Fireside Chat | The future of Malaysian Smart Manufacturing with Kathirgugan Kathirasan | 5 May 2022

The Malaysian manufacturing sector continues to play a vital role as one of the backbone sectors of the economy, contributing 23% of the nation’s GDP and over 80% of its exports as well as accounting for 62% and 38% of foreign direct investment and domestic direct investment, respectively. However, it is quite challenging for the sector to maintain the momentum of growth, especially so following the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Malaysia’s supply chains, company operations and raw material sourcing whilst also exacerbating pre-pandemic obstacles including manual data processing tasks, legacy IT infrastructure and increasing downtime operation costs.

For Kuala Lumpur to overcome these challenges and continue on the path towards a robust and resilient economic recovery and further growth, the answer lies in smart manufacturing and 5G adoption. Smart manufacturing, also called “intelligent manufacturing” is the industrial development model that heavily relies on linking physical manufacturing operations to cyber systems controlled via the internet for zero-lag data exchange and other such rapidly growing technological innovations. These smart systems utilise frontier technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, robotics and automation for value maximisation and minimsation of costs though they require heavy investment in overhauling legacy systems plus expensive digital infrastructure.

Fortunately, Malaysia’s advanced manufacturing sector and thriving tech startup ecosystem puts the nation in a perfect position to harness these technological advancements. In the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020, Kuala Lumpur 11th in the category of the Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems with a perfect 10 score for market reach and performance and 9 for talent. In 2021, the nation has seen a 58% increase in startup IPOs compared to the year prior Malaysia also welcomed its first unicorn, the integrated car e-commerce platform Carsome. The country is also home to the 3rd best drone company in the world, Aerodyne.

Watch the recording of our fireside chat with Kathirgugan Kathirasen, Founder-Employee of the Silicon Valley startup, Chowbotics by DoorDash, that created the award-winning salad making robot, Sally. Kathirgugan and his company has been recognised by institutions like Bloomberg for their innovation and technological prowess. In this online event, we discuss at length the crucial steps Malaysia must take to revolutionise its manufacturing sector with the use of cyber integrated systems and its abundant and skilled technological labour to catapult it to the fore of the digital future.

Timecodes:
00:00 Julia Charlton's welcome speech
02:14 Mateena Hammad with presentation of Malaysian Smart Manufacturing: Limitless Potential
09:37 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about his experience in bike sturtup
13:37 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about creating a salad making robot Sally and developing a business
21:29 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about manufacturing in Malaysia
30:25 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about smart manufacturing
41:17 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about manufacturing in China
45:13 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about recipe for Malaysia
46:21 Kathirgugan Kathirasan about drone technology
51:35 Q&A session
54:38 Julia Charlton's closing remarks

#TechStartups #StartupEcosystem #FourthIndustrialRevolution

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