Godrej Drives Digital Manufacturing with AI and IoT Integration

India is making progress toward digital manufacturing maturity, but much more work remains. According to Vijay Balakrishnan, Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) at Godrej Enterprises Group, "we are at 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of digital maturity." He highlighted in a recent interview the vital role that government programs like Make in India, India AI Mission, and Viksit Bharat play in raising awareness and providing the necessary infrastructure for digital adoption—two essential stages to increase manufacturing's GDP share in the nation.

With a planned expenditure of INR 1200 crore over the next three years to propel digital transformation, Godrej Enterprises is taking the lead. This includes putting a lot of emphasis on automating factories and fostering a "digital-first mindset" in brand-new establishments, such as its planned Kalapur plant. The integration of current and legacy machinery is a major difficulty, which the company is attempting to overcome by developing its own Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Godrej's "Factory 360" platform, which is used in more than 30 factories, is a cloud-based IoT hub that gathers machine-level data (from utilization to quality and energy use).

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In addition to automation, Godrej is using AI agents to improve decision-making, forecast maintenance requirements, and produce insights. According to Balakrishnan, "early results reveal a 10–15% reduction in conversion costs and a 3–5% boost in yield," pointing to the immediate advantages of saving raw materials. He quickly makes the distinction between AI and conventional automation. For example, an in-house AI model enhanced an automated welding machine's safety system by accurately detecting human presence, guaranteeing both operational efficiency and safety.