TO remain relevant, a company or organisation needs to increase productivity to achieve economic sustainability.
When it comes to productivity, obviously the most important thing to focus on is technology.
Every professional industry in this country, which consists mostly of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), needs to undergo transformation by lifting or applying technology in their respective organisation in this era of digital transformation.
In this regard, technology adoption initiative under the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) through the Professional Services Productivity Nexus (PSPN) was created to help the professional services industry to continue to thrive and be competitive.
According to Plytec Holding Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Ts. Louis Tay, digital transformation needs to be achieved with the right strategy.
Plytec Holding Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Louis Tay (left) and Plytec Holding Sdn Bhd managing director Yang Kian Lock.
"The strategy we focussed on in terms of PSPN is that we must 'tackle' at an early stage so that a digital chain can be created from a single source, through the entire chain.
"In terms of the professional services we 'design' for suppliers, manufacturers and contractors, every digital content we create must be usable directly. This is the strategy we need to have.
“Digital transformation will gradually and ultimately increase productivity. When productivity is increased, then economic sustainability is achieved.
“The Government believes in this change. The industry must work with the Government; in fact the industry should guide and change together, ” he said.
In terms of professional services related to the engineering industry, one of the most important things in digital transformation is Integrated Digital Delivery.
According to Tay, in terms of professional services related to the engineering industry, one of the most important things in digital transformation is the Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD).
IDD is an innovative technology and process for planning and managing construction projects, whereby it contains a variety of geometric information, functions, features or parameters generated through several related fillings.
Through IDD, all information related to materials, scope of work, problems that occur in the building can be easily identified. In short, IDD can save time, cost and energy.
"All this will be chained in the context of a basic digital infrastructure, namely Building Information Modelling (BIM) as it is the ‘first language’ that needs to be changed in order to move in this field.
"The implementation of BIM will be a norm and one day, buyers will learn about this. If you do not deliver, other developers will deliver and that is the challenge, ” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Plytec Holding Sdn Bhd managing director Ts. Yang Kian Lock, every industry must follow the international standards of the British Standards Institution (BSI) 19650 to manage information throughout the asset chain built using BIM.
Every industry needs to follow the international standard of the British Standards Institution (BSI) 19650 to manage information throughout the asset chain built using BIM.
"We must have a standard and what we are talking about is the British Standard Institution 19650. Everyone must follow to the standard.
“When we follow the standard, throughout the supply chain, software or anything can be consolidated. So there is no need to retype, there must be a coordination platform that is the 'common data environment'," said Yang.
However, in the digital transformation, especially IDD technology, there are definitely certain constraints among SMEs such as financial resources, human resources and knowledge resources.
“The challenge as an SME is resources and expenses. Another challenge is human resources. Not all employees want to change, ” he added.
This process certainly requires the involvement of all stakeholders ranging from developers, architects to facilitators so that all parties benefit.
“We are committed to share opinions, measures and knowledge with the industry. This is our social responsibility. In terms of profit, and of course cooperation, we can share the experience with others. Through PSPN, we create an industry knowledge group (IKG) on IDD.
"We must bring awareness, inform them, and educate our friends on the importance of elevating technology. We motivate, change their mindset to continue learning,"he added.