Innovation and application of Industry 4.0 in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries can increase productivity
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The pharmaceutical and medical device industries are included in the Ministry of Industry's Making Indonesia 4.0 Program that targets to expedite the application of Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing sector.

"Making Indonesia 4.0 is a strategy towards Industry 4.0 with the transformation of digital manufacturing. The aim is to increase productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of national industries," Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita stated here on Saturday.

Making Indonesia 4.0 serves as a roadmap to expedite the development of globally competitive industrial sectors. The program aims to realize the target to secure Indonesia’s ranking among the top 10 countries with the largest economies in the world by 2030.

The Making Indonesia 4.0 program is also expected to help boost the country's net exports by 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), double the productivity against costs, and step up spending on research and development by two percent of the GDP.

"In fact, the implementation of Making Indonesia 4.0 will create employment opportunities with new expertise in the industrial sector and industrial support services that are supported by the demographic bonus momentum," the minister stated.

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When the program was implemented in 2018, the Ministry of Industry had selected five priority sectors -- the food and beverage industry, textiles and apparel, automotive, chemical, and electronics -- to be the focus of development under the Making Indonesia 4.0 Program.

The five industrial sectors were chosen on the basis of several crucial factors, including the fact that they had contributed 70 percent of the national GDP.

Furthermore, the industries represent 65 percent of industrial exports and absorb some 60 percent of the industrial workforce.

In its development plans under the roadmap, the Ministry of Industry has also included the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

"The inclusion of the medical device and pharmaceutical industries in the priority development of Making Indonesia 4.0 is one of the efforts of the Ministry of Industry to immediately realize a self-reliant Indonesia in the health sector," the industry minister stated.

Kartasasmita highlighted the significance of Indonesia's self-reliance in the medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries, especially during health emergency scenarios as it is today.

The medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries come under the high-demand category amid the COVID-19 pandemic when other sectors are bearing a major brunt.

Furthermore, self-reliance in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries is projected to contribute to the program of curtailing imports by up to 35 percent by the end of 2022.

"Innovation and application of Industry 4.0 in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries can increase productivity," he noted.

To this end, the Ministry of Industry has continually boosted the competitiveness of the medical device and pharmaceutical industries by encouraging the transformation of digital-based technology.

Utilization of this digital technology will later begin, right from the stages of production to distribution and to consumers.

"By running digitalization, companies can manage their work processes and human resources and stay productive," the industry minister stated.

In 2019, the Ministry of Industry had launched the Indonesia Industry 4.0 Readiness Index, also called INDI 4.0, under which industrial companies conduct independent assessments to gauge their readiness in applying Industry 4.0.

"We will once again conduct an INDI 4.0 assessment to measure the industry's readiness to implement Industry 4.0 in the context of efforts to restore the national industry," he added.

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Translator: Risbiani F, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
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