The Paradigm Shift in Industrial Tech

Industry 4.0 is now a reality thanks to the pandemic. McKinsey's analysis predicts three outcomes from pandemic. A win for companies who have already scaled up digital technologies.

Ravi Guttal said "Let's go back 20 years" when he spoke at the event about industrial readiness. We have all seen how we prospered as a nation because we focused on services. We are very good at what we do. We have 20 years left to catch up with China, our nearest competitor. It's possible.

He also mentioned vertically integrated clusters, and how high the efficiency is. "We can't compete with China in terms of cost. Our founder, almost 15 years back, had this vision and started the aerospace cluster that is vertically integrated. The part only has to travel 500 meters. The concept of vertically integrated manufacturing clusters, combined with our expertise in innovation, will be successful. A marriage is necessary. "But, every marriage will have some friction," he said.

The manufacturing clock speed is slower than that of the technology clock speed. He feels that manufacturing must match the speed of technology.

Adoption of technology and its value

Value creation and technology adoption go hand-in-hand. Today, many businesses are driving digital transformation. However, some of them are not able to create value for their business. Today, the question is how we can solve this problem. We are discussing digital transformation and creating value, but manufacturing is the focal point. If you take manufacturing as a case study, then you can work to improve efficiency by XYZ, which means you don't have to change anything. You just need some new technology tools and processes.

The second is to increase the value of your new production. When you examine the industrial manufacturing setup you will find a great deal of uncertainty. Every OEM will have their own product chain and each line will be devoted to a specific part for manufacturing. From nothing, the final result will be something that is on the table. At different levels, technology is needed to create value. Data-driven decisions are the future, not gut, experience or marketing.

Do not believe that your magic web will instantly create value after you undergo digital transformation. It's not a destination. This is a journey that every company must take. Data to consumption and new products with different value.

Industrial AI - Generative AI

ChatGPT, DALL.E. and other forms of generative AI are reshaping industries. Microsoft invested $10 billion in ChatGPT and Google announced Bard AI. Will language models enable the manufacturing sector use ChatGPT and the likes to take their capabilities to a new level?

The biggest benefit that AI can provide to manufacturing is the ability to fill in the talent gap. It's not fun to learn about how oil is refined. Or how steel's made. Generative AI allows you to create models that understand physics, mechanical engineering, and other disciplines. These models can be used in real time to operate plants, troubleshoot problems, and provide insights. This will be the most important and urgent use case, and I do not see many people solving it," said Vipin Raghavan, cofounder and CEO of Haber.

Early adopters in sectors

Deeptech is transforming global manufacturing and the early adopters reap the benefits. They enjoy increased productivity, efficiency and lower costs. Deeptech will soon play a bigger role in India to help realize the $1 trillion potential.

What are the sectors of manufacturing that are placing their bets big on large-scale industries? Srivathsa N.S, Senior Engineer, Solutions, Innovation & Architecture Group, Unisys, responded to this question posed by panel moderator Himadri Ganuly, Partner, PwC, during the event. "The focus today has shifted from operational efficiency and financial efficiencies to sustainability." We assume that sectors may have a strong relationship with resources and the environment. "They are the ones that come to the forefront, but now it's across all sectors."

He said that many industries, including FMCG, automotive, electric, and pharmaceuticals, are embracing Industry 4.0. He said that many sectors are adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in a way to transform themselves or the landscape.

As the panel concluded, all participants agreed that India's technology adoption and readiness has put it on a fast-track to becoming a manufacturing center.