KUALA LUMPUR Smart factories are  becoming mainstream in the manufacturing industry, offering a new level of efficiency and productivity. Factories are no longer simply a mass of machinery operating as a series of siloed production lines. Instead, industry players are moving to managing interconnected networks of moving parts, something more akin to a living organism, that can be trained and fine-tuned to optimise performance.

According to Ng Kai Fai, President of SEMI Southeast Asia, “In Southeast Asia, there is a rise in companies embracing smart manufacturing. Nations across the region are embarking on Industry 4.0 efforts on similar ground – by developing new policies, new tools to evaluate Industry 4.0 readiness and of course, introducing smart factories.”

“Manufacturers are already leveraging on smart factory components in areas such as advanced planning and scheduling using real-time production and inventory data, and automation for workflow processes. But a true smart factory is a more holistic endeavour, moving beyond the shop floor toward influencing the enterprise and broader ecosystem. Smart factories transcend beyond the four walls of the factory towards a connected global network of similar production systems, and even to the digital supply network more broadly.”

Given the complexity of Industry 4.0 integration into the E&E manufacturing ecosystem, SEMI Southeast Asia will for the first time showcase a fully-fledged smart factory at SEMICON SEA 2019, allowing delegates to walk through the entire end-to-end microelectronics supply chain. Each component along the smart factory multi-step line is displayed, virtually or with actual equipment on the floor, from design and materials through front-end patterning, packaging and test to final board and system assembly. There will also be subject matter experts in attendance as well as a unique AR interactive human-machine interface for delegates to experience.

The smart factory will feature:
– Journey Starts Here: GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon Technologies, ASE
– Smart Automation: Sesto Robotics, INFICON
– Smart Integration: HIWIN Corporation, OMRON, Kulicke & Soffa (K&S), ViTrox Corporation Berhad, Cimetrix, Muehlbauer
– Smart MRO: HPE, K&S, ADLINK

SEMICON SEA 2019 will be held from 7-9 May 2019 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To register, please visit http://www.semiconsea.org/.