Speech by MOS Alvin Tan At Singapore Manufacturing Federation’s Manufacturing Day Summit 2025

Mr Lennon Tan, President, Singapore Manufacturing Federation

Mr Dennis Mark, CEO, Singapore Manufacturing Federation

Your Excellencies

Introduction

1. Welcome back to Singapore. To many of you who have travelled from far, a warm welcome to you.

2. It is an honour to be back at Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF)’s Manufacturing Day Summit (MDS). We had the inaugural MDS last year and the event had done so well, that Lennon and Dennis mentioned you are stepping it up.

3. That actually speaks to the commitment to manufacturing, and also the bullishness about our manufacturing sector. MDS, as Lennon has coined it, is an important platform.

   1. It is a vital platform for our manufacturing sector, for many of us to come together, exchange ideas and also to shape the future of manufacturing.

   2. Thank you to Lennon and your team; I know there is a lot of work behind the scenes - Audrey, Melvin, Ryan, and all of you for putting together this remarkable platform.

Manufacturing Over the Decades

4. Manufacturing is a key building block of society.

   1. If you look around us, the coffee that you had this morning, the food that you enjoy – Food manufacturing – it accounts for almost everything that we use, see, touch and feel, and that is why it is such a cornerstone for society.

5. As we celebrate 60 years of Singapore's independence this year, we also celebrate and remember how manufacturing has played an integral role in the building of our nation.

   1. When we first started in the 1960s, our focus was to create jobs. Our population then was still relatively small, but fast-growing, so the jobs and the manufacturing sector was very much labour intensive. We set up the Jurong Industrial Estate, which became home to factories such as our National Iron and Steel Mills, and the Sugar Industry of Singapore.

   2. Then we stepped up the gear and go on to the 1970s and 1980s, which was when we rode the first wave of “Industry 3.0” through the 1970s to 1990s. We then gradually pivoted from very labour intensive to more knowledge-based industries.

      1. We directed more resources to research and development.

      2. We attracted foreign investments from leading technology companies at that time, such as Hewlett-Packard, Phillips and Maxtor.

      3. We also built Jurong Island, said to be one of the world’s leading chemical manufacturing sites.

   3. By the 2000s, we further pushed towards innovation-intensive activities and increasingly higher-value manufacturing.

      1. We renewed focus on biomedical sciences manufacturing, with many large pharmaceutical companies establishing plants to produce new vaccines and therapies.

      2. Our aerospace industry also took flight, and companies started manufacturing aircraft components for cabin interiors.

   4. In recent years, the “Industry 4.0” movement, synonymous with “smart manufacturing”, saw the rise of highly automated factories, where the focus was on making the manufacturing process more seamless, more integrated, more precise, more efficient, and to apply cutting edge technology to the traditional manufacturing processes.

      1. Many of you already apply these to your businesses: Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D printing, smart sensors and the Internet-of-Things have transformed the sector.

      2. Factories now house next-generation technology such as digital twins, predictive maintenance capabilities enabling us to predict and be more efficient in applied manufacturing but also in terms of repairs.

6. Our manufacturing journey has been long and fruitful, and we can be proud of how far our manufacturing sector has taken us over the last 60 years.

   1. Today, manufacturing maintains a steady share of about 20% of our GDP.

   2. The Ministry of Trade & Industry’s Manufacturing 2030 plan is to grow the manufacturing sectors’ value add by 50% by 2030. We remain bullish on manufacturing and are making sure that there is higher value add.

   3. It employs about 12% of our workforce, and provides good jobs for our people – from plant technicians to now also, sales professionals and engineers.

   4. We are the 5^th largest exporter of high-tech goods, and are among the top 10 exporters of machinery and equipment.

   5. We are also leaders in several high value industries, such as pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

      1. Despite our small size, our semiconductor equipment industry accounts for 20% of global output. We also produce 4 of the world’s top 10 drugs.

   6. Many leading manufacturing firms have set up their regional headquarters here, including behemoths like Micron, Merck and Rolls-Royce.

Manufacturing “Industry 5.0”

7. If “Industry 4.0” was about generating greater value through automation and data technologies, then the future is about recentring the human into the process – in other words, “Industry 5.0”.

