Future Factories Program

In alignment with Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation goals and the digitization of the manufacturing sector to keep pace with global industry advancements and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources launched the “Future Factories” program. This initiative aims to support factories in adopting Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and achieving best scientific practices in digital manufacturing, thereby enhancing factory profitability and reducing production costs.

The “Future Factories” program follows the SIRI methodology, a digital adoption indicator endorsed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and accredited by the World Economic Forum for assessing the digital evolution of factories.

The program leverages modern technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and 3D printing to improve factory efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness.

Objectives of the “Future Factories” program include:

• Increasing productivity through process improvement and automation technologies.
• Cost reduction by minimizing waste and enhancing operational efficiency.
• Improving product quality through advanced monitoring and analysis systems.
• Enhancing security through strengthened cybersecurity measures and precise process monitoring.

But more specifically, there are 5 key strategic objectives of the program derived from the vision objectives, National Industrial Strategy (NIS), and objectives of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), which we categorize as follows:

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

1. Transforming 4,000 factories based on digital transformation foundations and smart manufacturing practices, aiming to enhance operational efficiency, improve effectiveness, and reduce operational costs to increase factory competitiveness.
2. Finding alternative solutions to reduce reliance on unskilled labor and creating jobs aligned with outputs of national education.
3. Implementing operational excellence methodologies and adopting smart manufacturing technologies and solutions such as digitization, automation, communication, artificial intelligence, etc.
4. Increasing operational productivity of factories.
5. Reducing operational costs.
6. Improving product quality and consumer service.
7. Implementing effective and sustainable safety systems.
8. Establishing flexible and highly responsive supply chains.
9. Creating an attractive work environment for highly skilled personnel.
10. Enhancing financial liquidity.
11. Increasing revenues and net profits.

• Maximizing the realized value from the mining sector and benefiting from it.
• Developing the digital economy to empower the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
• Increasing the local content ratio in non-oil sectors.

• Fostering private sector contribution to the economy
• Unleashing the potential of promising non-oil sectors
• Consolidating the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics hub

• Enhancing Islamic values and national identity
• Empowering prosperous and healthy lives
• Increasing employment rates
• Developing and diversifying the economy
• Enhancing governmental work
• Empowering social responsibility

The program of future factories consists of 5 main elements designed to empower the entire industrial ecosystem and support factories in keeping pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and achieving program goals. These elements are:

• Technical Environment of the Program: Service providers, service websites, tools, and applications dedicated to supporting the digital transformation journey of factories.
• Systems and Incentives: Legislation, systems, and incentives aimed at supporting the transformation journey.
• Cognitive Structure of the Program: Cognitive guides for users regarding digital transformation and operational excellence.
• Assessment of Factories and National Workforce: Factory assessment processes, training programs, internationally accredited certifications.
• Awareness and Success Stories: Workshops, awareness campaigns, success stories of factories’ digital transformation journey.

The transformation journey for factories in the program has been carefully structured to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Factories go through four stages in this journey, which are outlined as follows:

• Self-Assessment: This stage involves the factory team filling out a “Self-Assessment” survey on an industrial platform to build a database showing the digital maturity level of the factories.
• First Certified Assessment (CERI): Conducted by a certified assessor following the global CERI methodology adopted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to measure the maturity of Saudi factories in adopting Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
• Development and Implementation of Transformation Plan: At this stage, based on the results of the first certified assessment, the factory develops a plan to address gaps and implement improvement opportunities to enhance the factory’s digital maturity. This is achieved through the implementation of digital transformation and smart manufacturing solutions.
• Second CERI Assessment: This stage occurs after the transformation plan has been executed. A certified assessor evaluates the factory and documents it as a transformed factory if it exceeds the second level in the assessment. The factory shares its success story to inspire other factories to achieve the same goal. Additionally, it will be registered with the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources as part of the Future Factories Initiative, serving as a beacon for others and inspiring further transformation in other factories.

As part of the work provided for the program, a survey was conducted for over 1100 service providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 116 of them were registered in the program, with more than 86 accredited service providers offering CERI-required technologies for factories’ certified assessments in the transformation stages.

Haddaq Information Technology Company was among the accredited companies providing these services. In this list, Haddaq is recognized for delivering modern manufacturing practices and factory planning solutions aimed at achieving the second level of CERI, assisting factories in reaching their goals and being registered with the ministry as part of the program’s registered factories.

Additionally, the impact achieved on the factory will be analyzed after applying the solutions and services provided, through reductions in operational costs and increases in revenues compared to the investment made in the agreed-upon solutions.