In its bid to strengthen the ongoing discourse on leveraging digital technologies and physical domains for smart manufacturing in the automotive sector, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) organised the 15th Lecture Series on Digital Innovation and Smart Manufacturing: Industry 4.0 and Beyond, on a virtual platform.
Divided in two sessions, the lecture witnessed industry stalwarts and experts discussing the impact of Industry 4.0 and the means to achieve environmental sustainability by sharing the latest knowledge and best practices around smart manufacturing and related business and technological innovations.
In his welcome address, Mr Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM, said, “As complexities around products and services increases along with the turnaround time to go to market, continuous technological disruptions, and changing customer preferences, there’s an increased pressure on manufacturing to meet the market demand. In such a scenario where there are complex KRP systems and integrated supply chain partners that require business intelligence and data handling, the complexities demand that industry 4.0 awareness increases drastically.”
Mr Satyakam Arya, Chairman, SIAM Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and EODB Group, & CEO & MD, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, touched upon key aspects of industry 4.0, including increased automation, bridging of the physical and digital world with cyber-physical systems enabled by IoT, and a shift from central industrial control system, with smart products defining manufacturing.
Mr Mahesh Kaikini, Co-Chairman, SIAM Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and EODB Group, & Chief of Quality, Hero MotoCorp, said while the digital technology is very well recognised, it needs a long-term roadmap and policy framework. He further discussed the blurring of the lines between physical, digital, and biological system, and focused on industry 4.0 key digital value drivers.
Mr Brijesh Gubbi Suresh, Head (New Business Strategy), Hyundai Motor India, gave his perspectives on smart ecosystems, emphasising that automation enhances skillsets and not really contributes to unemployment.
Dr Eva Diedrichs, Senior Consultant, AT Kearney, gave a complete picture of digital innovation strategy (DIS), elaborating about the key challenges for the automotive industry, success factors for DIS, and the key steps to develop the DIS, including identifying triggers, developing and sharing of organisational vision for digital future, DIS development and implementation.
Mr Karsten Mueller, Head of Manufacturing, Bosch India Ltd, spoke about Laksyam, a project by Bosch focusing on human capital. He discussed the key elements of future-ready factories, which focused on clear focus on business requirement, leveraging conducted industry, anchoring digital competencies, and enabling data-driven improvement. He also explained applications of AI and AI driven anomaly management.
Giving his perspective on growth strategies for smart manufacturing, Dr Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada, Associate professor, University of Southampton, UK, in his presentation shared the Accelerate, Contribute, and Transform (ACT) framework.
Dr Vishal Talwar, Dean – School of Management, BML Munjal University, added to the discussion and stated that 86 per cent of manufacturers in the US believe that smart factories will be the main driver of competition by 2025. He mentioned the various polices on industry 4.0 in Asia, and explained the right kind of data being the driving factor in Industry 4.0.
