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How Automation Technologies are Driving the Smart Manufacturing Revolution in India

Companies that adopt smart manufacturing solutions can enhance their competitiveness while helping to create a sustainable manufacturing ecosystem

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Shrikanth
New Update
Sanjeev Delta

Several organizations have adopted smart manufacturing and already transitioned from aspiration to action. This is due to campaigns such as ‘Make in India’ and the ‘Production Linked Incentive’ (PLI) scheme. Automation technologies foster operational efficiencies, usher in quality improvements, and enable long-term sustainability. Sanjeev Srivastava, Head of Automation Business, Delta Electronics India shares his insights to CIOL on the transformation happening in the Indian manufacturing, driven by disruptive technologies. Excerpts.

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On India’s manufacturing vision

We need to build manufacturing capacity for scale, that gives us the edge and a competitive advantage. The government’s investments have been part of a broader strategy to boost the economy, compete in a global market and generate domestic jobs, with an emphasis on advanced manufacturing technologies. We are on the right track.

How are automation technologies driving smart manufacturing?

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Manufacturing has evolved through four distinct phases of value creation, fundamentally transformed by five key technological pillars. In advanced manufacturing environments, high-precision robotic arms and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have emerged as reliable alternatives to human labor, efficiently handling tasks traditionally performed by workers.

These factory robots operate with remarkable precision along integrated production lines, managing material handling and quality control checkpoints with zero tolerance for error. The manufacturing floor is enhanced by an extensive network of IoT devices equipped with advanced sensors and monitoring capabilities, enabling sophisticated automation.

Operational efficiency sees dramatic improvements through optimized equipment interlocking. This is achieved through continuous data collection, where IoT devices gather real-time metrics on machine performance, environmental conditions, and production parameters.

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Complex artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms process this vast amount of collected data to derive actionable insights. These systems can identify production patterns, predict maintenance needs, detect anomalies, and optimize production schedules by considering resource availability, demand forecasts, and equipment performance metrics.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) and their associated tools create the crucial bridge between high-level digital decision-making capabilities and physical operations. This enables dynamic, real-time responsiveness to changing conditions on the factory floor. The result is a sophisticated production framework where even the smallest operational adjustments can be detected and analyzed across thousands of data points, creating a truly interconnected and responsive manufacturing environment.

Why automation is the blueprint for manufacturing efficiency?

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Automation technologies are transforming factory operations into faster, smarter, and more efficient functionaries. Automated systems allow for the removal of repetition and human errors, which leads to increased production speeds and ultimately better throughput and quality standards. IoT sensors and AI systems enable companies to monitor production processes in real-time and identify potential issues before they result in costly downtime, supporting predictive maintenance.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are critical in smart manufacturing, as organizations can acquire data-driven insights that enable precise decision-making in the operations. They allow stakeholders to efficiently analyze large datasets resulting from factories to ascertain inventory levels, predict market demand and optimize production lines. The integration of AI in machine vision systems is helping tremendously in achieving better quality control by performing high-speed and precise defect identification and checking inside the guidelines resulting in consistent product quality and better customer satisfaction.

 IoT has paved a new way for machine connectivity in manufacturing, allowing machines to share performance data with one another and improving overall factory efficiency. You can make data-driven decisions and adjust production in real-time across the manufacturing floor when you have this connected infrastructure. Besides, IoT devices have transformed the way supply chains operate, improving logistics, allowing real-time inventory tracking, and reducing delays for a more streamlined supply chain network.

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Can you talk about the role of collaborative robotics and human-robot interaction?

Productivity is driven by a fusion of robotics and human expertise — repetitive jobs fall to robots, while humans are freed for more complex tasks; for example, On the factory production line, Industrial robots perform welding, painting, assembly and other operations quickly, accurately and extremely repeatable, which leads to increased safety in production areas and improvement of quality standards. This human-machine interaction is further boosted by collaborative robots (cobots) which can work side-by-side with a human safely, thus relieving labourers who may be subject to physical strain and/or repetitive stress injuries thereby increasing productivity.

How is India embracing these opportunities and leveraging automation?

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Automation in Indian manufacturing is a huge opportunity coupled with challenges. Though it has become one of the most critical enablers in achieving a competitive edge, it provides several advantages, such as reduced labour requirements, shorter production cycles, and increased productivity. Additionally, automation ensures uniformity of output with fewer defects, allows for faster scalability in response to market demand, and optimizes energy use and waste management for a more sustainable environment.

However, despite these benefits, there are challenges associated with implementing these unprecedented capabilities. For instance, private firms facing hurdles in raising the initial venture capital, and upskilling programs will have to be exhaustive and extensive to be able to join the workforce. Infrastructure challenges — access to reliable internet and power, particularly in rural areas — persist in curbing widespread automation adoption. Automation has the potential to enhance productivity, quality, and sustainability, so this is a frontier that Indian manufacturing needs to explore for its own future growth.

With initiatives such as Make in India and the PLI scheme which promotes automation and the upgrade of production infrastructure, the outlook for automation in Indian manufacturing is positive. Various technologies such as digital twins and AI-driven automation along with renewable energy integration are influencing how the industry evolves. These developments only add to the existing advantages of enhanced job creation and quality assurance, and set the stage for growth in Indian manufacturing. At the same time, companies that adopt smart manufacturing solutions can enhance their competitiveness while helping to create a sustainable manufacturing ecosystem, supported by government support, industry investment, and workforce development.

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