INDUSTRY 5.0 ALREADY ON THE HORIZON

Industry 4.0 is in the process of settling down in India with automation becoming the norm in everyday activities of the industries. S. Sriram, GM, Industry Sales, Factory Automation & Industrial Division, Mitsubishi Electric India, tells us more about Industry 4.0 and the road to smart transformation

- Pradeep Chakraborty

How is Covid-19 affecting industry 4.0 and future of innovation?

Industry 4.0 was a fascinating subject to explore for most of the manufacturers, be they small, medium or large. Covid-19 has, in a way, accelerated the need to move from exploring to adopting Industry 4.0, more than ever before. While most of manufacturers are looking inwards to survive the onslaught of Covid-19, those who have adopted technology in their manufacturing environment are more likely to recover faster than the others.

As people consciously quarantine, there is a radical shift towards work from home thereby the need to bring the manufacturing environment and data into their workbenches. This would lead to greater adaption of VR/AR tools, remote monitoring, data analytics – to have a real-time view of business. Such necessity and its adaption will lead to innovation of technologies around it.

Are industries transitioning to either fully lights-out or an automated factory?

Historically, organisations have responded to labour issues by using automation as an alternative, but it has failed to live up to its euphoria, as humans are after all the brain behind the machines. Hence, the organisations that find ways to marry augmentation and automation – to build workflows that improve human performancewill be best poised for what comes next. Hence find a mid-way between the full lights-out factory to a well-automated factory, would be the best way to prepare.