Dubbed the fourth industrial revolution, the “Industry 4.0” (i4.0) concept which advocates smart manufacturing and smart city development is in the global spotlight. To help Hong Kong industry upgrade and transform into smart enterprises, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) today (24 August 2017) opened “Smart Industry One”, the first-of-its-kind in Hong Kong, to demonstrate the smart operation in i4.0.

Mr Nicholas W Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, was the guest-of-honour at the opening ceremony. He was accompanied by Mr Willy Lin, Chairman of HKPC; Ms Annie Choi, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology; and Mrs Agnes Mak, Executive Director of HKPC. At the opening ceremony, Mr Yang said, “The advancement in innovative technology and Internet drives the global economy in new direction. We put forward the initiative of re-industralisation to capitalise on the solid foundation, resourceful talents and experience of our manufacturing industry to promote smart production. Many advanced economies have embraced re-industralisation as a major policy in driving new economy development. We hope that through re-industrialisation, Hong Kong's manufacturing industry will thrive again, create more quality job opportunities and expand its GDP share to a critical mass of 3-5% or higher." Mr Lin said, “Utilizing data and network, i4.0 connects all the business processes, from market intelligence, product design, procurement, production, quality assurance, logistics to sales, enabling enterprises to provide personalized products and services quickly and efficiently. Hong Kong enterprises should formulate i4.0 strategy as soon as possible to lay the foundation for future migration. At ‘Smart Industry One’, the industry can see for themselves the core elements and operation model of i4.0. HKPC will also set up the ‘Smart Industry Consortium’ shortly to facilitate information exchange on smart industry, assisting enterprises to become smart and innovative.”

“Smart Industry One” features different demonstration zones, including display on the “Consumer-Manufacturer-Customer Cycle”; the “Control Room” which simulates the digitalized operation of a smart factory, where real-time monitoring of various intelligent systems and data analysis can be done via an integrated cyber solutions; and the intelligent and agile production cell which demonstrates the “Cyber Physical Production System” for producing personalized luggage tags as an example to address the market trend of mass customization or down to “Lot-Size-One” production.

Above content is from the published article in the "HKPC - Press Release" on 24 August 2017. To read the full article, please visit here.