Manufacturing technology: a catalyst for growth

The digitization of the manufacturing industry is expected to bring about the development of new business models and bring great opportunities to SMEs. In order to remain competitive on a global scale, achieve corporate objectives and meet customer demands, it is now imperative that all industrial organizations undergo a major transformation using digitalization.

In India, every manufacturing company has proven processes, beliefs about product creation and success stories. These best practices are currently being called into question as we explore the potential of the global marketplace, and digitization is essential to achieving the desired results with respect to the following objectives:

Innovative new products: Consumer demands are ever-changing, requiring manufacturers to introduce new items more quickly despite increasing product complexity. In traditional rivalries, larger, more powerful opponents have always triumphed over smaller, more agile opponents.

Enhanced manufacturing process: Customers want personalized products, but they don’t want to spend more than mass-produced products, so companies need to be more agile. As a direct result of this, manufacturing needs to be more adaptable than ever, ultimately leading to customizable large-scale production.

Improved quality: In this new era, consumers have come to recommend high-quality products and punish low-quality products through social media and other online channels. To ensure high product quality and meet legal requirements, companies must have closed-loop quality systems and traceability.

Enhance effect: In today’s market, a company’s competitive advantage is not based solely on how sustainable and environmentally friendly its products are. Energy efficiency in manufacturing and production processes is also an important consideration.

Start your digital voyage

Digitalization is impossible without smart production facilities (factories). As a result, we must focus on achieving these goals in a manner that suits our client’s demands, company size, and competing sectors.

The term “smart factory” refers to the factories of the future that transition from automation to autonomy, thereby improving real-time connectivity between people, machines and physical systems (IoT). Key capabilities of smart factories are shop floor connectivity, advanced robotics, adaptive automation, virtual and augmented reality capabilities, and efficient energy management. The automotive industry is responsible for establishing global standards in the general manufacturing sector. Moreover, over the past two decades, the Indian automotive ecosystem has expanded significantly.

At present, the digitization process is limited to a small part of the value chain. For a truly smart factory, data must enter at some point in the value chain and move as needed. For example, if there is a defect in the manufacturing process, the product specification enters the value chain at a certain point to confirm both the location of the defect and the nature of the defect. When manual processes in the value chain are replaced with smart factories, smart factories can automatically identify problems that arise.

The key variables that determine the success of digitization adoption are the importance of achieving a return on investment (RoI) and the desire of employees at both the top and bottom level of an organization.

A graph showing the correlation between demand and supply shows that if sufficient automation or digitization is not put in place, it may not be sufficient to meet client demands. , defense, maritime, high-end manufacturing and many other industries that require precision, agility and adaptability. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India must prepare for this enormous potential. However, to implement digitization, SMEs need significant additional funding. Lack of available funding is one of the most serious hurdles facing SMEs in India today. Despite the fact that the state-owned Small Business Growth Fund, lenders, and companies in the mainstream banking sector provide business expansion and working capital loans, these loans are usually inadequate, leaving the majority of individuals It is out of reach for us.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India are constantly striving to keep up with the pace of innovation set by global multinationals. If Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) come together to improve their productivity using Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, it will be a big step forward for smart manufacturing. For this reason, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will need to work with large companies to provide robust, well-tested, and cutting-edge digitalization solutions in the next decade. Not only do we need to digitize all value chains, we also need strategic partnerships, innovative financing and turnkey solutions that can make Indian factories smarter, more productive and more efficient. .

Leveraging digitization

Only recently have Indian companies started investing in digital technology. This is due to pressure from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) around the world. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are pushing Indian companies to install digitized systems to enable them to monitor what is happening at their end of supply chain with their suppliers and clients. increase.

Today, the world is moving towards digitalization in all aspects of design and production. Digitization support aims to leverage investments in digital technology to streamline already developed production processes and to communicate clearer orders with clients.

With the help of digital technology, it is possible to transform a largely isolated and discrete supply chain into a fully integrated and transparent ecosystem. This can be achieved by tearing down the barriers that exist between the two. Based on the size of your industry and the scope of your operations, you can decide whether to adopt comprehensive digitization across all points of your operations or just in specific areas. The size of your business can influence this decision. Large industries require full digitization. A viable alternative for medium-sized businesses, especially projects involving inventory management and rationalization of production methods, sales and after-sales service. Supply chain integration cannot be generalized to all industries as it depends on the size of the industry.

technology

The conclusion that the quest for low labor costs is no longer a competitive strategy has resulted in the global adoption of more manufacturing and process automation. Adopting cutting-edge technology is essential to staying competitive and adaptable, and automation is a key factor in the success of this transformation.

Digitalization has become a reality thanks to key technological advances made possible by the Internet of Things, such as open software platforms, open communications, open data models, and powerful embedded processors. The interaction of physical and computational systems, including embedded intelligence at all levels – machines, sensors, actuators, production parts, sub-assemblies, products under construction – is called “cyber-physical systems” (CPS) in the field of digitization. called. A CPS consists of concrete components, such as mechanisms, that are managed or controlled by computer-based algorithms. A more modern application of CPS is the use of mechatronic drive systems for coordinated operation in packaging machines without the use of physical gears. This increases flexibility, reliability and saves costs.

analysis

Using analytics improves performance and productivity, and digitization facilitates the collection of a wide variety of data that can be used for these purposes. Analytics can be used in many ways to improve asset utilization. One of these ways is through the implementation of real-time predictive maintenance. This helps manufacturing companies avoid machine failures on the factory floor, thus reducing downtime. Optimization of production processes to increase productivity and energy efficiency is another application of this technology.

It is imperative that we move forward and start preparing for a full and complete digitalization of everything. Since there is no way to avoid it, it is inevitable. For a country like India, the question of how much something costs is the biggest barrier. As a result, we still have quite a distance to travel. This is more than just a change. Rather, what is happening is a revolution. When everything is done on a global scale, our major competitors likewise advance at the same speed as we do. Technologies that help companies achieve their business goals and achieve the return on investment (ROI) they desire Investing in is the first requirement that companies must meet before they can proceed with technology purchases.

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