Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) has launched Catalytic AI Solutions for the advanced manufacturing sector, a three-year initiative with more than S$45 million ($35.2 million) to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) deploy AI solutions.

In a statement on Wednesday, the government agency said the program will help firms tackle operational challenges and strengthen production workflows. Minister of State for Energy, Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang announced the initiative at the Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific (ITAP) 2026.

Catalytic AI Solutions is one of the initiatives under Singapore’s National AI Strategy. The initiative aims to speed up AI solutions development and deployment, aiming to solve industry problems at scale.

The agency said many SMEs recognize AI’s potential but find adoption difficult because of development costs, limited access to sector-specific solutions, and uncertainty about outcomes.

The program brings together solution providers, system integrators, trade associations, and chambers. These partners will help SMEs deploy solutions, including those developed by the Sectoral AI Centre of Excellence for Manufacturing (AIMfg). Enterprise Singapore said the approach lets more SMEs use proven AI solutions without building them independently, which reduces the time, cost and complexity of adoption.

Enterprise Singapore will work with trade associations and qualified vendors to offer a suite of AI solutions. The suite covers five areas: accelerating product and component design; automating the preparation and processing of requests for quotation; improving machine processes and quality inspection; monitoring and optimizing energy use in real time; and improving production scheduling and predictive maintenance.

Wong Zeng Yi, assistant managing director for manufacturing at Enterprise Singapore, said AI could improve productivity, quality and responsiveness, and open new revenue through faster innovation. The agency wants to help more manufacturers build AI into their core operations.

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