The manufacturing sector is a central pillar of the UAE’s financial system contributing Dh197 billion to its nationwide gross home product and using greater than 700,000 individuals.

The UAE has established itself as a world industrial powerhouse with superior capabilities in chemical compounds, metals, meals and beverage, prescribed drugs, and automotives amongst different industries. However, the brand new wave of superior applied sciences and Fourth Industrial Revolution options are spurring radical transformations throughout all industrial sectors at an unprecedented scale and velocity.

Maintaining the relevance and international competitiveness of its manufacturing base makes adoption of 4IR applied sciences an pressing necessity. Ultimately, 4IR adoption enhances the competitiveness of our exports, drives productiveness good points and creates high-skilled jobs. In a nutshell, 4IR applied sciences are redefining what it means to be aggressive in a world the place expertise is turning into the principle driver of development and productiveness for corporations and economies.

In line with this shift, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has been main the UAE’s efforts in driving the adoption of 4IR applied sciences throughout our manufacturing paradigm.

Through the launch of the Technology Transformation Programme, the UAE has set a transparent imaginative and prescient and targets for Industry 4.0 adoption together with an motion plan and enablers. With visionary management, world-class digital infrastructure, entry to extremely expert expertise, important investments in superior expertise and supportive and forward-looking authorities insurance policies, the UAE may be very properly positioned to steer within the Fourth Industrial Age.

Macroeconomic indicators illustrate that our efforts previously three years are paying off with industrial productiveness growing by 18 per cent and exports by 60 per cent between 2020 and 2023. It has been a protracted journey and attaining these spectacular outcomes required arduous work and resulted in some key classes. For occasion, companies of all sizes face challenges in adopting new superior applied sciences, and whereas coverage interventions and regulatory incentives can play a big function, most blockers are typically inside to the organisations.

Early on on this journey, the Technology Transformation Programme tackled a number of the apparent blockers and bottlenecks that relate to entry to financing, lack of information, advisory assist and experience. With initiatives reminiscent of superior expertise financing by way of the Emirates Development Bank, the Industry 4.0 Champions Network and the Industry 4.0 Enablement Centres, most of those gaps have been addressed, and because the figures present, a quantum leap has been achieved.

Other challenges embrace corporations adopting a tactical strategy to expertise – one thing that many organisations have inherited, the place expertise is used to deal with fast issues somewhat than safe long-term good points. Technology should be on the coronary heart of an organization’s enterprise technique with medium and long-term horizon planning.

Another barrier is organisational cultures that worry the unknown and preserve the established order. Manufacturing is an asset-intensive enterprise, and understandably, industrialists wish to keep away from any disruption to operations, however measured danger is important to progress. There are additionally some corporations looking for to undertake 4IR applied sciences with out the required stage of digital infrastructure or maturity in place first. Artificial intelligence, for instance, can’t be used earlier than there may be connectivity and correct adoption of some elementary applied sciences and information storage options.

Strategy and organisational tradition are each set, nurtured and impressed by efficient management. We have noticed that essentially the most superior and technology-enabled organisations have a typical trait – robust, efficient and tech-savvy management. Companies the place management embraces expertise and fosters an entrepreneurial tradition usually tend to have robust inhouse experience and higher enterprise efficiency inside their trade.

This is why the Ministry emphasises government and management coaching in 4IR with greater than 200 industrial leaders having undergone our Leadership 4.0 and CEO 4.0 coaching programmes so far.

To additional bridge the gaps, the Ministry developed the Industrial Technology Transformation Index to offer producers with a strategic, stepwise strategy to Industry 4.0. The Index provides producers a one-day evaluation carried out by licensed assessors, adopted by a complete report highlighting present digital and sustainability ranges, and offering suggestions for enchancment.

This evaluation train brings a recent and impartial perspective for corporations, and it offers them with a benchmarking instrument to match themselves with trade friends. To additional strengthen the strategy, the Index has been linked to a National In-Country Value Programme the place digitally mature corporations are rewarded with higher entry and preferential remedy in native procurement. The hyperlink offers a powerful incentive for expertise adoption, and through the use of the ICV’s community, deep and sustained digitalisation is going down throughout all the industrial worth chain.

To additional allow and educate producers, the initiative is now being supplemented by a so-called Use-Case Guide, which, based mostly on information collected from the Index-assessed corporations highlights real-life Industry 4.0 use circumstances, illustrating how superior expertise is being applied to remodel the manufacturing system. Crucially, it helps corporations see how others have benefited from adopting applied sciences, creating an atmosphere of wholesome competitors out there.

Unlike different experiences, the Use-Case Guide deep-dives into real-world 4IR purposes offering producers with insights and suggestions on key Industry 4.0 applied sciences and sector-specific sustainability initiatives. The complete information encompasses greater than 90 high-impact use circumstances curated from over 1,530 Industry 4.0 purposes and sustainability initiatives. The report offers detailed data on these purposes together with the anticipated operational advantages, return on funding, implementation time, pre-requisite capabilities and core expertise.

The information additionally consists of key native highlights of Industry 4.0 purposes and sustainability finest practices. Companies reminiscent of Adnoc, Halcon, RAK Ceramics, Lipton Tea and Infusions, and Mai Dubai have already used cutting-edge options together with AI, augmented and digital actuality, robotics, digital twin and cybersecurity options. These options are yielding productiveness enhancements of as much as 30 per cent, elevated manufacturing facility output of 25 per cent, lowered working value of 25 per cent and 20 per cent power effectivity.

Our strategy to 4IR has been pragmatic, fostering the situations that alleviate obstacles and incentivise expertise adoption, whereas additionally going the additional mile to vary the mindset and deal with inside blockers to innovation. This strategy has advanced, and can preserve evolving, as we be taught and uncover extra; it’s a participatory and consultative course of that caters for the broader ecosystem, finally uplifting our manufacturing base and benefiting from the transformational alternative of 4IR.

Published: April 05, 2024, 4:00 AM