Singapore: Jabil has announced the launch of its newest Blue Sky Innovation Centre in Singapore, extending Jabil’s network of Innovation Centres in America and Europe to Asia. Blue Sky Singapore will testbed advanced manufacturing processes and spearhead Jabil’s research and development (R&D) efforts in cutting-edge manufacturing technologies to power the development of next-generation electronic products.
Expected to be fully operational by 2020, Blue Sky Singapore will house a suite of state-of-the-art R&D facilities for additive manufacturing, organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) process development and deployment, Roll-to-Roll processing, among others. It will also connect capabilities from other Blue Sky Innovation Centres in San Jose (California, USA), Clinton (Massachusetts, USA), and Tortosa (Spain) to Singapore, and strengthen collaboration with the local innovation ecosystem of customers, suppliers, educational and research institutions.
Leveraging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR), the lab will demonstrate the capabilities and potential of digital solutions to accelerate product design and prototyping, improve manufacturing processes and supply chain management. The lab will also serve as a collaborative space that brings people, technologies and capabilities together to inspire innovation in an advanced manufacturing setting.
This announcement is part of Jabil’s plans for further footprint expansion in Singapore. By early 2018, Jabil will expand to a new facility in Changi North, bringing its total size in Singapore to 354,000 square feet. The new facility will house a Class 10,000 cleanroom and focus on semiconductor equipment assembly and testing. Jabil will also be investing in other advanced manufacturing capabilities such as 3D printing equipment manufacturing and assembly to capture new growth markets, as well as growing its workforce and creating new roles requiring advanced skill sets over the next few years.
Electronics is a key growth industry for Singapore’s economy and is poised for continued growth. The industry is expected to achieve a manufacturing value-add of S$22.2 billion and introduce 2,100 new professional managerial, executive and technical jobs by 2020.
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