Internet of Things (IoT) applications have become the foundation for businesses to enhance productivity and upgrade to smart manufacturing. The IoT has proven highly effective in reducing downtime, monitoring quality, improving energy efficiency, and tracking customers’ needs. Both SMEs and larger enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region are leveraging the IoT to ensure real-time monitoring and adjustment of production, remote control and maintenance, and overall agility and flexibility for business continuity. The IoT has much more to offer through its integration with other digital technologies, such as data analytics, edge and cloud computing, and AI. Understanding the fundamentals of the IoT and the synergy it creates with other technologies can help manufacturers optimize their operations and become “smart.”

To impart knowledge of IoT applications and enhance understanding of how they lead to smart manufacturing, the APO collaborated with the CPC of the ROC to conduct a training course on Advanced Internet of Things Applications for Smart Manufacturing from 5 to 8 July. Forty-three participants from industries, government agencies, and academia, representing 17 APO members, attended the course, where they discussed current trends in smart manufacturing, shared experiences in IoT deployment, and virtually visited a smart factory in the ROC.

Dr. Jung-Sing Jwo of Tunghai University from the ROC, Chan Kum Yew of Integrated Decision Systems Consultancy Pte. Ltd. from Singapore, and Dr. Joseph Cuiffi of Penn State New Kensington, USA introduced the latest developments in smart factories, data analytics, and AI applications. Participants learned about the concepts and operations of the IoT through hands-on exercises led by Dr. Koh Niak Wu of Cosmiqo International Pte. Ltd., Singapore. They also observed how IT and operational technologies could converge and lead to smart manufacturing at the Digiwin demonstration site.