MANUFACTURING 4.0 IN THE NEW NORMAL

Our four esteemed panellists share insight on how to be ready for the new era in Indian manufacturing

- Kruti Bharadva

In just over a year, COVID-19 has brought in a whole new reality. Virtually every organisation has been scrambling to adapt to this – evolving – new reality on multiple levels at the same time and at an unseen pace.

Even before the pandemic struck, forward-looking manufacturers had implemented Industry 4.0 technology, which includes innovations such as Machine-to-Machine communications (M2M), Smart Automation, and Business Intelligence. As these tools help companies anticipate, understand, and respond to changing production levels at their sites, they were able to handle the disruptions caused by the pandemic much better. Industry 4.0 helped transition legacy manufacturing systems to smart, connected, automated systems. The remote-enabled technology, which uses a combination of Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing and Real-Time Analytics, helped companies with business continuity, as businesses stopped and then resumed during the COVID-19 pandemic

But questions arise: Can we afford to transform our businesses gradually in this context? Or do we need to speed up our efforts and move faster for a far more digital economy in the new normal? Is the COVID-19 pandemic the most significant digital transformation catalyst we’ve seen in decades? And, if so, what can we do right now to survive, recover, thrive and be ready for the ‘new normal’?

The Machinist Team got together virtually with four esteemed panellists during the felicitation of the Economic Times Promising Plants and endeavoured to deliberate upon these compelling questions, through a holistic approach.

THE ROLE OF INDUSTRY 4.0 IN INDIAN MANUFACTURING