Industry 4.0 - The Chinese - Student - Has Surpassed The Singapore - Teacher - , Technology News - ThinkChina

12/30/2019 Industry 4.
0: The Chinese "student" has surpassed the Singapore "teacher", Technology News - ThinkChina
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Industry 4.0: The Chinese "student" has surpassed the
Singapore "teacher"
By Kwek So Cheer (/kweksocheer)

Digital transformation leader
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Kwek So Cheer warns that Singapore faces the risk of being irrelevant in a new world going through a fourth
industrial revolution. In that respect, it has much to learn from China, who plays a leading role when it comes
to advanced
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12/30/2019 Industry 4.0: The Chinese "student" has surpassed the Singapore "teacher", Technology News - ThinkChina
GPS-enabled trackers ensure delivery trucks take optimal routes for their deliveries (iStock)
Having spent most of my time in China over the last eight years, and having contributed to Industry 4.0
transformations there in my own small way, I feel that it may be useful to share my experience with those at
home. Singapore is facing the risk of being irrelevant in the new world, and I do think a few changes are
required
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Industry 4.0 is a concept that originated from Germany, describing how industrial production would be
changed by a fourth industrial revolution featuring advanced technologies such as Arti cial Intelligence (AI), 3D
printing and the Internet of Things (IoT). This follows the rst industrial revolution marked by the invention of
the steam engine, the second ruled by advances in manufacturing and transport, and the third driven by
digitisation.
However, China has studied and adapted it into their very own “Made in China 2025”, a policy launched in
2015 with the aim of moving China into high-tech manufacturing. One of the key success indicators of their
e orts is their strength in execution (执⾏⼒). They spend 20% of their time formulating policies, debating
viewpoints, and trumpeting slogans, and the rest on the actual delivery of the desired outcomes. There is little
tolerance for u and how respected your views are, depends on how practical, pragmatic and how close you
are to the "air on the ground" (接地⽓).
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Internet of Things (IoT) lies at the heart of Industry 4.0. (iStock)
Chinese industry’s dynamism

Huge grants, often worth millions, are given to manufacturers that adopt smart manufacturing practices. A
complete framework measuring the company’s human capital, infrastructure, data architecture, procurement
processes, planning and control, production operations, equipment management, logistics, security (both
online and o ine), energy management, etc. is reviewed, with gaps clearly identi ed upfront. I recall being
deeply engaged in many meetings of this sort, which were understandably intense, due to the large amounts
of grants that were involved.
Although the government grants are strong reasons to push for these initiatives, the Chinese “business rst”
mantra is still always the top-most consideration. At the end of the day, every undertaking has to make
business sense. Building a bullet-proof business case requires a balance between the science behind the
numbers and the art of stakeholder management. This delicate balance is critical for any initiative to get o
the ground.
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3D printing is the way of the future. (iStock)
For China’s Industry 4.0 / Smart Manufacturing / Made in China 2025 plan to take o , it has to be recognised
not as a single project, but a series of many projects of di erent sizes, timelines, resources, etc. New
technologies being introduced in these projects would need to ensure robust testing before going live in
production. Impact on roles and jobs has to be carefully planned, communicated and implemented as well.
Despite knowing these challenges, the Chinese relished these opportunities and were ever so eager to part of
the action.
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I strongly believe that once the country saw how change and transformation enabled them to overtake the
economy of Japan and soon the US, they boarded an unstoppable train. In fact, I personally know many
mainland friends who feel extremely uneasy if they stay at the status quo. It is not part of their DNA. I have
heard the phrase 计划赶不上变化 (plans can never catch up with change) too many times, which I guess partly
explains why they believe so strongly in actions rather than “paper talk” (纸上谈兵).
I feel that Singapore has to move away from being "teachers" to China, o ering
study trips to the Chinese to learn from us. This is a case of ⻘出于蓝⽽胜于蓝 (the
colour green originated from blue but has overcome the blue) which loosely
translates to the student has surpassed the master.
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Smart manufacturing is part of the Made in China 2025 plan. (iStock)
Clear and present reality

It is extremely satisfying to see initiatives that I had a hand in come to life. For instance, sensors being
deployed in stores and plants which enable real-time tracking and instant stock-taking are game-changers to
the business. GPS-enabled trackers allow businesses to take optimal routes for their deliveries, sending alarm
messages if planned routes are deviated from. Even delivery vehicles that remain in a spot for longer than
usual set o literal alarm bells. GPS-enabled locks also ensure that trucks are unlocked only at the designated
locations
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environments of the stocks. Di erent types of sensors for di erent control points are also placed in factories
which feed data directly to a data repository for monitoring, analytics and preventive maintenance. These
are just some of the initiatives that bring tremendous value to businesses.
At the same time, jobs and roles have to be redesigned. Rank-and- le workers who were comfortable walking
around the grounds manually recording readings from meters and gauges are suddenly nding themselves
out of jobs. Even admin sta who had been gainfully employed by manually extracting data into spreadsheets
and then reformatting them or using them to generate charts have to be re-trained or face the danger of
being redundant. This in itself is a sensitive exercise that has to be undertaken carefully.
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Job roles would have to be redesigned. (iStock)
In these initiatives, special consideration has to be taken into account with regards to cybersecurity. The
network protocols in manufacturing (operational technology), are entirely di erent from those in the o ce
environment (information technology). Networks in factories and stores used to be totally isolated from other
networks in organisations and not connected to the Internet. However, with these initiatives, extreme care
has to be taken to ensure protection from disruptions in the operations caused by hackers, which could cause
heavy losses in revenues.

A lot of advances have been made in China in the area of Industry 4.0 and the experience and knowledge has
surpassed many countries, including Singapore. I feel that Singapore has to move away from being "teachers"
to China, o ering study trips to the Chinese to learn from us. This is a case of ⻘出于蓝⽽胜于蓝 (the colour
green originated from blue but has overcome the blue) which loosely translates to the student has surpassed
the master. Singapore should instead pivot towards a strategy to be the hub of these innovations to the rest of
the world. We should spend more e ort in execution and be relentless in our quest to transform so that we
can continue to be relevant and survive in a world that would have changed a lot even in the short time it
takes you to nish reading this article.
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12/30/2019 Industry 4.

By Kwek So Cheer (/kweksocheer)

(/#facebook) (/#twitter) (/#wechat)

Internet of Things (IoT) lies at the heart of Industry 4.0. (iStock)

Chinese industry’s dynamism

3D printing is the way of the future. (iStock)

Smart manufacturing is part of the Made in China 2025 plan. (iStock)

Clear and present reality

are just some of the initiatives that bring tremendous value to businesses.

heavy losses in revenues.

INTERNET (/TAXONOMY/TERM/185) INTERNET OF THINGS (/TAXONOMY/TERM/278)

CHINA-SINGAPORE RELATIONS (/TAXONOMY/TERM/107) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (/TAXONOMY/TERM/31)

SMART CITY (/TAXONOMY/TERM/274) 3D PRINTING (/TAXONOMY/TERM/326)

HI-TECH MANUFACTURING (/TAXONOMY/TERM/327)

YOU MAY LIKE

China-US Geotech The myths and China’s quest for A 120-year-old

ThinkChina is an English language e-magazine focused on China and

Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao (http://zaobao.com.sg).

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Contact Us THINKCHINA@SPH.COM.SG (MAILTO:THINKCHINA@SPH.COM.SG)

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