Derek Ong, Electronic Industrial Software Solutions manager, Keysight Technologies Squeezing every last drop of productivity from invested manufacturing equipment on the factory floor was the goal, and hence a lot of focus was on downtime and throughput. Predictive maintenance and asset utilisation are important business outcomes from any successful Industry 4.0 implementation. Then COVID-19 happened. Other than the race to 5nm chips, 5G, and cloud computing, some sectors of the electronics manufacturing industry have seen a drastic drop in volume, leading to a surplus of production assets on the floor. For some, machines have idled. For others, COVID-19 has caused massive supply chain disruptions. The necessary steps taken by governments around the globe to manage and halt the spread of this epidemic, has restricted movement of factory employees and subsequently lowered productivity and output. The trade situation between the US and China has forced manufacturers to shuffle operations for business continuity. There are everlasting shifts in manufacturing paradigms as a result of COVID-19. The new “norm” needs a rethink on how Industry 4.0 technology enablers will be used to address the new challenges. Quality over quantity Before COVID-19, Industry 4.0 adoption mostly revolved around asset utilisation. In the current situation, it may be better to ensure that every single manufactured product is of the highest quality the process allows. Due to shortages of materials and parts, rising logistics costs and restricted factory employees, manufacturers will have to minimise Return Merchandise Authorizations (RMA) even more than before. Better quality may also prove to be a compelling value differentiator to win more business. Quality has always been one of the most important manufacturing performance metrics but rather than the usual narrative of adopting Industry 4.0 technologies such as big data analytics, AI, and the Industrial Internet-of-Things …
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VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS FEB. 24
Hi-tech agriculture proves effective in Dong Nai Agricultural production has been affected by abnormal weather conditions, climate change, and diseases over recent years. Many farms in southern Dong Nai province have applied high-technology in agricultural production in order to cope with the situation, helping increase quality and output. High-tech production requires massive investment, not just capital but also technology, equipment, and “grey matter”, to adapt to cutting-edge manufacturing methods. High-tech manufacturing models have been expanded around Dong Nai, especially in animal husbandry and on poultry farms. Dong Nai has more than 46,000 hectares of crops using water-saving technology and the province has gradually changed to green breeding in accordance with Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) standards. Agriculture accounts for 8.3 percent of Dong Nai’s economic structure and agro-forestry-fisheries value currently stands at nearly 1.8 billion USD. The results reflect the province’s large-scale manufacturing development investment and high-tech application to adapt to unfavourable conditions and meet market demand. Vietnam’s growth outlook to depend on authorities’ response to new outbreak: WB Vietnam’s growth prospects will depend on how well and how quickly the authorities will bring the new coronavirus outbreak under control and how quickly international and national vaccinations will proceed, according to the World Bank (WB). In its Vietnam Macro Monitoring report issued earlier this month, the WB said January’s industrial production index jumped by 24.5 percent year on year, the highest growth rate since the beginning of 2019. Merchandise exports and imports respectively grew 51.8 percent and 41.8 percent from the same period last year. The preliminary January goods trade surplus is estimated at 1.1 billion USD. Exports to the US and China continued the robust growth of 2020 while those to the EU, ASEAN, Japan …
Remarks by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc at UNSC meeting on addressing climate-related risks to international peace, security
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended and delivered remarks at an open debate of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on addressing climate-related risks to international peace and security, which was held in the form of video conferencing on February 23. Following is the full text of the Prime Minister’s remarks. Mr. President, I applaud the initiative of the UK Government and yourself, Mr. President, to host this important UNSC open debate on “Addressing climate-related risks to international peace and security”. I would like to thank UN Secretary General António Guterres and Chair of the UN Youth Advisory Group Nisreen Elsaim for your insightful and substantive information and recommendations. Mr. President, Earth – our blue planet, and our shared home – is suffering from grievous impacts of climate change. 2020 was one of the three hottest years in modern history, and was faced with the constant and severe aftermaths of floods, droughts, bushfires, rising sea level, and the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak. Such calamities have placed great burdens on the political and socio-economic life of many countries. They have caused unemployment and poverty, affected the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people, and risked creating instabilities or exacerbating present conflicts in many countries and regions, thus threatening international peace and security. In addition, conflicts and instabilities would further erode countries’ resilience, and rob them of valuable resources that could have been utilised to overcome the challenges of climate change. Therefore, I propose that the UNSC, with its foremost mission being the maintenance of international peace and security, needs to galvanize collective and persevering efforts of the international community via the following measures: First, a comprehensive and balanced approach is necessary in handling the connections between traditional …
