The 70s was a decade of establishment for Singapore: the country’s new National Stadium was built in Kallang and the flagship airline, Singapore Airlines, was born. That was also in the decade, in 1970, that Hewlett-Packard (HP) arrived in Singapore.  It was a mark of the growing importance, and potential, of Singapore. By 1973, HP Singapore had already assembled the first Singapore-made calculator, the HP-35. This device was Hewlett-Packard's first pocket calculator, the world's first scientific pocket calculator and the first scientific calculator to fly in space. From the start, HP was squarely focused on how we could continually innovate – and Singapore has provided us the talent, government support, foresight, and infrastructure to do so. HP invested heavily in Singapore as it grew into a major manufacturing centre for the region. For example, in 2004 HP invested S$1 billion in Singapore over five years to support new manufacturing lines and to continue investing in current manufacturing activities. In 2015, the Board of Directors of Hewlett-Packard Company announced the separation of HP into two independent, industry-leading companies: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which now focuses on the enterprise-facing hardware and cloud business, and HP Inc (HP), which focuses on the consumer-facing computer and printer business. Meanwhile, in Singapore, with an investment of more than S$100 million, HP opened a new headquarters in 2018. This campus houses a state-of-the-art Customer Welcome Center, a printhead manufacturing line and a cutting-edge Smart Manufacturing Application and Research Center (SMARC) along with country, regional, and global functions. Our focus on continually innovating led to us setting up SMARC, a research and prototyping facility supported by the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB). It is aimed at driving Industry 4.0 adoption and digital transformation in the manufacturing sector. The facility studies, designs, trials and implements Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies such as additive manufacturing, robotics and data analytics to improve our manufacturing process and ecosystem. Successful technologies are then implemented in our Print Head manufacturing line in Singapore as well as other lines further afield. This in turn led to the World Economic Forum recognising HP Singapore as a Global Lighthouse factory for advanced manufacturing. Our Print head manufacturing line was recognised for both its advanced manufacturing and its sustainable approach. The benefits of implementing 4IR technologies are seen in decreased manufacturing costs by 20 per cent, and improved productivity and quality by 70 per cent - all that while HP continues to invest in line with Singapore’s 2030 Manufacturing plan to grow the manufacturing sector by over 50 per cent. Singapore certainly recognises the importance of manufacturing to its economy. The manufacturing sector contributes about 21 per cent, or around $106 billion of the total GDP, hiring about 450,000 workers, or around 12 per cent of the workforce, said a report in Channel News Asia. The country’s 10-year plan is to grow Singapore's manufacturing sector by 50 per cent and maintain its share of about 20 per cent of GDP.  According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, Industry 4.0 could add S$36 billion in total manufacturing output, boost labour productivity by 30 per cent, and create 22,000 new jobs in Singapore by 2024. Advanced Manufacturing therefore presents an opportunity for Singapore to cement its position as a global manufacturing hub. Singapore’s skilled workforce and strength in innovation position the country well to be amongst the top locations for companies to design and execute their Industry 4.0 strategies. The benefits to Singapore come with reskilling and culture change where automation and robotics move the workforce up the value chain. By automating selected processes, we’re able to retrain our Print head manufacturing team to update their skills – an essential move as we anticipate skills needed in the future. HP manufacturing lines have focused on upskilling and reskilling, as engineers become data scientists and operators moved into new business development roles. Additionally, 4IR adopters like HP Singapore are stones thrown in water that create ripple effects through the Singapore manufacturing ecosystem creating templates, use cases and clear models to pave way to success, simplifying the deployment of 4IR for others. A good example of how HP is working with Singapore to do this and grow Singapore’s workforce is HP-NTU Digital Manufacturing Corporate Lab<, HP’s first corporate laboratory in Asia. The aim is to drive innovation, technology, skills and economic development critical for advancement in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and supports Singapore’s push toward industry transformation – in the areas of digital manufacturing and 3D printing technologies. The corporate lab is a key pillar of NTU’s Smart Campus initiative and builds on HP’s strong research and manufacturing capabilities. It leverages the Additive Manufacturing (AM) capabilities of NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing and National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster and coordinate efforts with the existing additive manufacturing and digital manufacturing ecosystem in Singapore.   Both Singapore and HP have come a long way since 1970. Many Singapore residents are probably related to or know someone who has worked at HP over the last 52 years. Diversity, equity and inclusion is also key in our development. Directors such as Jamie Neo, who led the SMARC initiative, is recognised along with others as among 100 Women in Tech. Many young Singaporeans are being nurtured as future leaders at HP as well. Just recently, one of our millennial employees was part of the team that won bronze in Taekwondo representing Singapore at the 31st SEA Games held in Hanoi. HP created the space that allowed him to work while training for the Games. It's part of what we call the HP Way. The HP Way reflects the personal core values of our founders, Bill Hewlett and David Packard. One of those values is that HP has a responsibility to contribute directly to the well-being of the communities in which it operates.  In Singapore, we like to think we’ve done exactly that. Ng Tian Chong is MD of Greater Asia, HP Inc Share your experiences working with early MNCs in Singapore at editorial@transformlife.sg<