Indian manufacturers are still cautious in their approach toward embracing the latest automation technologies.

– Saurabh Kulkarni

Mobile Automation Expert, B&R Industrial Automation, India

According to reports, the Indian Industrial Automation market is expected to reach USD 4.43 billion by 2023. India has been making strides in automation and robotics since the past few years. Being one of the leading players in this space, how do you see the growth opportunities in India?

In India, industrial automation and robotics are all set to drive growth and provide reliable solutions in the industry. Thanks to the advanced automation solutions, robots are moving from controlled environments to open environments and from selected industries to almost every industry in the manufacturing sector faster than we could have expected. The new normal demands contactless solutions, so the need for robotics and automation is now more critical in Indian business and society than ever. The pandemic strengthens the case for robotics and automation as companies are already using robots to engage and delight customers, solve logistics difficulties, automate repetitive tasks, undertake dangerous/hazardous tasks. These technologies are helping organizations increase productivity and efficiencies and utilize their human resources for higher-value services.As per various estimates and reports, the Industrial automation market in India is projected to rise more than 13% CAGR between 2020 and 2024. The demand for industrial automation and robotics is mainly driven by the automotive and general industries like rubber, plastics, metals, and electrical & electronics segments. The usage of low and mid-level automation in the Indian manufacturing industry is the driver for growth in the industrial robot space in India. We can expect this growth to continue in the coming years, excluding short-term disruptions due to pandemics. Therefore, I believe businesses utilize emerging technologies such as robotics and automation to improve process efficiencies and transform their business operations.

There is a lot of emphasis on improving the manufacturing sector in India through initiatives like Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat. What role is automation playing in this space? Also, how is automation reducing the challenges of manual works as well as cost?

Implementation of Industry 4.0 for Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat in the manufacturing sector is being promoted by Indian Government since it helps provides a steady growth. As we all know Industry 4.0 is characterized by several technologies that come together to digitize the shop floor. With these technological advancements, organizations can leverage data from multiple fonts, like connected machines, equipment, sensors, actuators and many others to renovate their brownfield plants and processes to achieve efficiency at several levels. By automating and digitalizing the shopfloor, Indian manufacturers can obtain immediate as well as long term benefits such as quick analysis of production status and elimination of errors. Some of the long-term benefits are enhanced operational and production efficiency and flexible and quality report gerenrations. The real-time analysis of production through various tools gives aninnovative perspective of the manufacturing process. The real time analytics helps to provide a better insight into the machinery, workers and the process competences. Additionally, the related digital reports eliminates the errors like incorrect manual entries or quality control issues and sets a appropriate digital ‘approval’ hierarchy in place for an efficient process to the management. These advantages help any manufacturer save time and reduce expenses, there by making the brand and product more competitive in the global market.

Tell us about your offerings your offerings and how it is improving the manufacturing sector in India.

The Indian manufacturing sector has key importance to the ecosystem.  However, Indian manufacturers are still cautious in their approach toward embracing the latest automation technologies. At B&R, we closely work with many Indian manufacturers, enabling them to understand the available spectrum of technologies in the market, optimising various solutions that meet their needs, thus helping them satisfy their customers’ demands. Through different technology days, seminars, and training modules, we provide a high level of flexibility needed to maximize the learning experience of our customers. We do not consider relationships with our customers to be short-term or one-off situations. We look for partnerships based on lasting trust and a high level of expertise. This philosophy has instilled confidence and made us a preferred automation vendor for many machine builders and factories.

Can you tell us about the impact of the pandemic and how it has changed the dynamics of automation?

The impact of the pandemic has made this question more crucial. The Indian manufacturing sector is accelerating the usage of automation and digitization above the global average after the pandemic hit. Organizations are building their production endurance strategies and at the same time re-inventing new manufacturing models and exploring advanced automation possibilities to reduce the impact of the crisis on their production lines in the future. One of the reports mentioned that by 2025, the organization will be dividing the tasks between humans and machines equally. Roles that expect the involvement of human skills will rise in demand. Automated machines will be mainly focused on information and data processing. Though, the degree of automation adoption may be varied depending on the type of industry and the readiness of the organization to make huge investments. The current crisis has undoubtedly acted as a catalyst to the evolution of automation, especially in building flexibility among Indian manufacturers to face future disruptions.

Can you tell us about your plans for India?

Globally, ABB has invested €100 million in Austria to build a state-of-the-art innovation and training campus at the home of B&R in Eggelsberg. We are sure; this commitment will further accelerate our speed of growth and innovation in India and keep our customers and us ahead of the competition. In India, we have state-of-the-art facilities to provide targeted training courses for our customers and our employees. The available seminars are designed to build and expand professional competence in the field of automation technology. After attending a seminar, our customers can implement efficient automation solutions with B&R systems. This makes it possible for them to secure a decisive competitive edge by reacting faster to constantly changing market demands.

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