By Alithea De Jesus
Photos courtesy of Henry De Leon, S&T Media Service
Like it or not, to be globally competitive and also to thrive in the business, the need to cope up and adapt to the digital transformation is empirical.
This is what DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña pointed out. With the launching of the Department of Science and Technology-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) last June 14, 2021, the top-of-the-line and advanced manufacturing hub in the country that is poised to boost the manufacturing capability of the country and support our local manufacturers.
Dubbed as the Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMCEN), the state-of-the-art prototyping laboratory that uses additive manufacturing will definitely push the country’s manufacturing sector to attain a higher level of competitiveness as it embraces the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
AMCEN is expected to increase the technological readiness, business sophistication, and innovative capacity of the local manufacturing companies. At the same time, the facility will also serve as an innovation hub for advanced manufacturing that offers industrial design and development, rapid prototyping, and testing.
Additive manufacturing or AM is also known as 3D printing, a process that builds a three-dimensional object from a Computer-Aided Design model or a digital 3D model by simply adding materials “layer-by-layer” similar to printing images using a desktop printer. AM is more efficient than traditional subtractive manufacturing where a block of solid metal or plastic are shaped using drilling, grinding, cutting, and boring. Additive manufacturing can perform complex and accurate designs in the shortest time possible, therefore reducing the cost and time for the prototyping process.
3D printing is one of the various processes under rapid prototyping. Rapid prototyping is the fast fabrication of a physical part, model or assembly using 3D computer-aided design (CAD). The creation of the part, model or assembly is usually completed using additive manufacturing.
The facility will also enable the country to develop more sophisticated products and technologies that will help industries gain a strong foothold in the fields of aerospace, defense, health and medical services, biotechnology, automotive, and electronics and semi-conductors.
DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña touts AMCEN as a gamechanger as global manufacturing veers towards smart manufacturing for mass customization of products.
According to the country’s Science and Technology Chief, AMCEN is a crucial strategy in achieving the Department’s vision of being the “leading Science, Technology, and Innovation Hub in the ASEAN region.”
Secretary dela Peña underscored the importance of the Center in the country’s bid to be among the global frontrunners in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Interestingly, last year, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Director Dr. Shamika Sirimanne expressed her admiration for the country’s efficient use of frontier technologies and support for science and technology. Frontier technologies are the next-generation technologies such as 5G internet, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, big data analytics, robotics, and the Internet of Things that all lead to adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
De la Peña described that smart manufacturing necessitates the need for mass customization, which is currently impossible with conventional manufacturing techniques. “AM enables the production of highly customized and complex-shaped objects using existing and newly developed advanced materials,” added the longtime DOST official and University of the Philippines professor.