A*STAR Collaborative Commerce Marketplace launched to encourage growth of precision engineering R&D and business eco-system.
Singapore — Call it the LinkedIn for local manufacturing businesses. To encourage business collaborations and interactions between multi-national corporations (MNCs), small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) research institutes, and institutes of higher learning, the A*STAR Collaborative Commerce Marketplace (ACCM) was launched today.
The ACCM was one of four new initiatives announced at the Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation (PE COI) Annual Conference 2016. Graced by Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), Mr S. Iswaran, the event was organised by A*STAR's Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), in collaboration with the Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association (SPETA).
The four new initiatives aim to up the competitiveness of local precision engineering companies by developing their capabilities.
The ACCM e-portal highlights the capabilities of local SMEs, so MNCs can easily source for prospective suppliers in Singapore. The platform also allows SMEs to gain insights to the needs of MNCs. Through this network, companies with similar interests can better connect with each other, and to A*STAR research institutes or universities that can help them bridge technology gaps. The ACCM is open to all government agencies, suppliers and industry partners.
Details of the ACCM are in Annex A.
A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SIMTech and SPETA also allows the association’s members to accelerate and scale-up their adoption of technology. Through this collaboration, SPETA members can benefit from SIMTech’s expertise in technology road-mapping and capabilities upgrading. Members would also benefit from SIMTech’s Manufacturing R&D Certificate Programme, and Singapore Workforce Development Agency funded courses offered by SIMTech. They would also gain access to SIMTech’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, potentially reducing capital-intensive investments in equipment.
Details of the MOU and SIMTech’s schemes can be found in Annex B.
Dr Lim Ser Yong, Executive Director of SIMTech said, “With the fast changing manufacturing landscape, the alliance with SPETA enables large-scale building of future-ready capabilities for PE companies to stay relevant. With its vast pool of member companies constantly looking for opportunities to grow their businesses, SPETA is an ideal platform for fast and mass adoption of technologies by local PE manufacturing companies to upgrade their competencies and capabilities. SIMTech is forging more of such partnerships with other trade associations to reach out to more companies in other manufacturing sectors.”
Mr Jeremy Fong, Chairman of SPETA, said, “For many years, SPETA has worked with SIMTech to support local Precision Engineering companies. To further help local companies retain and improve their positions in this competitive global industry, SPETA and SIMTech have found new areas for collaboration. Today's MOU signing marks a significant milestone, cementing an elevated partnership where both SPETA and SIMTech can leverage on each other’s strengths to reach out and help local SMEs upgrade and venture into high value-added sectors.”
A joint R&D collaboration between SIMTech and Applied Materials, Inc. has also been created to develop key technologies in additive manufacturing.
The partnership aims to enable metal 3D printing of parts that can function in rigorous operating environments, such as semiconductor manufacturing. The collaboration combines Applied Materials’ leading expertise in materials engineering and manufacturing with SIMTech’s additive manufacturing technology competencies, strong pre- and post-processing capabilities and infrastructure to support additive manufacturing projects.
Mr. Russell Tham, Corporate Vice President and Regional President South East Asia, Applied Materials said, “Applied Materials is well-positioned to contribute towards the adoption of additive manufacturing technologies. We are pleased to have had successful partnerships with A*STAR and its various institutes and we are excited to embark on this new partnership with SIMTech. Together, we look forward to innovating and creating value through new technologies that can strengthen Singapore’s competencies in this growing market.”
To grow additive manufacturing capabilities among SMEs, SIMTech also signed an MOU with five SMEs under a new additive manufacturing Collaborative Industry Project (CIP) initiative. This will enable participating SMEs to tap into SIMTech’s additive manufacturing expertise and facilities to accelerate their adoption of additive manufacturing technology. It also equips the companies with capabilities to venture into new manufacturing sectors and become qualified suppliers, creating a healthy local eco-system for high value manufacturing. Details and quotes from some of the participating companies can be found in Annex C.