JANUARY 2018 COVER STORY:

Building smart factories will soon no longer be a luxury for companies who want to remain competitive. The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) has also recently launched the Singapore Smart Industry Readiness Index to help companies learn about Industry 4.0 and to evaluate the state of their facilities.

To help the overall furniture industry become “more productive, more innovative and more manpower-smart”, SFIC has appointed The Know How.In Pte Ltd (a joint venture between Lignar Engineering Pte Ltd and Aaron Boo) to introduce the PYTHA Software Solutions initiative.

Co-launched with Lignar Engineering Pte Ltd at its open house on 10^th January, this initiative is a LEAD Programme of the SFIC and is supported by SPRING Singapore. Up to 70% government funding will be made available to 50 SMEs on a first-come-first-served basis.

The global furniture industry is continuing to thrive, and is expected to grow from S$631 billion in 2017 to $766 billion in 2021, with the biggest contribution of growth coming from Asia, according to a Technavio report.

Singapore, in the heart of Asia, is poised to take advantage of this healthy demand for furniture and furnishings in the region and beyond.  One such way is to continuously look into technology to transform the industry boosting productivity, reducing time for production and more importantly, time to market.

Furniture design can be a time-consuming process that involves manually inputting little details down to drawers and hinges as traditional software applications do not come with existing pre-build libraries. With a lack of an integrated system, companies typically have to use separate 2D & 3D software applications and hire two designers to work on both simultaneously to meet tight project deadlines. On the production side, material wastage has been accepted as a necessary evil due to priority given to meeting project deadlines instead of raw material optimisation.

The PYTHA software solution will streamline the design process including the ability to create 2D drawings without having to first export to AutoCad. Its built-in generators also enable auto-calculations which reduce the time required for a complete drawing by up to 90%. Manufacturers who have already implemented the solution have reported a shorter prototyping process from four weeks to just three.

With the implementation of new technologies, upskilling will come naturally as employees will need to be trained to use the solution. Users of the solution will appreciate the ability to delegate mundane tasks to machines which frees up their time to focus on the creative aspects of their projects. It’s a win-win for both companies and employees. The potential cost and time savings will translate into more time and capacity available to focus on design R&D, account servicing and more projects.

Response for the PYTHA software solution has been most forthcoming, with more than 10 companies expressing intent to come on board within half a month.  Interested companies are advised to email our cluster specialist, Ms Cheng Wan Ling, at wanling@singaporefurniture.com for more information.