Siemens unveiled its expanded Advance Manufacturing Transformation Centre (AMTC) today to include a comprehensive Digital Enterprise portfolio of showcase, consulting, co-creation and test-bedding for customers and partners in Southeast Asia. It has also added six training classrooms and expanded the curriculum to help upskill local and regional digital workforce. The unveiling ceremony was graced by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Gan Kim Yong.
The Centre has broadened its Digital Enterprise offering to include Industrial Edge, Industrial Artificial Intelligence and Process Analytics, beyond manufacturing design consulting and enabling companies to create digital twins of their envisioned advance manufacturing plants.
“Our ambition with AMTC is to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia to explore, innovate and pilot new solutions, and upgrade their capabilities,” comments Sascha Maennl, Acting Head of Siemens Digital Industries in ASEAN. “Many SMEs do not have the resources nor facilities for R&D, thus AMTC provides a sandbox for them. It also provides a co-creation platform where partners and Siemens can combine their solutions to enhance a product.”
SESTO Robotics, a Singaporean company that builds Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and solutions for material handling processes, is the first AMTC partner that has co-created an AMR with the Siemens team in Singapore. This AMR is built with an off-the-shelf Siemens solution for AMR called SIMOVE. The SIMOVE software library contains a range of pre-configured and tested functional modules for machine builders. It is also based on the TIA Portal which facilitates efficient engineering. The AMR that SESTO and Siemens co-created include a PC-based application that allows the AMR to travel with free navigation.
The new AMTC has also expanded its training classrooms and curriculum to include Edge Computing, Cloud Platform, Industrial Internet-of-Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, 3D Design, Virtual/Augmented Reality and the Smart Industry Readiness Index. These additional courses will help to upskill local and regional talents in Industry 4.0 capabilities. AMTC will engage in-house experts and trainers from the Siemens Digital Industries business, as well as expert trainers from its 11 Technology members for these courses.
In addition, AMTC will be the first non-academic facility in Singapore to be certified under the Safety of Additive Manufacturing Facilities Technical Reference (TR87). AMTC plans to partner TUV SUD to roll out the TR87 safety training in an operational setting to Qualified Professionals (QP) and Professional Engineers (PE). The training will certify professionals, to enable more companies to adopt additive manufacturing in the region.
AMTC will also continue to partner with SkillsFuture Singapore to provide a myriad of advanced manufacturing trainings to upskill Singaporeans, and to establish Singapore as the region’s leading advanced manufacturing hub.
The additive manufacturing training that AMTC and SkillsFuture rolled out under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme in September 2020 has since trained close to 70 people. Among these trainees, about 20 have found re-employment with their new-found skills. Due to its immensely successful uptake, AMTC will be offering another 50 slots for this training.
AMTC was first launched in September 2020 as a three-in-one competence center that combines the Digital Enterprise Experience Centre (DEX), the Additive Manufacturing Experience Centre (AMEC) and Rental Labs – creating a one-stop advance manufacturing ecosystem that addresses operational transition. AMTC remains committed to this mission and will now provide further support to the manufacturing industry in Southeast Asia.