   1. Beyond the mechanical precision and automation of smart machines, it is the distinctly human abilities – creativity, problem solving, adaptive reasoning – that form the backbone of an innovative and thriving manufacturing sector. These very quintessential human abilities cannot be replaced by AI.

   2. Rather than being replaced by automation, workers can and have indeed become valued partners in the manufacturing process, to drive continuous improvement and innovation.

   3. We can now increasingly use human-robot collaborations, to further push the frontiers of manufacturing.

8. This then brings me to our theme for this year’s MDS – “Smart Collaboration: Humanising the Future of Manufacturing in the Age of AI”.

9. Let us do a thought experiment. Think of a future of manufacturing, driven by humans and machines working together. In fact, you do not have to think about this in future, you can see many of our plants here in Singapore. But think about how these factories will look like. In fact, if we visit many of our plants here, you will see that it is already completely futuristic.

10. But imagine that you are working in one of these plants and you are tasked with developing a product in one of the world’s leading electronics firms.

    1. Your firm has been receiving many orders for highly customised and highly personalised products with unique requirements – today’s goal will be to assemble as many of these quickly and efficiently.

       1. With “Industry 5.0”, these make-to-order, configure-to-order, and assemble-to-order orders, will become increasingly common requirements.

    2. At the assembly line, you focus on more cognitive-intensive work and activities. As the lead on the ground, you will review requirements from customers, then design and customise products, and also plan these workflows – very quintessential human activities.

       1. AI applications further help you with the optimisation of products and workflows.

       2. Your role will change. It is iteratively feeding data back into the manufacturing process to make quick changes to improve design, fabrication, and performance.

    3. Human-centric collaborative robots (“cobots”) help you with the actual assembly of products.

       1. The “cobots” can handle physically demanding tasks, such as loading and unloading heavy equipment and parts, welding, and screwing.

       2. You focus on supervision of the “cobots”, and intervene, if necessary, quite alike a pilot on a commercial flight.

       3. While you keep an eye on the “cobots”, you can perform other higher value tasks, such as designing new products and reviewing new orders.

    4. As the day progresses, assistive wearables help to boost your productivity and reduce fatigue.

       1. For example, you can wear an exoskeleton suit, which will help you in lifting heavier parts, where necessary.

       2. An AI programme gathers movement data from sensors placed on your body, and adjusts the exoskeleton accordingly to counteract stress during operations.

Building a Strong Supporting Ecosystem

11. I end with some suggestions on how we can work together with SMF to ensure that we can move forward with ‘Industry 5.0’.

12. First, we must continue to strengthen the ecosystem. Our strength lies in ecosystem of which manufacturing is a key part, but finance, professional services, startups, FinTech and the likes, come together. The ecosystem is our strength and building this ecosystem is key.

    1. For instance, Singapore launched a Sectoral AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing just a few months ago, to bring industry players together to develop AI-enabled solutions.

13. Second, we need a strong culture of innovation.

    1. We need to continue creating new products and services, customised, highly personalised faster market,

    2. and attract and continue an innovation mandate from leading firms to produce and to improve our ecosystem.

14. Finally, and importantly, we need good people, essential to our manufacturing sector, people not just with the right skills, but also with the right mindsets and behaviour.

    1. Firms will have to invest in training and reskilling programmes, to ensure that workers can thrive in an “Industry 5.0” era.

    2. We need to challenge some of these notions that about manufacturing as a “blue collar” job. There are many different industries such as the technology and finance infused with the manufacturing sector, and we see already the transformation. The increasing use of technology and generation of higher value jobs will make manufacturing hopefully even more exciting and attractive, hopefully for our younger set of graduates coming into the stream.

    3. We also have to continue to be conscious of promoting diversity and inclusion within the sector.

       1. For older workers, assistive technology can put less strain physically, boosting their productive longevity.

       2. I am happy to hear that SMF is working on raising female representation in what is considered a typically male-dominated sector, to grow our range of talents and perspectives. Please support Phyllis and her “Women in Manufacturing” initiative this afternoon.

       3. Finally, we also acknowledge that Singapore is a cosmopolitan city for a variety of talent to come together to produce, make goods and services. We are always welcoming, always open, always connected.

Conclusion

15. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for having me. I invite all of you to join us, SMF and the team, to continue to realise our vision of a dynamic and vibrant manufacturing sector. Thank you for your attention this morning.