‘Globalization making RP more aware of culture of manufacturing’

DESPITE being perceived by some quarters as a manufacturing laggard, the Philippines has proven its critics wrong as manifested by the presence of several manufacturing plants in the country, according to an academician from the state university.

“In my opinion, the Philippines has been successful at adopting new technologies. This is evident in the technology transplants that we see in the country. For example, we have plants of Toyota, Isuzu and other auto companies,” said Dr. Iris Ann Martinez, newly appointed chairman of the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of the Philippines, in an e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror.

According to Martinez, the country is also prime site for other technology-intensive industries, such as semiconductor packaging and testing, as evidenced by the operations of several multinational companies in the country.

In terms of technology transfer, Martinez said the Philippines has to look into the long term to enable the country to sustain it. She pointed out that absorbing foreign technology is not a problem for Filipinos because they possess a high intellect.

“In terms of the stages of technology transfer, the most challenging part is maintaining the technology that is transferred. With the high intellectual level of the Filipino engineer, usually the foreign technology is embraced quickly. However, long-term utilization and eventual local development of the technology is the challenge,” she said.

However, Martinez said the problem could be solved by:

* Investigating the foresight of the Filipinos specific to the technology involved;

* Improving the method of transferring the technology—particularly addressing the need to make the Filipino engineer understand the technology in a larger perspective (i.e., in terms of the impact of the technology to make lives better) instead of the narrow/component perspective (i.e., in terms of how to manufacture the product only); and

* Ensuring that the knowledge stays in the Philippines because many of the country’s technology experts leave the country, taking what they know and what they can do with them.

Martinez pointed out, “There is neither ‘low-level’ nor ‘high-level’ manufacturing culture.”  She said the country must work and maximize most of the country’s manufacturing culture.

“I think if we would like to help our country, we must know the products which we are good at making. We also have a lot of resources that we can utilize. Some of the technologies are simple, but we have to continually improve them, not necessarily to be high-tech, but to improve quality and reduce costs,” said Martinez, author of the paper entitled “Modularizing Decision Support Systems in Manufacturing to Facilitate Technology Transfer.”

“We must know what aspects of the products we are distinctly competitive at addressing. We may borrow technologies for a period of time but eventually develop the technology on our own—develop it the Filipino way and make the most of the ‘Filipinized’ technology to help contribute for better lives for the generations to come,” she added.

On a positive note, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched a couple of years ago the “Filipinnovation” movement to make the country a more competitive force in the global economy by producing value-added, knowledge-based products and services.

Among the partners of the DOST in this undertaking are more than 30 public and private agencies and companies, such as the Asian Institute of Management, International Business Machines and Intellectual Property Philippines.

The core of Filipinnovation is enhancing science and technology capabilities of the country to extricate the poor from their miserable condition. In concrete terms, small and medium enterprises must be taught technologies that will move their industries on a higher level on the value chain.

For technology transfer to be successful, Martinez said the country must make sure that the technology lasts for years. She said this is possible “if the technology adapts to the culture of manufacturing of the user.”

“It becomes ‘region-harmonized’ or ‘user-harmonized,’” she said.

With region-harmonization, Martinez explained the technology which comes from the foreign transfer or retains its core components yet it becomes fit for the user. The user becomes more able to optimize the technology and to sustain the technology over a long period of time.

“The Philippines can continue further development of the technology even without heavy assistance from the source of the technology,” she said.

She said globalization has made the Philippine business firms compete and, at the same time, cooperate with each other. This partnership evolved into what is now known as “coopetition.”

“Coopetition means that we cooperate at the same time that we compete. In globalization, we recognize that we serve the world market. Thus, we compete to be able to produce goods to the same customers,” said Martinez.

However, Martinez said the country must find its way to determine its distinct role in manufacturing the product—which parts or processes in the same product the country is best at.

She said this includes the entire set of processes or the entire supply chain of producing the product from sourcing the raw materials, to production, to distribution, to retail, to providing the service after the sale and to disposal at end of life of the product.

“In short, globalization is making us more aware of the need to investigate, to accept, to implement and to maintain, and make the most of our culture of manufacturing,” Martinez said. –Rizal Raoul Reyes / Correspondent, Businessmirror