Rolls-Royce joins with AStar on smart tech

ROLLS-ROYCE and Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) have signed an agreement to set up research centres in the country that will focus on developing smart manufacturing technologies.

The centres will focus on a range of developments including future manufacturing processes, and sensors for internet of things (IoT) technology to support analytics for smarter manufacturing.

The new technology centres – the first of which could be set up within a year – are expected to help keep the country competitive and benefit companies across a range of sectors including industry and healthcare, A*Star chairman Lim Chuan Poh told The Straits Times.

“Indeed, the future of manufacturing will be driven by Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the Internet of Things, additive manufacturing, digital manufacturing, robotics and advanced materials,” Lim said at the signing ceremony in Singapore on 9 January.

“In this increasingly mobile, networked world, businesses that do not invest in digital capabilities will be disrupted.”

Singapore’s government is incentivising companies to use the country as a test-bed for advanced technologies as it seeks to become an advanced manufacturing hub.

“Companies that work with us can use Singapore to prove their solutions, so once successful, Singapore will be the reference site for them,” Fong Pin Fen, director of the Cities Infrastructure & Industrial Solutions Group at Singapore’s Economic Development Board told The Chemical Engineer during a press trip in August.

“We want to do this because it will give us a competitive advantage and first mover advantages,” she added.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Rolls-Royce chairman Ian Davis said the centres will enable the company to have “a complete end-to-end view of our products throughout its life cycle, from R&T (research and technology) through to helping out customers maximise the benefits of their assets and optimise their operations, (and) to help us win future global market share.”