If India’s automotive industry – and the country as a whole – is to benefit from Industry 4.0, there has to be a concerted effort from the government and the auto sector to create an enabling ecosystem.
02 Mar 2017 | 9001 Views | By Autocar Pro News Desk
As the manufacturing and automotive sector across the globe gets ready for the fourth industrial revolution – Industry 4.0, India is also gearing up for this change. While the country is in a position to benefit immensely from this transformational paradigm shift in the automotive and transportation industry, it needs a major transformation in the functional areas of manufacturing to rapidly implement the innovations and embrace this evolution swiftly.
Industry 4.0, an initiative started by the German government in 2006, aims to digitise the manufacturing sector to increase productivity. While Industry 3.0 simply was about the automation of isolated machines, Industry 4.0 concentrates on the end-to-end digitisation of all physical assets and their integration into digital ecosystems with value chain partners.
A knowledge paper by Grant Thornton India LLP in association with the Confederation of Industry Industry (CII) on ‘India’s Readiness for Industry 4.0 – A focus on automotive sector’ adds that a strong cyber security infrastructure is another prerequisite for a successful implementation of this technological shift in India.
The report, released today at the CII National Conference on Advanced Manufacturing in the Automotive Sector, provides an analysis of Industry 4.0 at the global and national level. It showcases global readiness to take up Industry 4.0 and India’s competitive advantage in the automotive sector as a response to the new disruptive technology and its components.
Speaking at the release, Saket Mehra, partner, Grant Thornton India LLP said, “By 2020, India is expected to become a major automobile manufacturing hub and the third largest market for automobiles in the world contributing approximately 25 percent of the GDP. With this vision, we see manufacturing companies planning to dramatically increase their level of digitisation and investment in data analytics as a foundational capability to drive innovation and significant improvements in efficiency. This would also lead to key focus on urbanisation, personalisation and digitisation in the manufacturing space.”
“The complete manufacturing ecosystem is undergoing a phenomenal shift with technological advancements happening at a fast pace. The need to understand and adopt the advanced manufacturing techniques is the need of hour. In current times, Industry 4.0 is talked about at various levels. The automotive sector, being the key driver for many technological advances, is now looking and exploring the ways to understand and internalise the same,” said M M Singh, co-chair, Regional Committee on SMEs, CII (Northern Region) and executive advisor, Maruti Suzuki India.
Industry 4.0, to put it briefly, is a melange of many futuristic and advanced concepts and technologies which have the potential of transforming the production scenario in the 21st century mainly comprising of a ‘connected shop floor’ where data is collected from various sensors and other input devices to be used for predictive maintenance, better control and long-term analysis.
Is India ready to leapfrog into Industry 4.0?
If India is to benefit from Industry 4.0 and win against global competition, it has necessarily to integrate the principles of Industry 4.0 with the ‘Make in India’ initiative. India, according to the knowledge report, has a unique opportunity to innovatively pave its own road to smart manufacturing. It can skip several steps that other countries adopted in their evolution from an agrarian society to their current stage of development. Industry 4.0 is expected to transform manufacturing in India by bringing operational efficiencies to manufacturing industries like automotive, electrical and electronics.
The major area of focus shall be the technological advancement across various industries. IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things), 3DP (3 dimensional printing) 3D sensors, social software, augmented reality, location awareness are considered to usher in the next era of smart production. These automation technologies collectively are moving the manufacturing industry towards the next phase of technological advancement.
Indian automakers which walk the Industry 4.0 talk
Some automakers in India have already made headway into Industry 4.0. Bajaj Auto was one of the first automotive enterprises to initiate automation in the industry.
Bajaj Auto teamed up with Danish company, Universal Robots to drive operational efficiencies across the Chakan (Pune), Waluj (Aurangabad) and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) plants. The company has installed close to 120 robotic arms, which are termed collaborative robots or 'co-bots' by Universal Robots, across its three plants. These co-bots are deployed to perform tasks such as deburring, decal applications, vision applications, machine tending, welding, sealant applications and bolt tightening among others.
While Maruti Suzuki India manages seven process shops and five assembly lines by employing around 1,700 robots, Ford India has 437 robots operating the assembly lines and body shop at its Sanand Plant by 437 robots and Hyundai Motor India has reduced labour costs by utilising over 400 robots in its Sriperumbudur manufacturing operations.
Global technology and solutions provider Bosch, which is both a leading user and supplier of Industry 4.0 solutions, is betting big on the key business enabler. In India, Bosch has initiated the implementation of Industry 4.0 in all of its 15 manufacturing facilities in 2015. This, it says, has enabled it to offer improved levels of quality standards particularly in view of the ccompany's multi-domain approach with engineering and IT solutions. It also expects additional growth through connectivity solutions for products as well as for business and production processes.
This is in line with its global strategy of embracing Industry 4.0 or connected industry that combines manufacturing with Internet of things and technology. For India to be complaint with Industry 4.0, Bosch has a three-pronged strategy – first, to learn and transfer know-how from European counterparts, second to develop customised solutions for India and third to lead the Industry 4.0 development globally and compete with the best in class.
There are many more companies, both in the automobile and the auto component sector, in India taking steps in the same direction, gradually warming up to the idea of connected machines.
Industry 4.0 can enable many a shift in the automotive industry easily. For instance, as compared to a few trim levels for a particular vehicle model, it can facilitate plenty more. Today, especially towards the higher end of the market, there is a long options list, from which people choose a range of add-ons and configurations, many of which are based on electronic technology. Theoretically, the number of unique configurations for each model runs into the millions, but all of these can be implemented at the final production line as a series of simple alternatives at each production stage.
According to M M Singh, co-chair, Regional Committee on SMEs Confederation of Indian Industry (Northern Region) and executive advisor, Maruti Suzuki India, “The Indian automotive sector, given its potential contribution to GDP and employment, presents a significant opportunity to be one of the biggest growth drivers for the economy. We need to emerge as a world-class automotive manufacturing hub. For this, there is a concerted effort from the government and the automotive industry to create an enabling eco-system. The country’s key strengths such as a large domestic consumption base, a cost competitive value chain (that includes low design, testing and validation costs, frugal engineering capabilities and low labor costs) and strategic geographical location would go a long way to develop the country as a world class automotive manufacturing base.”
Also read: Bosch bets big on Industry 4.0 to transform India into a global manufacturing hub