Agilent Technologies

Chow Woai Sheng

Globally, manufacturers struggle to weather the poly crisis unleashed by inflation, supply chain disruption, soaring energy prices, and climate change. Sitting at the eye of the storm are the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. The gaps in the production and distribution of these products point to serious vulnerabilities in the supply chain that compromise healthcare and researchers’ readiness to fight the crisis that is yet to come.

Amid the uncertainty, several manufacturers are demonstrating that it is still possible to improve competitiveness by deploying advanced technologies to drive productivity, sustainability, and supply chain resilience. The high-impact way to achieve these is by deploying large digital transformation programs at scale through Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies across multiple sites.

Leaders of Advanced Manufacturing

The 4IR technologies make production smarter and more flexible in navigating change when change is needed. Today, 132 factories worldwide have been recognized by World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company as global leaders in smart manufacturing for successfully adopting at scale the gamechanging technologies enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, data analytics, and industrial internet of things (IIoT).

These 132 factories are part of the Global Lighthouse Network, acknowledged for their ability to drive impact at scale that has remained the essential differentiator, resulting in double-digit improvements in financial, operational, and sustainability metrics as their markers of success.

In 2022, Agilent in Singapore joined the Lighthouse to leverage 4IR technology to increase performance in the manufacture of scientific instruments. By embracing 4IR technologies, Agilent Singapore’s 172,000 sq ft facility with more than 800 employees has optimized productivity by 60 percent and increased output by 80 percent, all while advancing environmental sustainability through increased efficiency and greater reliance on renewable energy.

Digital Transformation

The key to a successful digital transformation journey observed at Agilent is the leadership’s commitment and investment, having a better understanding of scaling imperatives and being realistic about the timeline moving from concept to execution. 

Along the way, Lighthouse leaders could pave the way for others to emulate their progress and navigate challenges, helping other manufacturers to responsibly explore the evolution of technology deployment from factories to value chains end-to-end and beyond.

However, this approach to manufacturing has benefits beyond driving growth and improving resilience, such as an opportunity to make a positive impact on people and the planet. This growing community of leaders is setting future trends through their consistent focus on developing workers’ skills and building the strategy and governance to support scalability.

Beyond 4IR, the trend to next-generation manufacturers is pushing innovation forward to become a digital enterprise, delivering an omnichannel experience internally and externally

Agilent has built six pillars of enablers in smart manufacturing to carry out its mission to deliver trusted answers and advance the quality of life. Its enablers include a multi-disciplinary task force for agile response to methodologies and a dedicated digital solutions team to tailor incubator programs while driving proof of concepts.

To enhance workers’ skills, the company has developed an IIoT academy to tailor 4IR multi-tier continuous improvement, setting up a digital lab with 3D printing and AI modeling, as well as creating a new transformation office that conveys the best new research and ideas into practice.

Shaping the Future of Smart Factories

Beyond 4IR, the trend to next-generation manufacturers is pushing innovation forward to become a digital enterprise, delivering an omnichannel experience internally and externally. This model integrates the power of people, technologies, and digital tools across all aspects of the company’s operations in the most optimized manner, from ideation to realization and utilization.

Confronting the current economic challenges by embracing vision, innovation, and responsibility to adopt advanced technologies across production networks strengthened Agilent as a critical support provider to boost innovation, speed R&D, and improve quality control.

By capturing the true value of 4IR and successfully scaling digital transformation in manufacturing, Agilent could deliver fast actionable solutions to help address the complex challenges facing the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries in times of uncertainty with more reliable, sustainable, and highquality outcomes.