Prabakar Selvam is designated as MESA APAC Board Chairman (Manufacturing Enterprise Solution Association), having 20 years of profound experience in Information Technology and Manufacturing Domain who founded Cantier Systems with the mission to provide industry-specific, configurable, manufacturing software that assists customers to realize the benefits faster than implementing generic ERPs and Manufacturing systems. With head office in Singapore, Cantier provides Industry 4.0 ready MES Software (Manufacturing Execution System) to customers in Asia Pacific.
Prabakar knew that SMART manufacturing is the topmost business concern with growing technological evolution while many current manufacturing facilities of today are lagging behind with a patchwork of manual processes and software systems developed decades ago.
Prabakar feels that “Although there are software firms who offer modern MES Software applications, nearly all are too costly and they don’t have all the Shop floor functions like Finite Scheduling, Product Costing, Automation and Intelligence Capabilities” in a single suite.
About Prabakar
He has over two decades of profound experience in the technology and manufacturing domain. He is actively involved with manufacturing industry peers and customers to understand the needs of Disruptive Technologies – In his education he pursued Master’s in Computer Applications which provided him the key foundations for both technology and management perspectives.
He has proactively participated in accelerating the adoption of disruptive technologies such as IIoT, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning, AI, and Mixed Reality to upgrade Cantier’s MES product to the next generation AI-powered Manufacturing Execution System (MES 4.0) with IIoT, Intelligence and AR/VR capabilities.
Under his leadership, MESA has created several Special Interest Groups (SIG) in APAC countries such as Singapore, India, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand—Examples: Developed SMART Manufacturing Maturity Index (SMMI) in the Philippines and this maturity index then was adopted by Philippines Government to measure their countries manufactures, Collaborating with IIT Chennai to create Industry 4.0 Model Factory, etc.
Prabakar’s Ideology
As an Individual he believes that when you assume the role of a leader you must be first an enabler to create an environment that fosters growth mind-set. He believes one needs to surround themselves with people of different perspectives who can disagree with you without fear. Being positive in negative situation helps you to stay alive and win. He also believes that leadership is all about empathy and compassion. As a professional he has continuously attracted and nurtured talented individuals to be a part of the larger purpose of the organisation.
His biggest strength
When asked about his strengths he beautifully answered that he is naturally gifted with the capability to perceive the events around him very quickly and connect the dots to create new products and solutions that can address the future needs. As an example, way back in 2015 he perceived the convergence of Manufacturing Applications with Industrial IOT and Manufacturing Intelligence. This Intuition and perception helped him to create Cantier as a differentiated Smart Manufacturing Product and Solution Provider to standout in the market.
Cantier is a Singapore-based company and now is one of the leading providers of an AI-powered, next-generation MES (Manufacturing Execution System) that integrates seamlessly with any legacy or modern manufacturing environments—combining Execution, IIoT, and Manufacturing Intelligence capabilities into a single platform for global real-time operations visibility, predictive decision support, and autonomous actions.
Cantier enables customers to embrace the Industry 4.0 journey with contextual solutions to create Factories of the Future. These solutions include Industry 4.0 Roadmap Definition, Business Justification & ROI, Equipment Automation, SCADA & HMI, RFID Solutions and Robotic Process Automation, AI, and Cloud Computing. The company primarily works with Semiconductor, Electronics, Automotive, Aerospace, Metal Precision & Fabrication, and Food & Beverages Industries.
In one of the large strategic customer’s engagement, Littelfuse, Prabakar personally led the solution definition to deliver significant benefits to the customer even during the peak Covid period and within in a very short period of 3-4 months. Thanks to this proactive approach the customer was delighted to engage with Cantier across multiple sites globally.
About Cantier
Founded in 2010 with Head Office in Singapore, their Vision is to be one of the True Leaders in providing Manufacturing Execution System for Smart Manufacturing to enable Industry 4.0 practices as a Trusted Partner in every market that they serve.
What They Deliver – Cantier MES 4.0 is a SMART Manufacturing-ready Solution that uses IIoT to improve traceability, visibility, quality, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of the Manufacturing Shopfloor. This provides real-time and accurate information leading to data-driven decisions. The Key Modules of MES include Product Configuration, Factory Planning, WIP Traceability, Equipment Maintenance, OEE, SPC, Data Collection, Document Control (DCC), Supply Chain Management, IIoT and Manufacturing Intelligence with a high focus on product upgrades towards Predictive Analytics with built in Machine Learning and AR/VR.
