The Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) is a contemporary platform built upon strong public-private partnerships, to accelerate innovation and translate research to industrial applications. Led by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), in partnership with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore ARTC positions Singapore as a global innovation hub for manufacturing by partnering companies to co-develop solutions that address industry problem statements. 

With over 90 members in its consortium, ARTC collaborates with companies ranging from multinational corporations (MNCs) to large local enterprises (LLEs), small-medium enterprises (SMEs), and start-ups. The membership ecosystem invigorates collaboration among industry partners from different industries, public sector research institutes and academia to accelerate technology deployment while developing best practices in new manufacturing technologies and processes for faster deployment in companies.

ARTC’s research activities are classified into three main industry clusters: Transport & Engineering, Consumer & Modern Services, and Energy & Infrastructure. These clusters enable industry partners to confer and integrate novelty in technology offerings. The industry clusters are supported by ARTC’s seven technology themes – Advanced Remanufacturing, Advanced Robotic Applications, Intelligent Product Verification, Additive Manufacturing Industrialisation, Data-driven Surface Enhancement, Digital Manufacturing Group and Virtual Manufacturing Group. Industry partners can tap on ARTC’s capabilities in these areas to deploy advanced manufacturing solutions.

Well-equipped with best-in-class facilities for advanced manufacturing research, ARTC provides access to modern equipment and expertise for its industry partners to prototype, test and scale industrial production. Companies can de-risk investments by testing processes and technologies without disrupting their factory operations, tapping on ARTC’s flagship programmes and initiatives such as the Model Factory, hyper-personalisation line, joint labs, ROS-Industrial and Supply Chain 4.0. Industry partners can also tap on these initiatives to sustain revenue growth and support their market expansion efforts.

Through workshops, conferences and training courses, ARTC continues to upskill workers in the manufacturing industry and develop future workers and leaders for the global market.

2022 marks the 10th anniversary of ARTC. Established in 2012 as a research institute under A*STAR, ARTC provides a collaborative platform for like-minded industry partners to collaborate and co-develop R&D solutions across the value chain. 

From 29 industry members in 2015, ARTC’s industry consortium has grown and transformed into a vibrant membership ecosystem with over 90 industry members today, comprising MNCs, LLEs, and SMEs across aerospace, oil & gas, FMCG, medtech and automotive industries.

During this decade-long journey of learning, innovation, and commitment to public-private partnerships, ARTC has put its best foot forward, creating value and delivering business outcomes for industry partners including MNCs such as Rolls-Royce, P&G and Singapore-based SME Abrasive Engineering.  These achievements were possible due to committed industry partners, as well as a dedicated team at ARTC with expertise across Advanced Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing and Robotics Application fields. Moving forward, ARTC’s goal is to continue delivering successful industry outcomes, and building more robust collaborations in the ecosystem.

Abrasive Engineering (AE) is a Singapore-based engineering SME that specialises in bespoke design and fabrication of blasting and shot peening machines and providing surface treatment processes for a variety of industries. Founded in 1990 by a small team of three entrepreneurs, AE has grown over the years to achieve a large customer base globally.

AE joined the ARTC industry consortium in 2015. It wanted to develop new product offerings and services for its customers by leveraging ARTC’s technical expertise in advanced surface engineering. In 2019, AE officially launched a non-magnetic valve for precision media flow control of shot peening machines. The non-magnetic valve is the world’s first flowrate control valve for the shot peening process, which is a cold working process used to produce a compressive residual stress layer and modify the mechanical properties of metals. Designed for ferrous and non-ferrous media using the microwave technology, more media types can be used with better control. This was achieved through collaboration between AE, ARTC and A*STAR’s National Metrology Centre (NMC) in Singapore. AE product development engineers worked with process experts in ARTC to test and refine the product, while metrologists from NMC optimised the product’s measurement system.

Encouraged by the successful partnership with ARTC, AE expanded its activities by setting up a joint lab with A*STAR to build advanced manufacturing capabilities, develop new products, and enter new industries. The joint lab focuses on the development of precision media valves for shot peening, additive manufacturing and FMCG applications, and the development of a fully automated blast room for the marine industry.

The collaboration between ARTC and AE has also grown beyond development projects, to include the growth of the metal finishing community. 

Together with MFN and AE, ARTC has been an official training venue together with its shot peening facilities for MFN’s Shot Peening & Flap Peening Workshop since 2014. The workshop is a 3-day training program on shot peening and flap peening processes that is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States. This year, the event will be held between 7th to 9th September 2022 in ARTC.  

AE’s growth over the past 10 years with its successful partnership with ARTC is a testament to the public-private partnership model. ARTC will continue to stay dedicated to fostering strong collaboration with AE through the joint lab to support their market expansion to the global market.

For Information: 

Advanced Remanufacturing and 

Technology Centre (ARTC)

3 Cleantech Loop, #01-01, CleanTech Two 637143 Singapore

Tel. +65 69087900

E-mail: enquiry@artc.a-star.edu.sg

www.a-star.edu.sg/artc