The Distributed
Smart Value Chain (DSVC) programme will enable manufacturers to band together
to swiftly respond as a connected value chain to fluctuations in demand and
supply. This novel approach will allow manufacturers to make business decisions
as a value chain, and reconfigure production sites to seize business
opportunities that they might not have been able to take on as individual
entities.
The programme
targets companies with multi-site operations as well as companies looking to
enhance their resilience in manufacturing operations. It seeks to increase the
competitiveness and resilience of manufacturers in Singapore and beyond,
allowing them to collectively take advantage of business opportunities and
effectively respond to any large supply chain disruptions.
DSVC will focus on:
· Decentralised
decision-making: To facilitate secure data sharing among
manufacturers, including those with multi-site operations, and enable
decision-making as a value chain
· Flexible
shopfloor: To support manufacturers in planning for fast
changeover of production lines, for rapid actualisation of decisions. Software
and algorithms will be developed to enable quick shopfloor response, and
hardware changes will be recommended to enable reconfigurability
The DSVC programme
is designed around a systems approach, enabling individual areas of focus,
augmented by an integrative framework through Proof-of-Concepts. The
integrative aspect is provided through the development of a distributed smart
manufacturing platform and flexible pilot line with emphases on secure data
sharing and system interoperability. These will then support domain-specific
solutions at Network, Enterprise and Shopfloor layers based on plug-and-play
modules. This approach will enable virtual experimentation within the platforms
with feedback loops for learning, with contextual and intelligent decisions
that are responsive and flexible to the physical world. The developed
technologies will be prototyped and validated through test-bedding at the
A*STAR Model Factories and identified industry partners’ sites.
Led by A*STAR’s Singapore Institute of
Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), the programme will involve process
automation, machine learning and cybersecurity capabilities from other A*STAR
research entities – Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC),
Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)
and Centre for Frontier AI Research (CFAR) – as well as AI-centric optimisation
capabilities from institutes of higher learning such as Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).
