Malaysia’s 13 strategies to transform manufacturing & services sector

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has outlined 13 strategies under the National Policy on Industry 4.0 (Industry4WRD) as part of its roadmap to transform Malaysia’s manufacturing industry landscape in the next 10 years.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darrel Leiking said the policy was formulated to chart Malaysia’s digital transformation in the manufacturing and services sector.

The strategies would be carried out through five strategic enablers namely Funding, Infrastructure, Regulation, Skills and Talent and Technologies (FIRST) along with targeted action plans developed to address the areas surrounding Industry 4.0, he added.

The strategies include strengthening the digital connectivity, enhancing capability of existing workforce and developing new talents and skills, improving data integrity and standards, intensifying research, innovativeness and technological development programmes and activities.

Industry4WRD also comes with four specific goals.

They are to increase the level of productivity in the manufacturing industry per person from RM106,647 by 30 per cent, elevate the absolute contribution of the manufacturing sector to the economy from RM254 billion to RM392 billion, strengthen innovation capacity and capability as reflected by improvement in Global Innovation Index ranking from 35th to top 30 and increase the number of high-skilled workers in the manufacturing sector from 18 per cent to 35 per cent.

“To establish a baseline of our manufacturers, we have developed Malaysia’s Industry4WRD Readiness Assessment Guidelines that will enable businesses to assess where they are, what are the current gaps existing in their manufacturing line and how can they move into Industry 4.0 through targeted intervention of experienced assessors,” Leiking said at the launch of Industry4WRD here today.

Leiking said the national policy on Industry 4.0 was a collaborative effort between the government, industry and academia.

The process started about a year ago involving extensive discussions and consultations with relevant stakeholders as well as benchmarking with other countries.

“Looking at where our industries are now and mapping it against global megatrends of Industry 4.0, government intervention was crucial at this juncture to push businesses to remain competitive in the long run.

“With this in mind, my ministry in collaboration with several other key ministries and agencies, took the first step in developing Industry4WRD,” he added.

Industry4WRD is tailored to Malaysia’s context and needs of its industry to move forward, focusing on the manufacturing and manufacturing related services.

Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Datuk Soh Thian Lai said it was important SMEs and manufacturers to make the leap to Industry 4.0 despite the challenges expected as it is the way moving forward.

“Other Asean countries are already embarking on the Industry 4.0 aggressively and we must embrace it as well. In terms of funding, we will work with the government and relevant agencies on.

“The initial cost of Industry 4.0 is quite high and some financial institutions can provide soft loans to help the manufacturers to make the leap,” he said.

Source: NST