It is anticipated that the digitalization of manufacturing industry would result in the development of new business models and provide considerable opportunities for small and medium-sized firms. It is now absolutely necessary for every industrial organisation to go through a profound transformation utilising digitalization in order to continue being competitive on a global scale, accomplish the objectives of the company, and fulfil the demands of their customers.

In India, every manufacturing firm has tried-and-tested processes, beliefs about product creation, and success stories. These best practises are now being questioned as we examine the potential of the global market, and digitalization is essential to attain the desired results in terms of the following goals:

Innovative new Products: Due to the ever-changing requirements of consumers, manufacturers must introduce new items more quickly, despite the growing complexity of their products. In conventional rivalry, the larger and more powerful opponent has always triumphed over the smaller and nimbler adversary.

Enhance Manufacturing Processes: Customers desire personalised products, however they don’t wish to spend more than they would for mass-produced ones, so businesses must enhance their agility. As a direct result of this, manufacturing must be more adaptive than it ever has been, which ultimately results in large scale production that can be customised.

Improved Quality: In this new age, consumers have started endorsing high-quality products and penalise low-quality ones through social media and other online routes. In order to guarantee high product quality and fulfil legal requirements, businesses must have closed-loop quality systems and traceability.

Enhance effectiveness: In the modern marketplace, a company’s competitive advantage is not just based on how sustainable and environmentally friendly its products are; energy efficiency in the manufacturing and production process is also a major consideration.

Getting started on the digital voyage

We will never be able to digitalize without first developing smart production facilities (factories). As a result, we need to concentrate on attaining these goals in a way that is appropriate for the demands of our clients, the size of our firm, and the sector in which we compete.

The term “smart factory” refers to the factories of the future that will make the transition from automation to autonomy, hence improving the connectivity in real time between people, machines, and physical systems (IoT). The smart factory’s key features are its shop floor connectivity, advanced robotics, adaptive automation, virtual and augmented reality capabilities, and efficient energy management. The automotive industry is the one that is responsible of establishing global standards for the general manufacturing sector. Additionally, during the past twenty years, there has been a significant expansion of the automotive ecosystem in India.

At this point, the digitalization process has only been limited to a small portion of the value chain. In order to have a factory that is truly smart, it is necessary for data to enter the value chain at one point and then move through it as required. In the event that there is a flaw in the manufacturing process, for instance, the product specification will enter the value chain at a particular point in order to ascertain both the location of the flaw as well as the nature of the flaw. When a manual process in the value chain is replaced with a smart factory, the smart factory is able to automatically identify any issues that arise. 

The major variables that will determine the success of the adoption of digitalization are the significance of realising a return on investment (RoI) and the desire of employees at both the top and bottom levels of an organisation.

Graphs demonstrating the correlation between demand and supply indicate that if sufficient automation or digitalization is not introduced, it may be insufficient to achieve client demands. This will be the case in a variety of industries, including those that need accuracy, agility, and adaptability, such as the automotive, defence, maritime, and high-end manufacturing industries. India’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must prepare for this enormous potential. To implement digitization, however, small and medium-sized firms require a substantial amount of extra funding. Lack of available financing is one of the most serious hurdles that small and medium-sized enterprises in India are currently facing. Despite the fact that state-owned SME growth funds, lenders, and corporations in the mainstream banking sector offer expansion and working capital loans, these loans are typically inadequate and out of reach for the vast majority of individuals.

India’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are constantly trying to keep up with the pace of innovation set by global MNCs. It will be a huge step forward for smart manufacturing if Indian small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) work together to use internet of things (IoT) platforms to improve productivity. Because of this, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) will need to collaborate with larger companies that offer robust, well-tested, and cutting-edge digitalization solutions over the next decade. There is a pressing need for all value chains to be digitalized as well as strategic partnerships, innovative funding, and turnkey solutions that can make Indian factories smarter, more productive, and more efficient.

Leveraging digitalisation

Indian firms have only recently started investing in digital technology due to the pressure that has been put on them by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from around the world. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are pushing to get digitalization systems installed in Indian companies so that they can monitor what is going on at the supplier and client ends of the supply chain.

At this present point, the world is heading toward digitization in all aspects of design and production. The support offered by digitalization can be used to leverage investments in digital technologies for the aim of enhancing the efficiency of production processes that have already been developed and also for more clearly communicating with clients regarding business orders.

With the help of digital technologies, it is feasible to transform a mostly segregated discrete supply chain into a fully integrated, transparent ecosystem. This can be accomplished by demolishing the barriers that exist between the two. Based on the size of the industry and the extent of the operation, one can decide whether to adopt comprehensive digitalization at every point of operation or merely for certain pockets of operation. The size of the business can influence this decision. For a large-scale industry, it is better to have total digitization. It is a viable alternative for medium-sized firms, particularly for projects involving inventory control and the streamlining of production methods, as well as for sales and after-sales service. Because it is dependent on the scale of the industry, integrating the supply chain cannot be generalised across all industries.

Technology

More manufacturing and process automation is being adopted globally as a result of the conclusion that seeking for low labour costs is no longer a competitive strategy. Adopting cutting-edge technology is essential to maintain competitiveness and adaptability, with automation being a crucial element for the success of this transformation.

Thanks to significant technological advancements made possible by the Internet of Things, such as open software platforms, open communications, open data models, and potent embedded processors, digitization is now a reality. The interplay of physical and computational systems, including embedded intelligence at all levels, such as machines, sensors, actuators, production parts, subassemblies, and products being created, is referred to as “cyber-physical systems” (CPS) in the digitization field. CPS are composed of tangible components, such as mechanisms, that are managed or controlled by computer-based algorithms. A more modern use of CPS is the use of mechatronic drive systems, which undertake coordinated operations in a packaging machine without the use of physical gearing. This provides additional flexibility and reliability while also saving money.

Analytics

The use of analytics can help enhance performance and productivity, and digitalization can make the collection of a wide variety of data easier, which can then be used for these purposes. It is possible to use analytics in a variety of different ways in order to improve asset utilisation. One of these ways is through the implementation of real-time predictive maintenance, which assists manufacturing companies in avoiding machine failures on the factory floor and, as a result, reducing downtime. The optimization of production processes in order to boost productivity and energy efficiency is yet another application of the technology.

It is imperative that we move forward and begin preparing for the complete and total digitalization of everything. Because there is no method to circumvent it, it is something that simply cannot be avoided. The question of how much something would cost is the most significant barrier for a country like India. As a result, there is still a significant distance for us to travel. This is not simply a change; rather, it is a revolution that is taking place. Once everything is conducted on a worldwide scale, our principal competitor will likewise be advancing at the same rate as we are. Investing in the technologies that will help a company achieve its business goals and the return on investment (RoI) it desires is a requirement that must first be met before companies can move on with their technology purchases.

END OF ARTICLE