Talent shortage will hamper nation’s Industry 4.0 aspiration

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has to take drastic measures to boost its production of skilled manpower to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 or risk being left behind, according to a technical education and vocational training provider.

Other countries in the region are already actively developing their industries to keep in pace with the fourth industrial revolution.

“In terms of preparing the necessary skilled manpower (for Industry 4.0), Indonesia and Singapore are far ahead (of Malaysia) because they have specific programmes from abroad for their workers to learn from,” SG Education Group founder and chairman Datuk Seri Ganesh Palaniapan told Bernama.

He said Malaysia was publicising Industry 4.0 and has even introduced automation “but where is our skilled workforce?”

“Are we able to provide skilled workers to the factories or international companies based in Malaysia?” he asked.

Industry 4.0 is the new approach to combining traditional manufacturing processes and technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable machines to capture and convey more data via machine-to-machine communications to enable businesses to make smarter decisions.

All these have to be mobilised by a workforce equipped with the necessary skill sets to develop systems, applications and services such as artificial intelligence, Big Data and advanced analytics, robotics and automation.

The implementation of automation allows “smart” machines to predict issues before they even occur and take the necessary action without human intervention.-Bernama