Software worth $3.4 million will enable engineering students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) to familiarise themselves with the latest in manufacturing and scheduling technologies.
Progress Software and Symix have jointly donated an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package used extensively in industry to streamline supply chains and improve efficiency.
PolyU's Department of Manufacturing and its Industrial Centre received the software. The department will use it for teaching logistics engineering in a recently-formed production logistics laboratory.
The Industrial Centre will incorporate the software into its 'Learning Factory' approach to train students from various engineering disciplines.
Dr Chris Wong Ho-ching, director of the Industrial Centre, said: 'By using software to produce real-life business case studies, our students can more easily understand the complexities of manufacturing. They have the opportunity to graduate with the practical skills that will be of real benefit to their future employers.' He said about 3,000 students would receive training from the centre.
ERP is the most up-to-date manufacturing resources planning software, but has not been widely used by manufacturers in the SAR and the mainland.