MANUFACTURING SECTOR A BRIGHT SPOT
Amid the headwinds, Singapore’s manufacturing sector is expected to be a shining light with continued robust growth this year, driven by a demand for chips used in computers, smartphones, and artificial intelligence devices.
AI technology, in particular, has been increasingly implemented to raise productivity and improve growth prospects.
AI Singapore, a national programme set up to enhance the country’s AI capabilities, told CNA that interest in the technology has grown “tremendously”.
At Chinese specialty store chain Yue Hwa, for instance, a customised AI solution has helped to reduce the time needed for each department to come up with the work roster.
“We spent a good six months looking for a good rostering solution,” said Mr Jacob Yu, director of Yue Hwa Chinese Products.
“But over this six-month period, we identified that a lot of the ready-made (rostering) package solutions do not cater for individual staff preferences, nor do they have the machine learning aspect to understand the different shifts and roles for individual staff.”
The Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the country’s apex business chamber, is looking to develop AI solutions that can help companies solve common problems.
It hopes the strategy can bring big productivity gains in the future.
“For the large companies that are already going for the bespoke build, I think those gains will be quite clear and will be quite significant,” said Mr Lee Yee Fung, chief smart technologies and sustainability officer at SBF, referring to customised solutions.
“Our challenge is, how do we percolate this down to the broader group of companies that is beyond individual productivity gains.”
