Industry 4.0 has brought about changes in production logic. Through cloud technology and the use of big data, it is possible to monitor the entire production process, automatically detect problems and eliminate obstacles, and at the same time be able to accurately produce and schedule resources, reduce costs and waste of resources, and achieve the most efficient Production. In the future, the new trend of Industry 4.0 will tend to analyze huge amounts of data and manufacture customized products close to the client.
In September 2018, the World Economic Forum ASEAN Summit (WEFASEAN) was held in Hanoi, Vietnam. The theme of the summit was "ASEAN 4.0: Enterprise Spirit and the Fourth Industrial Revolution", which included 8 heads of state including the Prime Minister of Singapore and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, and More than 1,000 participants, including representatives from the Google industry, attended a total of 60 seminars and symposiums, focusing on the concerns of governments, practitioners and the people of ASEAN countries, including the regional and world economic management models under the era of the fourth industrial revolution, Stimulate the vitality of operating economies and improve social welfare.
Taiwan needs to stand in different situations in Southeast Asian countries to think about its Industry 4.0 business opportunities. Industry 4.0, along with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), has brought smart manufacturing thinking and led the "fourth industrial revolution."
From the perspective of the development trend of Industry 4.0, low-developing countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos in Southeast Asia, as well as highly developed Singapore, and the Philippines, which is dominated by the service industry, are not the preferred partners for my country to promote "Industry 4.0." On the Indonesian side, the “Making Indonesia 4.0” announced by the Indonesian government in April 2018 focused on the five major industries including food and beverage, textile and clothing, automotive, electronics, and chemical industries. However, many of its industries still remain in the “Industry 2.0” industry. At this stage, coupled with the Indonesian government's concern that excessive automation will increase the unemployment rate, there is only a small amount of intelligence. Therefore, at this stage, Taiwan and Indonesia should carry out technical exchanges and personnel training to assist Indonesia’s local food processing industry, textile industry, and other production equipment automation and intelligent industrial upgrading, and further try to export Indonesia, stand-alone, whole line or whole factory.
In other words, this article believes that the current development prospects of Industry 4.0 in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are relatively clear for Taiwanese business opportunities, which are discussed below.
Malaysia "National Industry 4.0 Policy"
Taiwan's small and medium-sized enterprises' transformation experience and technical talent development have deep exchange value
Malaysia's manufacturing industry is an important economic pillar. From 2013 to 2018, manufacturing output accounted for about 23% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), of which SMEs contributed more than 90% and created 42% of employment opportunities. The Mahathir government proposed "National Policy on Industry 4.0" in November 2018, emphasizing the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, analog computing, automated machinery, augmented reality, cybersecurity, system integration, and 3D printing To achieve the combination of nine cutting-edge technologies and industries, there are four specific goals: (1) to increase the per capita productivity level of Malaysian manufacturing by 30%; (2) to increase the contribution of manufacturing to the Malaysian economy from the current 254 billion MYR to 392 billion ringgit; (3) Raise Malaysia's ranking in the Global Innovation Index from 35th to 30th; (4) Increase the number of skilled manufacturing employees from 18% to 35%.
For our country, the opportunities for cooperation in Malaysia’s “National Industry 4.0 Policy” include the following:
First, the goals revealed by the "National Industry 4.0 Policy" have business opportunities for cooperation with my country in areas with technological advantages such as the information and communication industry, smart machinery, and automated production.
The industries that the "The 11th Malaysia Plan" report focuses on, including electronics and motors, machinery and equipment, chemicals, aerospace, and medical equipment, are also industries that are valued by the "National Industry 4.0 Policy". At the same time, the Malaysian digital economy was included in the "Transformasi Nasional 2050, TN50" project, which allocated 83.5 million ringgits (approximately US$19.69 million) to develop the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), aiming to become the leading procurement and distribution center in Asia. Because Taiwan's smart machinery industry is extremely competitive internationally, it can collaborate with the manufacturing supply chain of Taiwanese companies to invest in the machinery and components industry in the local area to seize the innovative business opportunities of local smart manufacturing.
Second, the successful transformation and upgrading of Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises, the related experience of enhancing the added value of the manufacturing industry, and promoting industrial innovation are of great reference value to Malaysia. According to the "readiness for Industry 4.0 Evaluation Guide, the Malaysian government is expected to allocate MYR 210 million (approximately US$ 50.13 million) from 2019 to 2021 to assist the first batch of selected 500 SMEs through the Malaysian Productivity Centre (MPC) The Industry 4.0 transformation plan assists small and medium-sized enterprises in carrying out the Industry 4.0 transformation plan. Taiwan may consider cooperating with local small and medium-sized enterprises to use Taiwan’s technological energy in smart machinery to expand the cooperation in technology research and development between the two parties.
Third, the multinational technical personnel training and industry-university cooperation model is the focus of Taiwan-Malaysia bilateral industrial exchanges. The Malaysian government proposes "FIRST" to promote five strategies including financing and achievement-led rewards (Funding), digital infrastructure (Infrastructure), regulatory framework (Regulation), skills and talents (Technologies), etc. The development of National Industry 4.0. However, at present, various fields in Malaysia, including medical, food, rubber, auto parts, etc., are very lacking in automated technical personnel. Therefore, my country can start from the aspects of education and training, exchange of talents, or set up a technical class for overseas students to train overseas students to use Taiwan-made machinery and equipment, cultivate talents through industry-university cooperation, and implement the integration of production and use. By cooperating with Malaysia to train technicians to create talents, systems, hardware and software advantages, China can, on the one hand, enter the market for maintenance production line equipment, on the other hand, promote Taiwan-made machinery and equipment and create market demand, so that the future will directly Local investment in machinery, components and other related industries.
