Mr Willson Deng, Chief Executive Officer, Arcstone (right), shares about the A*STAR-Arcstone joint lab with Minister Gan Kim Yong.A*STAR and local manufacturing software company Arcstone opened a joint laboratory at A*STAR’s Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) on 17 June 2021, with Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong gracing the joint lab’s opening.

The digital manufacturing joint lab aims to help manufacturers go digital and go green, through the development of a next-generation Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Manufacturers of today operate in an Industry 4.0 era, allowing real-time extraction and monitoring of operational data, as well as the ability to control machines digitally and remotely. Today’s MES face limits, however, such as in the optimisation of production processes. Against this backdrop, A*STAR and Arcstone will collaborate to give today’s MES added intelligence – or “adding a brain to the body”.

With a total investment of S$18 million over three years, the A*STAR-Arcstone joint lab will transform Arcstone’s existing solutions into a next-generation MES suite. The solutions will incorporate technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to help manufacturers make better decisions – through visualisation, control, optimisation, and sustainability.

Manufacturers, including local SMEs, will be able to tap on these smart manufacturing solutions to increase manufacturing transparency and improve production scheduling across the supply chain, paving the way for more competitive and robust supply chains.