Singapore-based company Pan-United Corporation Ltd (PanU) - through its technology subsidiary AiR Digital Solutions Pte Ltd - has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a leading ready-mix concrete company in South Korea, Eugene Corporation, to explore opportunities for the adoption of PanU’s intelligent optimisation platform called AiR (Artificial Intelligence for Ready-Mix Concrete).
This strategic agreement will facilitate information-sharing between the two companies, allowing Eugene Corporation to assess and evaluate the utility of tapping on the AiR platform to accelerate its digital transformation in the construction and logistics space.
The AiR platform employs artificial intelligence, data analytics, algorithms and sensor technologies to optimise vertical operations along the entire value chain. AiR can be plugged into existing operations to optimise every stage of a user company’s operational supply chain - from replenishing raw materials, managing customer orders and deploying capacity at batching plants right up to facilitating quality control checks and e-billing. Benefits include streamlining day-to-day operations, improving productivity, reducing manpower wastage and producing substantial cost savings.
Offered in the form of a software as a service (SaaS), the AiR platform is modular and customisable depending on each user company’s operations, logistics requirements and existing supply chain structure. Parameters can be set based on factors such as cost versus time, truck assignments or priority customer projects. Algorithms and machine learning are built into AiR to seamlessly overcome operational ‘pain points’.
“By bridging technology with strong domain knowledge from our two decades in the cement and ready-mix concrete industry, PanU has developed a new technology offering that can be commercialised and offered to other regional and global players. The launch of the AiR platform bears testament to PanU’s ability to not only remain agile and future-proof our business in a sustainable manner, but also accelerate our entire industry’s digital transformation,” explained Ken Loh, chief operating officer of PanU.
“The AiR optimisation system has resulted in a greater competitive advantage and improved operational efficiency for PanU. The AiR platform has elevated PanU’s service standards and yielded 45% in costs savings since the implementation of the first basic prototype in 2014, and we are excited to work with Eugene Corporation to achieve similar performance uplifts,” added Mr Loh.
Chung Jin-hak, CEO of Eugene Corporation said, “In this age of smart disruption, we see a growing need for increased efficiency and data operability to better serve customer demands and drive cost savings at the same time. Through this partnership with PanU, we seek to digitalise our entire end-to-end operations.”
Eugene Corporation is a leader in the local ready-mix concrete and basic construction materials in South Korea. The company has built a concrete distribution network throughout the country and is at the forefront of the ready-mix concrete market for eco-friendly products, advanced equipment and quality management system.
PanU is an award-winning industry leader in the concrete innovation space. The Group recently designed and produced a 3D-printed concrete bench using NEWSand, a material created from repurposed municipal solid waste slag, in a project collaboration with Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA). The concrete bench was unveiled at NEA's Year Towards Zero Waste event in November 2019.
PanU is the first and only concrete firm to win the 2019 Sustainability Leadership Award, jointly conferred by the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and the Building Construction Authority (BCA). It was also the first concrete firm to attain the SGBC’s highest green ‘Leader’ certification in 2017.
Image: Pan-United Corporation Ltd
