The team of experts from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Metals Industry Research and Development Centre (MIRDC) behind the the Advanced Mechatronics, Robotics and Industrial Automation Laboratory (AMERIAL) project visited 12 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Batangas province to brief them on industrial automation and its benefits.
The DOST-Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) conducted the on-site visit on Nov. 10 to 12.
Under the AMERIAL project, a technology laboratory is expected to be established where experts from different industries, business owners, academe and others may practice automation for their production process.
“To expand the coverage of their project, AMERIAL team conducts visitation to the firms with potential to adopt automation in their operation,” the DOST-Calabarzon said in a statement on Thursday.
The 12 MSMEs were all cooperators for projects under the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), it noted.
These include Quinlan Enterprises, C and H Cosmetic Industry, Fleet Maintenance and Consultancy Services, Inc., Eggciting Products Manufacturing, Batangas Egg Producers Multipurpose Cooperative, Qualimeal Feedmills, Inc., Mira’s Turmeric Products, Macky Industrial and General Services, Marvon Drying Services, Mikolas Corporation, Biofarm and Natural Health Ingredients Co., Raitech Industrial Supply and General Services, and CAA Sweets Enterprises.
The DOST-Calabarzon said the automation plan is designed to use smart machines in performing production processes without the need for human intervention.
“Through this, the technological competitiveness of local enterprises would be improved and attuned with the global market thereby improving economic productivity at the national level.”
“Hence, to encourage the visited firms to adopt automation, the AMERIAL team will prepare recommendations on all the possible automation that can be done to specific manufacturing processes using proper equipment that can analyze and diagnose issues without human involvement and have the capacity to remove all inefficiencies at all levels for more cost-effective operations.”
The team’s report will include the technical details on the automation process and costing of technology.