AI, 3D printing and a strategic partner: How Singapore manufacturers are building for what’s next

Just a few years ago, planning a production run at a food and beverage factory could take days of manual work. In the marine manufacturing sector, designing a massive ship propeller often involved weeks of trial and error.

Today, these laborious tasks are completed in a fraction of the time, made possible through collaborations with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to turn innovation into real-world manufacturing impact.

The results speak for themselves: In 2024, F&B leader Coca-Cola Singapore earned a spot in the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network cohort for advanced manufacturing – one of only 13 companies in the global F&B industry that have received this accolade.

The network recognises companies that use digital technologies to deliver exceptional impact across productivity, resilience, sustainability, talent, and customer-centricity.

Meanwhile, Mencast Marine successfully produced Singapore’s first additively manufactured (also known as 3D-printed) marine propeller in 2023, via a new process that cut manufacturing time by half.

Manufacturing contributed about 18.5 per cent of Singapore’s nominal GDP in 2025.

Under the nation’s Manufacturing 2030 vision launched in 2021, the sector aims to grow the then-S$106 billion sector by 50 per cent, supported by deeper technological capabilities and stronger industry partnerships.
 

As Singapore’s lead public-sector research and development agency, A*STAR works with both multinational corporations (MNCs) and local enterprises to apply smart and sustainable advanced manufacturing technologies.

Harnessing AI, automation, and digital technologies to strengthen supply-chain resilience, these technologies help manufacturers based in Singapore stay agile amid global disruptions, while maintaining productivity, quality, and a smaller environmental footprint.
 

Dynamic scheduling for complex orders

Coca-Cola has operated here for nearly 90 years, and today, its Commercial Product Supply (CPS) manufacturing facility at Tuas Bay produces beverage concentrates for export to 24 Asia-Pacific markets.

As regional demand and product variety grew, the company faced increasing complexity in scheduling and coordinating production. Coca-Cola Singapore receives hundreds of regional orders every week to produce beverage concentrates, each with its own recipe and production requirements.
 

Working with A*STAR and local integrator PD Solutions, the company developed a dynamic scheduler that now completes the production scheduling in just under one hour.

On the factory floor, robotic arms equipped with a smart vision detection system can quickly identify and locate powdered ingredient bags of various sizes – these are usually difficult for machines to differentiate.

Developed with A*STAR and local company Kowa Skymech, the system uses advanced algorithms to adjust the robot arm’s picking position and ensure the correct bags are picked up and handled safely.
 

Says Coca-Cola Singapore’s plant general manager, Gerardo Artavia: “In a fast-changing environment where our operations grow in scale and complexity, agile and resilient manufacturing systems are increasingly critical. 

“The partnership with the A*STAR has allowed us to deploy AI-enabled, human-centric manufacturing solutions that respond to demand in real-time, boost productivity, improve safety on the factory floor, as well as support our people’s well-being and development.”

Since 2021, these transformative efforts have lifted throughput by 28 per cent, boosted labour productivity by 70 per cent and improved on-time deliveries by 31 per cent. Scope 2 emissions have also fallen by 34 per cent, positioning the Singapore CPS facility as a best-practice model within Coca-Cola’s global network.

Mr Artavia adds: “Our locally co-developed innovations – a dynamic production scheduling tool now deployed globally; a vision-powered collaborative robotics being assessed for wider rollout – underscore why Singapore is a strategic hub that delivers value for real-world manufacturing.”
 

Propelling into the future

Advanced manufacturing is also transforming more complex engineering fields, including marine and offshore services.

Since 1981, Mencast Marine has been Singapore’s sole propeller designer, manufacturer, and repairer, supplying tugboats and fast boats that support the world’s top maritime centre. For decades, its operations relied on labour-intensive traditional sandcasting – in which molten metal is poured into fixed moulds made from sand – and imported raw materials like bronze alloy ingots.
 

As its customers began demanding greener, more customised propellers, the company recognised the need to rethink its processes.

Mencast collaborated with A*STAR and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC) – a national platform hosted by A*STAR – to incorporate AI and additive manufacturing into its operations. 

This lifted productivity by up to 30 per cent, and the company is exploring generative AI to design more efficient propellers.

Says the company’s CEO Glenndle Sim: “Before adopting additive manufacturing, some of our most experienced technicians spent long hours on physically demanding manual work. 

“With A*STAR’s support, we removed several labour-heavy steps and reskilled our engineers and technicians in robotics, advanced design tools, and digital process control.”

Where it used to take several weeks to design 20 variants of a propeller design, AI-driven algorithms developed with A*STAR can generate more than 10,000 design iterations within a matter of days. 

“Today, we can offer customised designs for diverse needs, simulate performance early, and refine with far greater precision before production,” adds Mr Sim.
 

On the production side, the company has adopted Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), a 3D-printing process in which robot arms build propellers layer by layer using bronze alloy.

The approach halves manufacturing time and reduces the carbon footprint of a 200 kg propeller by 36 per cent, or 1,743 kg of carbon dioxide (equivalent to driving an electric vehicle for about 9,500 km, roughly the distance from Singapore to London).

Mencast piloted Singapore’s first 3D-printed marine propeller with NAMIC and the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

In a separate milestone with A*STAR, it was certified the world’s first fully additively manufactured propeller with Lloyd’s Register and the American Bureau of Shipping, demonstrating that the technology meets class standards for marine deployment.

Says Mr Sim: “Additive manufacturing allows us to produce more advanced propeller designs by combining AI-driven design with digital manufacturing. These designs can improve efficiency and reduce fuel consumption for customers.
 

Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its manufacturing footprint overseas, broadening its client base beyond Southeast Asia and Europe, and move into higher-value segments, including larger offshore vessels and specialised military platforms.

Its growing digital and additive capabilities may also open opportunities in adjacent sectors such as aerospace.

As manufacturers navigate shifting supply chains and rising sustainability demands, such transformations are becoming increasingly critical to Singapore’s broader economic strategy.

Professor Lim Keng Hui, assistant chief executive of A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Research Council, says: “Singapore’s manufacturing story has always been about building what is next.

“As technologies change and supply chains shift, companies need a place where ideas can move quickly from lab to factory floor. At A*STAR, we make that happen by combining global talent, strong technical capabilities, and deep industry partnerships to turn research into deployable solutions.”

“By working with both MNCs and local enterprises, we uplift capabilities and keep smart and sustainable advanced manufacturing growing in Singapore.”
 

Powering factories, building talent capabilities with AI and innovation

Launched in 2021, the Manufacturing 2030 vision aims to grow the sector’s value-add by 50 per cent and create higher-quality jobs, while strengthening Singapore’s position in global supply chains.

This direction is reinforced in Budget 2026, which emphasised deeper adoption of artificial intelligence and digital technologies to support productivity and skills upgrading.

Today, the country has five best-in-class advanced manufacturing facilities – including those operated by Coca-Cola and Infineon Technologies – that are part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network.

A*STAR supports this transformation with industry collaborations, as well as home-grown innovations such as AIMie, an agentic AI framework designed to explore how human-AI collaboration can enhance manufacturing operations.

AIMie demonstrates capabilities to analyse factory data, reasons through changing operational conditions, and coordinates actions with humans in the loop, enabling workers to move into higher-value analytical and supervisory roles. 

As part of the Sectoral AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing (AIMfg) launched in 2024, AIMie provides the foundation for more intelligent, flexible, and adaptive factories.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.