56
JUN 2017
FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
SPECIAL
FOCUS
Everything 4.0
The government creates the 4.0 phenomenon for the Thai industry by
moving the country’s forward Thailand's 4.0 policy with targeted to 10
industrial clusters. This isanewengineof growth for theKingdom. The
10 targeted industrial clusters are consisting of the first five S-curve
industries and five newS-Curve industries.
ManyQuestionsAbout 4.0
Industrialists in large organizations in Thailandmay not have to worry
about thisas theyhavealreadyunderstoodandcloselymonitoredabout
Industrial4.0.Yet, ifwe talkedabout4.0 tosmallandmediumenterprises,
they may confuse and have many questions. For example, "Is the
Thailand4.0and Industrial 4.0 the same thing?"; "Wherearewe today
in the Industrial4.0?" ; "Shouldwemove toward4.0?or Is3.5 isenough?"
Thailand4.0 and Industrial 4.0
Thailand4.0 isapolicy that thegovernmentsetadirection for thecountry.
Under thepolicy, itwill createdifferentiation forourproductsandservices
with innovation, while the policy has also helped increase the
competitiveness forThai productsandservices.The industrial 4.0 isone
toolsordrivingengines thatwill leadThailand to thegoalandmoveaway
from themiddle-income trapwithin the next 20 years or in 2036.
CompetitivenessEfficiency
Where isThailand'spresent competitiveedge?Takea lookat the report
"TheGlobal CompetitivenessReport 2016-2017" reportedby theWorld
EconomicForum,bringingaltogether138countriesaround theworld for
ratingandcompering.The report showedThailand ranked the34
th
in the
world, falling from the 32
nd
place last year. In the ranking of the first to
the third ranking inAsia, Singapore, Japan, andHongKongare ranked
on the second, theeighth, and theninth, respectively, whileTaiwanand
SouthKoreawere ranked in the14
th
and the 26
th
.
ShouldWeLookat SouthKoreaasAnExample?
Although the overall competitiveness score of Thailand (34) versus the
SouthKorea (26) isnot adistance, and itmaycausesomequestions in
generalwhether theWEF isnot so reliable?However,whenconsidering
the report in each part including on the overall innovation capability,
Thailand ranked on the 54
th
place, while the South Korea's ranking on
the 22
nd
, indicating a significant difference that kept us away from the
SouthKorea.
Thai industry relies on skilled workers like the South Korea, which
was relied on manufacturing industry with low cost of skilled workers.
So how, the South Korea has escaped from themiddle-income trap to
higher income country. The answer is that South Korea uses "people"
intelligence combinedwith experience, which areOEMmanufacturers
asweapons tobring the countrywalk out of themiddle-income country
trap in finally.
Incurrent, theproportionofhighlyeducatedSouthKoreanpopulation
is accounted to more than 95 percent. Spending on research and
development (R&D) isaccountedby3.4percent from the totalGDP, the
thirdhighest in theworld.TheSouthKorea thinksandacts. It takesabout
15 years to transform its country in order to achieve the goal in early
2000.
Let's imagine howmany
families in Thailand do not
use South Korea products,
especiallyelectricappliances
ormobile phones. In the past
few years, we have used a lot
of Japanese products. Why
Korea replaces Japan? It is the
resul t from the country’s
transformation from being only
manufacturer to become owners of
innovative products.
To achieve Thailand’s 4.0’s goal in 2036
for Thailand to escape from the middle-income
trap with innovation needs good intention from everyone
in the nation.
(If) ToStart, HowShouldWeDo?
Asmentionedabove, largeorganisationsknowhow tostart andhow
to do in the 4.0 age. Yet, small andmedium-sized enterprises have
faced the same problems about lack of order because of products
have lowqualityorhavehighcost of productionandcannot compete
with other competitors. This was resulted from the manufacturing
process is labor-intensive, while less relied on the engine or the
automationsystem.Actually, theywould like to invest, but theyhave
concernedwhether theproductwill beable toattract customersand
worth for their investment or not.
The study of the strategic plan to increase the Thai industry
efficiency with automation system project in 2015, by the Office of
Industrial Economics. It shows theproportionof automation system
used in production by dividing into 5 groups as shown in Figure 2.
The proportion of Thai industry in group 1, 2 and 3 with have a
combined share of 85 percent from the total, which should be
transformed to group 4 and 5 so that it will have higher production
efficiency,aswellashavebettercostofdeliveryatamorecompetitive
cost.
“Want toget somehelps from thegovernment or anyone?” This
statement has insulted SMEs rather the truth. In opinions of many
SME, they have faced difficulty to sell their products because of
lacking of opportunity, especially the opportunity from Thai people.
The worse joke is that the company which has successfully in
overseas,canexports technology to leadingcarassemblycompanies
or leadingaircraft assemblycompaniesormachinerydesignfirms in
the foodmanufacturing industry; however, Thai peopledonot know
those firms or not accept them.
Does it is a time that Thai people give opportunities to Thai
entrepreneurs for tradinggoodsandserviceswithhavesamequality
as foreignproductsorserviceandproducedorcreatedbyThai skilled
workers.This isagreatopportunity forThailand to less relyon foreign
technology, and leverageThai productswith innovation to theworld
market. Here comes a chance for Thailand to reach thegoal before
2036. Theopportunitypassonprosperity to thenext generation isa
real opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs in the 4.0era.
Opportunitiesof
Thai Entrepreneurs inthe4.0Era
