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Wazen is among the approved list of service providers for Factories of the Future

Is Wazen among the approved list of service providers for Factories of the Future?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the next stage in the digitization of the manufacturing sector, driven by revolutionary trends including the emergence of data and connectivity, analytics, human–machine interaction, and advancements in robotics. It represents a fundamental transformation in policies and work methodologies, and is the primary reason behind the rise of competitive smart factories capable of producing smoothly, efficiently, and competitively in response to changes in supply, demand, and supply chains.

In this article from Wazen, we discuss in more detail what future factories are, their objectives, how they operate, and more.

Future Factories Program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Towards More Advanced Production

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driving the world toward a transformation in manufacturing through the use of Internet and communication services, benefiting factories across all manufacturing sectors such as chemicals, food, and metals. Accordingly, the Future Factories Program is a fundamental transformation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to keep pace with this global industrial development.

His Excellency, the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, Bandar Al-Khorayef, announced the launch of the Future Factories Program, which aims to transform thousands of factories over the next five years by adopting advanced manufacturing technologies to increase the productivity of the manufacturing sector in the Kingdom, strengthen and enhance national industry, increase job opportunities for the national workforce, and reduce reliance on unskilled and non-specialized labor.

The Minister emphasized that the sector must commit to manufacturing with efficiency, independence, and adoption of digital foundations, to address urgent challenges, reduce operational costs, and raise factory competitiveness. Therefore, the program aims to develop and improve the industrial sector in the Kingdom over the next five years.


Objectives of the Future Factories Program Over the Next 5 Years

We begin with the comprehensive objectives of the program as a whole, which include:

  • Transforming 4,000 factories based on the principles of digital transformation and smart manufacturing practices, thereby improving efficiency, reducing operational costs, and enhancing factory competitiveness.
  • Developing alternative solutions to reduce the sector’s reliance on unskilled labor, and creating jobs aligned with the outputs of national education.
  • Implementing operational excellence methodologies and practices, and adopting advanced smart manufacturing solutions such as digitization, automation, artificial intelligence, and connectivity.
  • Increasing productivity.
  • Reducing operational costs.
  • Improving product quality and consumer services.
  • Establishing effective and sustainable industrial systems.
  • Creating flexible, innovative, and sustainable supply chains.
  • Making the sector attractive for highly skilled national talent.
  • Enhancing financial liquidity.
  • Increasing revenues and boosting profit margins.

Transforming 4,000 factories based on the principles of digital transformation and smart manufacturing practices, which will enhance efficiency, reduce operational costs, and improve factory competitiveness. Developing alternative solutions to reduce the sector’s reliance on unskilled labor, and creating jobs aligned with the outputs of national education. Implementing methodologies and practices of operational excellence and adopting smart manufacturing technologies and solutions such as digitization, automation, connectivity, and artificial intelligence. Increasing productivity, reducing operational costs, improving product quality and consumer services, establishing effective and sustainable systems, creating flexible and responsive supply chains, providing an attractive work environment for highly skilled talent, improving financial liquidity, and boosting revenues and profit margins.

However, more specifically, there are 5 main strategic objectives of the program derived from the goals of Vision 2030, the National Industrial Strategy (NIS), and the objectives of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), which can be summarized as follows:

First-Level Objectives

  • Strengthening Islamic values and national identity
  • Enabling a prosperous and healthy life
  • Increasing employment rates
  • Economic growth and diversification
  • Strengthening government performance
  • Enabling social responsibility

Strengthening Islamic values and national identity, enabling a prosperous and healthy life, increasing employment rates, promoting economic growth and diversification, strengthening government performance, and enabling social responsibility.

Second-Level Objectives

  • Enhancing private sector contribution to the economy
  • Unlocking the potential of promising non-oil sectors
  • Positioning the Kingdom as a global logistics hub

Enhancing private sector contribution to the economy, unlocking the capabilities of promising non-oil sectors, and consolidating the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics hub.

Third-Level Objectives

  • Maximizing the value captured from the mining sector and its utilization
  • Developing the digital economy to enable the Fourth Industrial Revolution
  • Increasing the local content share in promising non-oil sectors
  • Raising the local content share in the oil and gas sector

Maximizing the value captured from the mining sector and its utilization, developing the digital economy to enable the Fourth Industrial Revolution, increasing the share of local content in promising non-oil sectors, and raising the local content share in the oil and gas sector.

Program Components

The Future Factories Program consists of 5 main components designed to fully enable the industrial ecosystem and support factories in keeping pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and achieving the program’s objectives. These components are:

  • Technical Environment for the Program: Service providers, the electronic services platform, and specific tools and applications supporting the factories’ digital transformation journey.
  • Systems and Incentives: Regulations, systems, and special incentives to support the transformation journey.
  • Knowledge Environment for the Program: Knowledge guides for users regarding digital transformation and operational excellence.
  • Factory and Workforce Evaluation: Assessment processes for factories, training programs, and internationally accredited certifications.
  • Awareness and Success Stories: Awareness workshops and campaigns, and documented success stories of factories’ digital transformation journeys.

Stages of Transformation for Factories in the Program

The factory transformation journey is built on well-studied foundations to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Factories go through four stages, outlined as follows:

  • Self-Assessment: Conducted by the factory team using the "Self-Assessment" tool on the Industrial Platform, to establish a baseline that reflects the level of digital maturity of the factory.
  • Certified Auditor Assessment: Conducted by an accredited auditor according to the global methodology adopted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to measure the digital maturity of Saudi factories in adopting Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
  • Developing and Implementing the Transformation Plan: In this stage, the factory develops a plan to address gaps and implement improvement opportunities to enhance its digital maturity level. This is done through the application of digital transformation and smart manufacturing solutions.
  • Final Auditor Assessment: Conducted after implementing the transformation plan. The factory is evaluated and certified as a digitally transformed factory if it exceeds the second maturity level. The success story of the factory will then be documented and shared to motivate other factories to achieve the same goal. It will also be officially registered by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources as one of the Future Factories, serving as a beacon of inspiration for others.

Wazen Among the Approved List of Future Factories and Digital Transformation Service Providers

As part of the program’s preparatory work, surveys were conducted with more than 1,100 service providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. From these, 116 providers were registered in the program, and more than 86 accredited providers were identified to offer the required techniques for certified assessment services to factories in their transformation stages. Among the approved companies providing these services was Wazen Financial Company.

Being on this list means that Wazen is recognized among the companies offering advanced manufacturing solutions and smart manufacturing practices aimed at supporting factories to achieve their goals and be officially registered in the program by the Ministry. The program will also measure the impact of the solutions and services provided to factories by analyzing improvements in operational costs, increased revenues, and return on investment from the agreed-upon solutions.

In conclusion, as one of the accredited companies providing solutions and services to help factories achieve the outlined objectives under the Future Factories Program, we at Wazen are pleased to extend our services to all operating factories across all sectors, ensuring their success in the program—and more. This includes managing all financial aspects of the factory, automating its operations, and efficiently developing and upgrading them

Finally, we invite you to explore the Wazen Business Operating System by taking advantage of our free 14-day trial. During this period, you can learn more about the details, services, and features of the Wazen system for business operations.

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