New AI Centre of Excellence to drive innovation in manufacturing

This press release was issued by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

The Sectoral AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing (AIMfg) was officially launched today by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry. Announced during the Committee of Supply debate in March 2024, AIMfg will bring together stakeholders across research, industry and government, to develop artificial intelligence (AI) enabled solutions that address use cases across the manufacturing sector.

Jointly developed by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), AIMfg is the first sectoral AI Centre of Excellence launched under the Singapore National AI Strategy 2.0. Leveraging A*STAR’s capabilities in areas such as Generative AI and Large Language Models, AIMfg will focus on five key areas: AI for quality assurance, operations optimisation, predictive maintenance, product and component design, as well as industrial automation.

HOW THE INDUSTRY CAN BENEFIT FROM AIMFG

Manufacturers face challenges when adopting AI solutions, including limited access to expertise who know both the AI and manufacturing domain, data availability, standardisations as well as risks associated with AI technologies.

AIMfg aims to address these concerns through a comprehensive suite of solutions and collaborative initiatives, enabling businesses to overcome obstacles and fully harness the power of AI.

• Tailored AI Innovations through Industry Collaborations 
  Through Co-Innovation projects, AIMfg will work closely with companies to develop customised AI solutions. By leveraging the technical expertise and experience of A*STAR's research institutes – including the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (A*STAR ARTC), Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (A*STAR SIMTech), Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I2R), and Institute of High Performance Computing (A*STAR IHPC) – in both the AI and manufacturing, AIMfg will support the rapid development and deployment of AI technologies into the operating environment of companies. Where synergistic, AIMfg will tap on the capabilities of Institutes of Higher Learning and technology companies (including system integrators) to deliver comprehensive and holistic solutions.
• Scalable AI Solutions for Cross-Sector Applications
  AIMfg will also develop a set of standardised AI models for common manufacturing use cases, such as visual inspection, planning and scheduling optimisation, and product design. These models will enable greater scalability across different manufacturing sub- sectors and companies, delivering improved performances and reducing lead times for the development of more sophisticated, tailored AI models.

To support a company’s journey towards adopting AI, AIMfg will build an AI sandbox – a secure software development environment for companies to experiment with AI solutions, tools and services. This will help companies better understand certain intricacies (for example, the nature of input data required) and benefits of potential AI solutions before committing to a larger-scale deployment effort.

Besides co-developing solutions, AIMfg will support companies in deploying and scaling up solutions, by providing training and technical consultancy, as well as empowering them with tools and knowledge to manage and update their AI models.

• Immersive Space for Testing and Demonstration
  AIMfg has also set up ‘AI Experience Nexus’, an immersive and interactive space that will demonstrate cutting-edge AI applications from across A*STAR and the ecosystem. The ‘AI Experience Nexus’ will serve as an important initial engagement platform for AIMfg, helping to initiate AI adoption for manufacturing companies and enabling them to envision and implement AI-driven innovations.