Malaysia Can Keep Up In The Fourth Industrial Revolution

ARTICLE: The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Malaysia
 
    When it comes to industrial advancement, Malaysia is left behind compared to countries like South Korea and Japan after late the 1980s. Recently, Vietnam has shown increments in Gross Domestic Production due to low cost of labour which incentiveses foreign investors to open factories.
 
    To increase Malaysian competency, we need to stop being an adopter and start being an inventor. We need to export our own premium products which are valuable and limited. We start with small targeted consumers around the world. This it to reduce the cost since it is low volume manufacturing. For example, Sumitomo Heavy Industries is based in Japan and they supply solutions worldwide such as injection molding machine. Therefore, it is advisable to introduce a new invention in the market and patent it to stay out of the competition. Otherwise, make an existing one isolated by innovating a better product.
 
    In the secondary economic sector, since Malaysia is low in manpower wanting to perform blue-collar work, we should setup a “Smart Factory”, where it is run by automation and robots. An advantage is that companies can avoid human work in hazardous environment, while promoting productivity and consistency in quality. Malaysian engineers working with foreign companies in the factory are tasked with maintaining production. However, in the future this task will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence in analysis and immediate troubleshooting. If we are able to develop our own automated machines, this will give opportunity to our vibrant engineers in designing new technologies. Those machines are semi-automated so it can complement human work by increasing productivity. It allows flexibility in product design and enables the manufacturing of complex parts with precision. Those machineries will be supplied in local heavy industries before proceeding to the international market. The client’s machine will be customized depending on their manufacturing process. Other responsible government bodies such as MITI, will enforce data protection to stay trustworthy for manufacturers. Furthermore, this machine will benefit our local companies to mass produce their hardware products with less manpower.
 
    This automation should be implemented gradually while the education system simultaneously moves school syllabus to become more focused in STEM. Hence, technology will reshape jobs. Humans are no longer doing repetitive tasks. We play an important part in forecast planning so the machine will perform up to our expectations. Therefore, to develop the latest technology, the country needs intelligence. This can be achieved by cementing innovative culture in our young generation. “Estidotmy”, a free magazine should be brought back to school. The magazine will be filled with information regarding latest technologies and successful technology entrepreneurs as role models. The syllabi should be redesigned by teaching essential skills such as coding languages and 3D modelling. Encourage schools to organise competitions requiring students to pitch ideas through prototypes that are aligned with a given theme. This can increase awareness about student creativities in developing technologies that can impact society’s lifestyle. Through the reinforcement of innovation by supporting human capital, introduction of new technologies will improve our economy.
 
(Last edited: 31st March 2018)
 
P.S. This is just my opinion regarding the topic when applying for PF'18. Cheers! 
 

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