More than 200 participants from the cement, quarry and construction sectors at the Shell Malaysia Technovation 2018 gained insights from industry experts on some of the prevailing opportunities and challenges as infrastructure developments continue to drive the country forward.
Shell Malaysia Technology and Innovation Conference for the Construction Sector
Among the country’s major infrastructure projects are the Mass Rapid Transit Line 2 (MRT2), the Pan-Borneo Highway or PBH and the much talked about high-speed rail (HSR) linking Malaysia and Singapore.
Others include the Forest City mixed development project and Robotic Future City in Johor, Melaka Gateway, Kuala Linggi International Port, Kuantan Port expansion, waterfront land reclamation in Penang and a green technology park in Pahang.
While all these multi-billion ringgit projects looked set to present tremendous opportunities to local companies, there were also various challenges involved.
Professor Dr Cheng Ming Yu of the Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre, University Tunku Abdul Rahman, shared insights on how Malaysian companies could benefit from the much talked about Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“The primary objective of this China-led initiative is to establish connectivity through infrastructure, cultural and technological exchange to promote mobility and achieve sustained economic progress. For local companies to participate actively and benefit from BRI, they need to know how to manage the inflow of capital, people and technology and be ready to face challenges brought by rapid changes in the global environment. This calls for continuous investments and upgrading in education, training, human capital development and technologies,” she said.
Tunnelling expert Ir Syed Rajah Hussain Shaib from The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) pointed out that many infrastructure projects now required the deployment of new technologies such as tunnelling to reduce the impact on the natural environment.
He called for institutions of higher education to update their syllabuses accordingly to meet the human capital needs for the use of such advanced technologies.
His colleague in IEM, Ir Derick Chia, then spoke on the complexity of project management and the importance of preventive maintenance on machinery to ensure timely delivery at each stage of a project.
“Machine is definitely one of the five key elements of project management as any breakdown would interrupt work activities on site. Delays could be extremely costly as the contractor could end up paying the full penalty, which is 15 per cent of the total contract amount.
“Hence, we strongly urged the project managers or site managers to pay serious attention to the ‘machine integrity’ issue. The ‘machine’ element might not comprise a huge portion of the entire project cost, but it definitely would impact the project schedule, especially those that involved a large portion of site installation works,” he said.
At the conference, two Shell experts on lubricant technology also shared their views and knowledge on the crucial role of lubricants in ensuring machine integrity and availability and their impact on total cost of ownership.
Lubricants technical specialist Dr Felix Guerzoni from Shell Shanghai Technology Centre highlighted the extensive range of lubricants developed to meet the needs of increasingly sophisticated machinery used in infrastructure development projects, including the Shell Naturelle range of biodegradable lubricants suitable for sensitive environments.
Meanwhile, Shell Global Technical and OEM Manager Karen Lee touched on how private companies, including lubricants suppliers such as Shell, could play a role in supporting infrastructure developments in Malaysia.
As the largest lubricant supplier in the world for the past 11 years, Shell said it had the right products and technical expertise to help construction companies improve their machine availability by using the correct lubricants to lower maintenance costs, reduce equipment downtime and achieve higher productivity.
Shell Malaysia Technovation is an annual technology conference organised by Shell Malaysia Industrial Lubricants units for its customers across the industries.
大马蚬壳建筑业科技及创新大会
汇聚业界专家高手
超过200名来自水泥丶采石及建筑业的业界人士参加2018年Shell Malaysia Technovation，并因此对国家基础建设继续发展所将呈现的机会和挑战有了更深的了解 。
大馬主要基礎建设计划 包括捷运第二路线（MRT2）与泛婆罗洲高速公路（PBH），以及连接大馬与新加坡的高速铁路（HSR）。
其它计划包括位於柔佛的森林城（Forest City）综合发展计划、未来机器人工业中心（Robotic Future City）丶马六甲皇京港（Melaka Gateway）丶瓜拉宁宜国际港（Kuala Linggi International Port）丶关丹港拓展计划丶槟城海滨填土计划及彭亨绿色科技园区。
上述这些数十亿令吉的发展计划虽可望为本地公司创造庞大商机，却也会有带来各种挑战。
拉曼大学“一带一路策略研究中心”（Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre）郑明瑜教授分享了大马企业公司如何能受惠於“一带一路倡议”（BRI）见解。
她说：“这个中国主导的倡议的主要目标是透过基础建设丶文化、科技交流来推广移动性和可持续性经济发展，建立起连接性。对那些想要积极参与和受惠於‘一带一路倡议’的本地公司而言，他们必须了解如何管理资金流入、人事，以及科技，还有必须准备好面对快速的全球环境变化所带来的挑战。因此，我们必须继续我们投资和提升我们的教育丶培训丶人力资源发展及科技。”
马来西亚工程师协会（IEM）隧道专家赛拉加（Syed Rajah Hussain Shaib）指出，如今的许多基础建设计划需要应用到新的挖隧新科技，以降低对自然环境的冲击。
他呼吁高等教育机构更新他们的教学课程，以满足该先进科技的人力需求。
他在马来西亚工程师协会的同事Derick Chia接着提到了计划管理的复杂度， 还有机械预防性保养的重要性， 以确保计划里的每一个阶段都能准时完成。
他说：“机械绝对是计划管理的五大要素之一，因为机械故障会影响到工地作业。延误的代价很大，可能会导致承包商必须支付全额罚款，也就是合约总值的15%。 因此，我们强力呼吁计划经理或工地经理严正看待‘机械完整性’议题。‘机械’元素或许不占整个计划的一大部分，但它绝对会影响计划进度，特别是涉及大型工地安装工程的计划。”
大会期间，蜆壳的两名润滑油科技专家也和与会者分享了有关润滑油在确保机械完整性与可用性方面所扮演的关键角色 ，以及它对总拥车成本的影响。
蜆壳上海科技中心润滑油技术专家圭尔佐尼（Felix Guerzoni）博士则重点介绍了特别为愈发复杂基础建设机械所研发的润滑油系列产品，包括适合敏感环境的Shell Naturelle生物分解润滑油。
与此同时，全球壳牌（Shell Global）技术及原设备制造部经理Karen Lee谈到私人公司，包括润滑油供应商如蜆壳，能够如何在马来西亚基础建设上提供支持。
作为过去11年来全球最大的润滑油供应商，蜆壳表示它拥有适当的产品和专业技术，能够协助建筑公司透过正确使用润滑油，降低成本和减少设备故障时间，以达到更高的生产力。
Shell Malaysia Technovation是大马蜆壳旗下工业润滑油部为其客户举办的年度科技大会。
