Manufacturing and logistics are two sectors that form the industry 4.0, and are leading the way when it comes to leveraging smart technology as well as automation solutions in order to induce productivity and effectiveness. While the adoption of automation was initially driven by a change in demographics as well as labour shortages, both industries have had to tackle the challenges Covid-19 posed to manufacturing output and supply chain operations. In a recent webinar, Fundnel’s Growth Lead, Eunice Cheng, spoke with innovation as well as investment experts about manufacturing and logistics as well as how they could eventually leverage their expertise to adapt to the effects of Covid-19 and what the future holds for automation innovation.
Creative Venture’s Managing Partner Champ Suthipongchai stated that there has been an increase in terms of interest in automation innovations in business areas as people try to accept the new normal due to Covid-19. The company has seen a surge of automation services in food services when it comes to hygiene as well as the production of food products. He also highlighted the importance of understanding the investment opportunities in manufacturing as well as logistics. When it comes to jobs that require a lot of manual labour especially with a substantial amount of repetition in the work such a sorting, loading, as well as unloading, those are aspects that could be automated. It is also crucial to understand how technology would fit into the operating procedure while ensuring all tasks can be done in a seamless way.
When asked about the challenges faced when automation in manufacturing is now considered a necessity rather than an incentive, James Page, the CEO of Riven thinks that quality control in manufacturing would be something that needs to be tackled as a whole and that the adoption of technology is fundamental to increase the effectiveness of labour when dealing with a shortage of skilled labour. Junxian Lee, the CEO and Co-Founder of Moovaz, highlighted the barriers of the adoption of technology in the logistics industry in Southeast Asia due to differences in the levels of digitalization in service providers. He also stressed on the importance of the value created through automation and that investors would have to be convinced that the value created is justifiable. All of the participants agreed that Covid-19 is an accelerator for automation. Automation as a whole would enable not only increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness of labour, but also to allow companies to carry on with their day-to-day operations without any disruptions.
Watch the full panel discussion, click here.