Thailand 4.0
An important target for Taiwan to develop smart electronics, auto locomotives, and medical industries
In February 2017, Thailand officially proposed Thailand 4.0 and launched the "Eastern Economic Corridor, EEC" plan to build an industrial cluster from Chachoengsao, Chonburi to Rayong in eastern Bangkok.
It can be further divided into a total of 10 industries, including "First S-Curve Industries" focusing on upgrading existing industries, including Next-Generation Automotive, Smart Electronics, Affluent, Medical, and Wellness Tourism, (Food for the Future; and New S-Curve Industries emphasizing future industry development, such as Digital industry, Automation and Robotics, Aviation industry, Medical Hub, Biochemical and Eco-friendly Petrochemical, and others utility foundation and logistics system industry, research and development industry, technical services and other industries that can promote the development of the Eastern Economic Corridor Special Zone.
Taiwan’s cooperation opportunities in Thailand 4.0 and the Eastern Economic Corridor include: First, we should grasp the trend of industrial upgrading in Thailand, expand the sales of middle and high-end machinery, and focus on industrial cooperation of smart electronic IC application technology. Integrated circuits are Taiwan's strengths. Taiwan's output value in wafer foundry and IC packaging and testing leads the world, with IC's total output value ranking second in the world. Thailand is a car manufacturing base in Southeast Asia, and it is also actively developing the automotive electronics-related integrated circuit industry. The Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand has the huge attraction includes many companies that need to apply IC technology. Chinese companies may consider establishing cooperative relations with other multinational companies in the region to expand the global market.
Second, we can evaluate the cooperative development of the electric motorcycle market. The international car manufacturers currently investing in Thailand focus on the development of the electric vehicle industry, and a few companies invest in the electric vehicle market. However, Southeast Asia's locomotive market has huge development potential. The emerging Asian countries have a total demand of about 750 million locomotives, covering 80% of the global locomotive market. my country's electric locomotive industry can carefully evaluate the investment. Since the electric vehicle industry in Thailand is still in its early stages of development, Chinese companies should make joint ventures with local automakers or technology plants to increase their chances of success.
Third, both Taiwan and Thailand are actively developing smart healthcare. Taiwan can use key technologies to actively cooperate with Thailand. Thailand's medical standards are among the best in Southeast Asia. Thailand is a medical tourism center in Southeast Asia, and it has many medical institutions with a high demand for medical equipment. In addition, the policy direction of Thailand's comprehensive medical industry focuses on smart medical care, and its development direction is the same as that of my country's biomedical industry. In recent years, Taiwan's medical equipment has developed toward smart development. my country has mastered key technologies in medical big data, scientific and technological aids, and medical display devices. However, there have been restrictions on the international bidding of medical equipment in Thailand. Only European and American countries can participate in bidding. If you want to avoid this restriction, you may find European and American or local manufacturers as partners to enter the Thai market in a joint venture.
Fourth, because as many as 72.3% of agricultural and food processing factories in Thailand are still in the "Industry 2.0" stage, 22.82% are still in the "Industry 1.0" stage, and 71.9% of the factory operators said that the plan Introduce new technologies soon. Therefore, the food processing industry in Taiwan can actively manage the upgrading needs of Thailand and provide cost-effective machinery equipment and information and communication products.
Vietnam "Industry 4.0"
Taiwan can conduct cooperation and exchanges in telecommunications infrastructure, smart city establishment, legal framework, etc.
The Vietnamese government approved the directive (16 / CTTTg) on strengthening the ability to cope with the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) and set specific targets for the next few years. Including: By 2025, achieve broadband Internet coverage of 100% of Vietnamese communities; digital economic output accounts for approximately Vietnam 20% of GDP; labor productivity grows by an average of more than 7% annually; at least three smart cities are formed in the three main economic zones of northern, southern, and central Vietnam. The goal of 2030 is to cover entire Vietnam with 5G mobile networks; digital economic output accounts for more than 30% of GDP; labor productivity has increased by an average of 7.5% annually; government digital construction has achieved concrete results and has been in major economic zones in the north, south and central regions To build several smart city clusters. The goal of 2045 is for Vietnam to become one of the leading countries in Asia's production service and innovation center, and to achieve national modernization goals in various aspects such as labor productivity and modern high-tech applications. Therefore, on the whole, there are three major aspects of cooperation opportunities between Taiwan and Vietnam Industry 4.0
First, Vietnam hopes to have a place in the era of 5G communications, With Vietnam's current urgent need for automated production equipment and information integration technology, Taiwan can actively assist in the digital infrastructure of informatization and automation to enhance the upgrading of Vietnam's capital and communications industry and its added value and efficiency.
Secondly, Vietnam Industry 4.0 is used at the living level of smart cities, and the future will include the systematic use of automatic electric vehicles, green energy equipment, information technology, and the improvement of laws and policies on financial currency, electronic payment, tax management, and cross-border services. Both are important links in which Taiwan should strengthen cooperation.
Third, Viet Nam develops the localization of industrial technology through domestic investment and foreign investment. At present, Vietnam has a lot of scientific and technological cooperation with Japan and South Korea; Taiwanese companies mainly focus on textiles, shoemaking, food processing, metal, plastic, and rubber manufacturing. In the future, Taiwan and Vietnam will be able to provide components, equipment, production machinery, and manufacturing technology for related industries. Exchange and R&D cooperation in other fields.
Governments of various countries have continuously and continuously promoted the development of local manufacturing industries. Through government power, they have given more help and transformation to small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, they also hope to achieve regional cooperation to allow countries to exchange technology with each other and upgrade innovation of Industry 4.0 together.
