Tapping into the Potential of Industry 4.0

Team Industry Outlook | Wednesday, 24 May 2023

The fourth industrial revolution is bringing about a disruption in the way businesses operate in India. The development of Industry 4.0 in India is being driven by the need for increased automation and efficiency in production processes, as well as the adoption of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and big data analytics.

Industry 4.0 is expected to have a major impact on the Indian economy, with an estimated growth rate of more than 20 percent over the next five years. However, there are several challenges such as the lack of infrastructure and resources, dearth of technical skills among workers, high cost of implementation, and issues related to data security and privacy that need to be addressed for successful adoption of Industry 4.0 in India.

Industry Outlook came up with a webinar on Industry 4.0 to help its readers understand how these challenges can be addressed to harness the potential of Industry 4.0 and tap into the new opportunities it offers. On the panel, there were some esteemed guests from different industries who shared their views on the adoption of Industry 4.0.
The webinar started with the address by Dr. S Devarajan, Senior Vice President – Production Engineering, TVS Motor Company

Industry 4.0: The Key to Streamlining Automotive Manufacturing
"Smart manufacturing or Industry 4.0 is a must for all the industries. It is helping in the growth of the several manufacturing industries. The implementation of technologies should help in identifying the waste in whatever we do, identify if we have the right data, and analyze it to make the right decision. With the EVs coming into the picture, several changes are emerging.

Today, the customer’s expectation is changing. Customers will not accept anything that is not as per the quality level. Therefore, it is crucial to adopt digitalization as it optimizes manufacturing. When we have a certain requirement from customer, the right technology should be implemented. TVS Motor has adopted digitization to be transparent, to be able to take the data, analyze the data and leverage it. As the demand for quality rises, we need to ensure that we have consistent quality. Every customer is important and every piece of data has to be captured. This is a change happening currently.

The success of digitalization will be from the way we understand the requirement. Hence, at TVS Motor we have started from the supplier, inbound logistics, and logistics of where the material is. This is because we follow just-in-time model in terms of the manufacturing. Since there is one vehicle coming out of the factory after every 24 seconds, we need to ensure that the logistics are taken care of while the material, the production area and warehouses are handled inside the factory. Hence, we have tried to map the connection between the customers and their requirements by ensuring that data is captured at every stage.

In short, we have reaped the benefits of digitalization which includes transparency, data accuracy, inventory reduction, efficient manufacturing, customer satisfaction etc. At the end of the day, we have to ensure that the cost comes down as well and that is one of the main purposes of digitalization. Therefore, digital is not only about implementing sensors; it is also about reaping the benefits of data which are getting captured and ensuring that the productivity goes up in your manufacturing line."

Rise of Smart Factories in Aerospace Industry
Binu Krishnankutty, Director - Operations, Collins Aerospace India shared his views from an aerospace industry's perspective.
"Let us look at some interesting insights about the growth of aviation sector in India. We are one of the biggest players in the country. As the country

is focusing more on aviation, we are all set to become the third largest aviation market by 2030, which means the opportunity for us is pretty big and we need to capitalize on this opportunity for the growth of the country as well as the growth of the industry.

Furthermore, as the government of India has also set a vision for the growth of electronics, we are going to become one of the biggest electronics market. The cost of sensors is coming down and the cost of electronics is also reducing. This is what makes it very interesting for all industries as it would give us a gamut of opportunities to leverage technology to upgrade ourselves. But unfortunately, we have limited resources and limited time and we need to make sure that we pick the right priorities for implementation.

The second part that I would like to emphasize is getting the basics right. Because unless you have a strong product and process expertise combined with a culture of continuous improvement, you are not going to be successful in the journey of industry 4.0.

Therefore, the first step in the initiative is to make sure that you get the basics right. The reason to emphasize this is because, in Collins, we are coming out with a new factory now, and are rapidly growing. At the same time, we need to adapt to the technology that is bringing about a revolution around us.

Also, it is important for us to make sure that we focus on performance and reliability along with cost competitiveness. In terms of an aircraft, this means the aircraft that is going to be built for the future is expected to be more fuel efficient, light in weight, and hence we should be leveraging advanced manufacturing technologies to build aircrafts.

Electrification is the game that is hitting aerospace as well. So, the focus is on developing electrified aircraft which is hybrid for making sure that fuel efficiency is taken care of. In addition, connectivity has become a part of our life because smart phones are all over the place and we like to connect with everyone everywhere.

Aerospace was an area where connectivity was not a big priority at some point in time. But now the game is changing. We want to connect with everyone, anywhere as we fly, and we want pilots to become more efficient in the way they are flying the aircraft. So, we want flights to become more reliable and autonomous. This is where technology is bringing about a revolution. And we are building products and aircrafts which are in line with this vision.

Coming back to the specifics of what is happening in India, we are focusing on building factory of the future, which is blending both industry 4.0 as well as the advanced manufacturing capabilities. As for Collins in India, we are trying to focus and prioritize sustainable manufacturing as the first area of focus. As we increase the manufacturing footprint across the world, it is important to make sure that we take care of the environment and we do this in a very sustainable manner.”

How Glass Industry is Adopting Industry 4.0
Sony Thayil, Business Head – Architectural Institutional Business, Asahi India Glass expounded the importance of Industry 4.0 with respect to the glass industry.
"We operate in multiple lines of business and these include automotive, the architecture segment etc. Our clients are very versatile and applications are pretty different. Before deciding on the product, they visit our factory, see the QA, the final production capabilities, etc. So, we have been presenting our virtual models to our stakeholders and we are continuing with that.

The second most important factor is maximizing asset utilization. We have close to 13 plants in India, and the operations are very complex. We have an automotive line, and a building material line. In order to improve efficiency, we are running our operations successfully with modern digital methods that help in asset utilization, which in turn helps in improving the labor productivity.

There is a hot end where the temperature is close to 1600 degree celcius and glass is a dangerous material. So, it is difficult for human beings to handle. When we automate such activities, it helps in better resource utilization and minimizes the human error. Moreover, the costly manpower’s time is freed up for more strategic things such as new plant development rather than going through the mundane activities. While there is unemployment, on the other hand there is also a skilled talent shortage. So, Industry 4.0 comes to our rescue.

Another major benefit is that it connects the machines across the factory. This is helping us in terms of overload and under load function. Furthermore, the regular maintenance of machinery and equipment can be done remotely, which is an advantage.

When you adopt Industry 4.0, you need to integrate your suppliers and your forward integrating partners into the whole ecosystem. This comes with challenges. Your suppliers may not be in the same line of thought. So, you need to educate them in terms of sharing data, entering data, and being in the ecosystem. At the same time, Industry 4.0 brings along the challenge of data security. And one needs to be cautious about how to safeguard the data.

All in all, the webinar helped the attendees gauge their level of Industry 4.0 knowledge and showed them the way forward for addressing the Industry 4.0 challenges faced by them in their respective industries.