Transformation of Palm Oil Milling Towards Industry 4.0

The palm oil milling process has been stagnant for decades without undergoing major development, especially on the process control and automation. The present palm oil milling is predominantly based on concepts developed in the 1960’s and 70’s, with mainly still in manual operations that requires high manpower to operates. As Malaysia aspires to become a self-sufficient industrialized nation, the evolution of palm oil milling must continue, in-line with shortage of manpower and availability of highly trained manpower. This talk describes the works that Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) are doing in moving the company towards Industry 4.0, with focus on works done at the newly constructed Experimental Mill.

Plenary Speakers:

Mr. Mohd Shafril Baharudin

Mr. Mohd Shafril Baharudin is currently the Head of Process Control and Automation at Sime Darby Research Sdn Bhd. He has been working at Sime Darby Plantation for the past 20 years, with 15 years as Mill Manager at various mills within the Group, in Malaysia and Indonesia. He is also a certified 1^st Grade Steam Engineer (DOSH) and have in-depth knowledge and experience at managing the Total Preventive Maintenance (TPM) system and process control at Sime Darby Plantation. He received his Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with major in robotics, control and automation from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 1999.

Dr. Muhammad Izhar Kairi

Dr. Muhammad Izhar Kairi is currently a Senior Engineer of Quality and Process Improvement at Sime Darby Research. He received his PhD and MSc in Chemical Engineering from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2015 and 2019 respectively. Prior to his postgraduate study, he have also worked as an R&D Engineer, Process Engineer and researcher at few companies. He have also published a number of ISI publications while also winning a few competitions for his PhD research.