MoIAT, EDGE sign MoU to establish Industry 4.0 Enablement Centre

The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) and EDGE have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the UAE’s first Industry 4.0 Enablement Centre aimed at promoting, enabling, and supporting the digital transformation and the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies across the country’s manufacturing sector.

The Ministry and EDGE will explore how the Enablement Centre can leverage what has been achieved by the EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory (LIF), a state-of-the-art learning, innovation, and demonstration centre for Industry 4.0, operational excellence, and advanced technology. Its offerings include learning, innovation, and demonstration to the wider industrial ecosystem.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology, Faisal Al Bannai, Chairman of the Board of Directors, EDGE, and Mansour AlMulla, Managing Director & CEO, EDGE. It was signed by Mohammed Al Qassim, Director of Technology Development and Adoption at Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, Reda Nidhakou, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Portfolio Management, EDGE, at the EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory, located in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Sarah Al Amiri, and Mohammed Al Qasim were received by Faisal Al Bannai and Mansour AlMulla, at the EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory for a comprehensive tour of the facility, where key insights were highlighted on how organisations can enhance their operations by adopting the right processes and methodologies, how they can further enhance operations by adopting the right technologies, and how they can leverage automation to ignite a data-driven organisation.

During the visit, delegates toured the EDGE LIF, an end-to-end automated and integrated factory that demonstrates digital manufacturing use cases to trainees. Each trainee will be able to participate in a simulation to explore how technology can empower production. In the simulation, trainees use an app to configure a small car, add a tagline, and track its production across the factory’s 4 islands in less than 7 minutes. The Smart and Lean Production training at EDGE LIF and is key to the Lean Digital curriculum. Lean Digital teaches how lead-times, quality and cost can be enhanced by the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies.

The EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory SLF simulation is conducted over three rounds. It covers traditional production processes, mechanisms for discovering manufacturing and productivity challenges, and implementation of technological solutions that support operations. This includes digital work instructions and a dashboard of key performance indicators, which can lead to more advanced technical solutions, integrate automated work tasks, and mechanisms. These solutions include logistics smartwatches and barcode scanning smart gloves.

As part of this partnership, EDGE will host a series of initiatives, training courses, and programs at the facility from September this year with the aim of accelerating technology adoption in the industrial sector, enhancing collaboration within the UAE’s advanced technology ecosystem, and enabling the co-creation and development of innovative solutions among industry players.

The Industry 4.0 Enablement Centre will comprise various activities, including raising awareness around Industry 4.0 technologies and practices, upskilling manufacturers’ capabilities with specialised training curricula, demonstrating 4IR technology benefits, supporting the development of Industry 4.0 strategies, and creating a testbed and an open-access environment to pilot and co-develop innovative technologies.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, commented: “Based on the vision of our leadership, the Ministry’s strategy is committed to supporting local manufacturers to adopt advanced technologies and 4IR solutions. Advanced technologies help to enhance efficiency, productivity, safety, and quality while reducing costs, optimising supply chains, and creating jobs. The agreement signed today is of great importance as it encourages technology adoption in the sector and will empower our industrial resilience, increase competitiveness, accelerate economic diversification and nurture a knowledge-based economy supported by advanced technology. Our partnership with EDGE is a testament to MoIAT’s objective to work with local industrial champions to encourage knowledge exchanges. We look forward to the continued upskilling of our national workforce and development of the national R&D ecosystem to achieve the objectives of our strategy.”  

He added: “The UAE enjoys a set of unique competitive advantages and incentives including an advanced logistical infrastructure and transportation network, financial solutions, legislations and laws to support the growth of the industrial sector, and an environment that supports technological transformation through training and development. Our national competitive advantages are continually evolving in line with leading international standards.”