The Global Lighthouse Network identifies and awards the most advanced operational sites in the world, and Agilent Technologies, a global analytical and clinical laboratory technologies company, already has four factories included in the network. These smart factories—located in in Singapore; Waldbronn, Germany; Shanghai, China; and Penang, Malaysia—use Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies for advanced manufacturing, setting the path and pace for a more adaptable, smart, and sustainable future.
In this interview, Chow Woai Sheng, interim president of Agilent’s order fulfillment and supply chain function, talks with McKinsey Partner Forest Hou about Agilent’s transformation into an advanced manufacturing company. Chow shares his experience of how strong leadership, the right talent, and innovative technology helped Agilent shift from initial vision to execution to enable faster product delivery and accelerated research discoveries.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Forest Hou, McKinsey: Congratulations on already having four Lighthouses in the Global Lighthouse Network. How are these Lighthouses at the vanguard of digital transformation?
Chow Woai Sheng, Agilent Technologies: We see our four Lighthouses as part of the bigger journey of putting our customers, our people, and the environment at the core of our company—and, of course, also our productivity and profitability.
Agilent’s mission is to deliver trusted answers and insights to advance the quality of life, whether by improving diagnostics to help the human condition, protecting the environment by testing water quality, delivering advanced solutions, or by furthering new technologies. Our aim to bring great science to life requires sophisticated, complex products that involve a huge amount of engineering effort to build and test and to ensure we deliver what our customers need. Striving to manufacture these advanced technologies and solutions requires optimizing the supply chain and the technologies that relate to it. To a great extent, this requires 4IR transformation.
Forest Hou: What in Agilent’s journey of 4IR transformation stands out for you?
Chow Woai Sheng: When we embarked on our journey, we started by taking a closer look at the experiences of other companies in various industries. What stands out is the power of people. By investing in capability building and encouraging teams to expand their horizons, we empowered employees to think beyond boundaries. This cultural shift drives adoption of new technologies and unlocks extraordinary creativity. For any leader, it's a clear reminder that transformation begins with people and ends in outcomes that exceed expectations.
Forest Hou: How can you create the scale and rollout needed to turn your other factories into Lighthouses?
Chow Woai Sheng: We regard our four Lighthouses not merely as first-movers but as strategic assets, guiding our company toward a more agile, intelligent, and sustainable future. By setting the pace, our Lighthouse factories inspire the wider organization to adopt the necessary mindset and capabilities to ensure that change is not only envisioned but effectively executed across the company.
For example, our first Lighthouse factory—the one in Singapore—increased manufacturing output by 80 percent. This ensures quicker product delivery to customers and accelerates research discoveries, as it gives our scientists faster access to the instruments they need.
Forest Hou: As a leader in digital operations, Agilent is built on the end-to-end interconnectedness of the enterprise to improve flexibility and efficiency. How do digital operations help to create incremental, and even disruptive, changes, and what is essential to build a digitalized factory?
Chow Woai Sheng: We introduced 20 4IR use cases at our largest Lighthouse factory, the one in Waldbronn, Germany. As a result, we boosted productivity by 44 percent and increased production output by 48 percent. In the factory, AI-assisted inspections harness AI-driven vision sensors, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to transform product inspection and real-time monitoring. Defects can be detected with unmatched accuracy and speed, enabling the delivery of superior product quality. We have already reduced product quality costs by 47 percent, while enhancing product consistency for customers.
Beyond digital operations, Agilent is also helping scientists turn their vision of a digital lab into reality by tailoring advanced digital solutions that can reshape the future of scientific discovery. Our experience has identified three core ingredients to transform a regular operation into a digital one: the right strategy, the right talent base, and the right leadership commitment and investments. The right leadership and investments are crucial ingredients when using 4IR to transform manufacturing—from understanding how to scale to developing realistic timelines spanning concept to execution.
Forest Hou: In your opinion, what are the best investment solutions to create impact and a reasonable ROI?
Chow Woai Sheng: I think there are three. The first is having AI at the core. For example, recently we developed new algorithms that allow us to tap into areas such as the mixture of expert or model distillation. We might be able to benefit from that while using much less computational power; this is something we are investigating. The second is having efficient, effective automation to obtain a sense of existing problems. The third is scaling effectively throughout all the networks in the most efficient way.
Forest Hou: Agilent in Shanghai deployed more than 50 use cases and scaled at extremely low cost. Among other things, this is attributable to your integrated ecosystem. For me, this serves as a good example for small and medium enterprises. Can you share a bit more?
Chow Woai Sheng: Agilent is involved in many different areas, from diagnostics and life sciences to the applied markets. We have many products and solutions, including over 4,000 instruments. How do you build such a high-mix, low-volume production line and solve the digitalization challenge in the most effective way?
At Agilent, it meant investing in our employees’ skills and capabilities so they could lead and manage in-house digital transformation initiatives. Having capable people on the ground means faster implementation cycles and the ability to scale 4IR technologies efficiently across multiple sites and functions. It reduces costs compared to relying on external specialists who might not fully understand the challenges the company has to deal with. Naturally, 4IR strategies vary greatly among manufacturing companies, but in my view companies that are starting to think about how to use 4IR can learn a lot from first movers.
Forest Hou: What type of actions or initiatives would you suggest for such companies if they want to create a business impact as well as address sustainability?
Chow Woai Sheng: Embrace the circular economy as a sustainable alternative to the traditional linear model of production. Adopt smart manufacturing by aligning operations with the company’s net-zero goals—this can be done by implementing 4IR technologies at scale, augmenting human capabilities to reduce waste, extending product life cycles, lowering your carbon footprint, and maximizing resource efficiencies. Integrate the company’s internal and external digital experience across the entire value chain and underpin it with digital asset solutions and a network of alliances. In this way, you can build a digital enterprise.
I would also suggest learning from first movers. For example, look to the experiences of other Lighthouses to see how they managed to tackle challenges successfully by using advanced technology. The benefits can be seen at our factories that have made meaningful progress in improving sustainability and reducing our environmental footprint. For example, at our plant in Singapore we have managed to reduce chemical waste per instrument by 44 percent, despite production growth of 61 percent. And, at our Shanghai factory, we have reduced helium consumption by 82 percent and leakage resolution time by 97 percent.
Forest Hou: In closing, what advice could you give to the broader manufacturing community?
Chow Woai Sheng: I would say that the No. 1 no-regret move is to digitally transform operations. Start small but think big and act fast. The key to a successful 4IR transformation is to have a bold vision: Begin with practical, high-impact initiatives that demonstrate clear value, and then scale these successes across the organization. Provide strong leadership support, create cross-functional collaboration, and establish a culture of continuous learning.
In this way, you can ensure that digital adoption isn’t just about technology but includes people, processes, and long-term business value. It’s important to celebrate the small successes because they will serve as preparation for taking on bigger challenges.
The Global Lighthouse Network is a World Economic Forum initiative. The initiative was cofounded with McKinsey & Company and is counseled by an advisory board of industry leaders who are working together to shape the future of global manufacturing. The advisory board includes Foxconn Industrial Internet, Johnson & Johnson, Koç Holding, McKinsey & Company, Schneider Electric, and Siemens. Sites and value chains that join the network are designated by an independent panel of experts.