Cantier Leadership- Cantier Leadership has over 100+ years of experience in Manufacturing domain & Information Technology Industry with a proven track record of delivering successful Products and Solutions. They craft solution relevance to our customer context by resonating with insider knowledge and delivering substance for sustainable growth.
Cantier Team- Cantier MES 4.0 has been crafted by a highly motivated Global Team having strong hands-on expertise in Factory Operations, Industrial Automation / Operations Technology and Cutting Edge IT & AI solution platform & product development practices across multiple manufacturing industry domains.
Cantier towards Industry 4.0- Cantier accelerates Greenfield and Brownfield Digital Transformation Programs with Geo-specific focus. They are continuously working with leading players in semiconductor, electronics, automotive, aerospace, metal precision and fabrication, food, sugar, and ethanol industries to adopt Industry 4.0 / Smart Manufacturing practices.
Trusted Partner– Cantier engineers their solutions for high Modularity, Configurability, Scalability and Ease of Deployment coupled with Intuitive End User Experience to keep their customers always happy. Their hands-on leadership drives every Customer delivery with strong commitment to remain as a trustworthy partner.
Cantier’s mission has always been to offer integrated, industry specific manufacturing software for manufactures at a reasonable cost. Today, Cantier works with some of the giants of manufacturing industry and the list goes like – Littelfuse, MRF, IONICS, Allegro Microsystems, Mitsubishi, Sohbi Kogei, Shin-Etsu, Toshiba, Hitachi Cables, Hewtech, SUNPOWER and Radiant Appliances.
An organization’s success goes hand in hand with effective leadership. As the Founder and CEO of Cantier Systems, Prabakar has been providing a dynamic leadership that has been an inevitable part of Cantier’s success since its inception. He is leading the company’s technology vision to create the Smart Manufacturing Product Suite for Digital Transformation. He is also ensuring ongoing customer success with proactive global support systems.
Additionally, offering an intuitive end-user experience is critical for a technology company as it simplifies the implementation for the user. At Cantier, he has been instrumental in enhancing the intuitive end-user experiences. Under his leadership, Cantier Team is now focused on creating a globally connected technology and delivery partner ecosystem for the next level of growth.
Challenges induced by COVID and measures to surpass the challenges
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were devastating for almost all the industries across the globe. Organizations had to revamp their strategies to survive in the new normal. Like many other organizations, Cantier also had its fair share of challenges to combat.
During the pandemic, Cantier expanded into new geographies through a trusted eco-system of partners. Additionally, the company had to manage a lean Product Development & Solution Team and ensure timely remote delivery within budget. These challenges have tested and sharpened our operating practices to be more agile and cost-effective, resulting in a better bottom-line performance.
Prabakar believes that in the pandemic and post-pandemic times, leaders need to take larger responsibility for consistent enterprise-wide communication to ensure high levels of employee and customer happiness. According to him, facilitating the team to achieve Key Performance Indicators across the organization is also critical for a leader to survive and thrive in these uncertain times.
Prabakar’s inspiration
Prabakar is inspired by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a visionary and mystic with global impact. Sadhguru has been helping millions of individuals to establish balance, clarity and emotional stability. Recently, he is driving a deeply impactful sustainability initiative “Conscious Planet”, a global movement to Save Soil. The movement seeks to show governments of all nations that their citizens want a policy to revitalize soil and ecology.
According to Sadhguru
“An entrepreneur is self-propelled – he does not need anything from outside to push him. He or she wants to push himself or herself hundred percent to their limits and do something. If this has to happen, the fundamental incentive is about creating something larger than yourself. Money is just a consequence”.
Prabakar has been fortunate to receive his blessings and guidance that helped him to enhance his perception, sense of balance with clarity and be dispassionate while pursuing aggressive global business expansion and growth.
Prabakar’s advice to next generation of aspiring and budding entrepreneurs
Many entrepreneurs in today’s world get distracted with multiple evolving technologies and business opportunities. They are trying solve many problems but unable excel in any of them as they don’t have enough bandwidth. Prabakar believes that staying with the laser focus on a selected business problem and delivering a world-class product or solution is the key secret for success.
Instead of solving real-world industry problems, most of the entrepreneurs’ energies are getting drained by multiplying the company value through capital manipulations to target Venture Capitalists or Investments. In his view, once we build a core competency in the business and have the framework for global growth and scalability, financial investors will automatically reach you for taking part in the success.
What Next?
Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic in 2020, the future awaits with a plethora of opportunities. Prabakar expects Remote Management and Contextual delivery of Product led Solutions to be widely embraced. Prabakar concludes by predicting that continuous technological innovation and deeply integrated partner ecosystems will pave the way for a more digitally inclusive and empowered manufacturing world.
