national education programmes and collaboration with industry has paid off and helped boost manufacturing industry

One of the key drivers of the Singapore economy, the manufacturing industry, contributes about 20 to 25 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Precision Engineering (PE) – the backbone of the industry – is applied in sectors from aerospace to medical, equipment building to oil & gas. From simple contract manufacturing in the early days, the Singapore precision engineering sector now provides integrated solutions from design to prototyping to production and even supply chain management. The sector recorded a growth of about four per cent in 2014.

To further boost the PE industry, the Singapore government has collaborated with industry and academic partners to develop fresh talent, as well as enhance the knowledge and deep skillsets of the current work force. The Additive Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) and Centre for Digital & Precision Engineering (CDPE) at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) are two such academic partnerships with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Through government support and funding in the Continuing Education and Training (CET) and Pre-Employment Training (PET) national programmes – cumulatively S$128 million – NYP offers the Precision Engineering Mastercraftsman (PeMC) and National Precision Engineering Scholarship (NPES) programmes for both students and working professionals. These programmes involve hands-on work at the AMIC and CDPE across every stage of the precision engineering process, from design to production.

With the advent of new technologies, students now have the opportunity to enhance their skills and knowledge of the latest precision engineering and manufacturing technology such as additive manufacturing or 3D printing, robotics and Industrie 4.0 applications. The AMIC and CDPE unveiled these advanced manufacturing technologies at an exclusive media tour today.

“Advanced manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing or even the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) are enabling manufacturers to create even more value in their processes. With the digitalisation of the manufacturing process, design becomes increasing important across the entire manufacturing value chain, from the beginning till the end. Manufacturers can now integrate more capabilities and functionalities to their products and solutions because it is no longer about mass production, but more about mass customisation or personalisation of design and production,” says Mr. David Wong, Head of AMIC & Deputy Director, Aerospace & Precision Engineering, School of Engineering, NYP.

Concurring, Mr. William Lim, Project Director for Machinery Events, Singapore Exhibition Services adds, “At MTA2015, we want to highlight how manufacturing and the precision engineering sector has evolved with technological advances. Our collaboration with AMIC and NYP is timely, as it shows the efforts of academia, the industry and government to enhance the capabilities of Singapore companies and move up the value chain.”

AMIC will be displaying some of these technologies at MTA2015 from 14 to 17 April 2015 at the Singapore Expo.