Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) have seen higher adoption in telecommunications, retail, FMCG, BFSI and healthcare in the last decade. One essential understanding for companies in the Covid-19 era is that expense-powerful digital manufacturing options can hold factories and provide chains operating proficiently to reduce expenses. Industry 4. is redefining digital technologies, organization techniques and operational execution for corporations.
“Manufacturing companies have realised that optimising costs with digital solutions is necessary to keep production and supply chains operating smoothly while maintaining high-quality products,” says Rohit Pande, AI Applications Sales Leader, IBM India/South Asia. “Today, an average production line can generate around 70 terabytes of big data on a single day; however, most of it is not analysed.” According to him, companies are now starting to combine AI, hybrid cloud, and automation to draw worth from such information and acquire more mission-important insights like prediction and prevention of gear failure, enhancing reliability, minimizing downtime, and applying information insights to upgrade item top quality and decrease manufacturing expenses.
The present push by manufacturing corporations towards Industry 4. is due to the inherent a number of advantages. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages not too long ago collaborated with IBM to deploy ‘Maxpro’—a collection of numerous IT options that involves IBM Maximo—at its Sanand plant in Gujarat. These options are powered by cloud, AI, analytics & IoT and provide truth-based genuine-time evaluation of information, immediate availability of details & interconnectivity of machines. According to the organization, this collaboration is assisting the factory redefine efficiency and come to be more agile.
Sampath Kumar Venkataswamy, senior analysis manager, IDC Asia Pacific Manufacturing Insights, says, “Over 38% of Indian manufacturers are looking at digital offerings that can generate new revenues streams through a combination of product innovation drives and ecosystem integrations that pivot on real-time data visibility. Technologies such as AI, IoT, cloud and analytics will be the key enablers that aid in the creation of a digital thread that runs across the organisation and value chain.”
Importance of IT infrastructure in Industry 4.
As the manufacturing sector drives towards digital technologies and Industry 4., a fantastic IT infrastructure is required to get up-to-date details on gear status, strengthen efficiency and top quality of production. Building a hybrid multi-cloud IT infrastructure is a a important element in digital transformation for companies in search of to take benefit of Industry 4..
“IT infrastructure’s primary goal in a manufacturing set-up is to enable zero-latency within and between business processes with stakeholders distributed across the organisation. As successful manufacturers are on an on-going journey from a standard to automated factory set-up, with some organisations even ramping up to intelligent factories, RISC processor based servers and storage continue to provide the building blocks of a next-generation IT architecture.” says Ravi Jain, director, Server Sales, IBM India/South Asia.
Many corporations in the manufacturing sectors use IBM Systems to comprehend genuine-time analytics and boost operational efficiencies. Kanpur headquartered JK Cement moved its IT infrastructure for its core ERP to IBM Power and IBM Storage to lessen operational expenses and boost organization efficiency in provide chain management. Jitendra Singh, president and CDO, JK Cements says, “We are in the business where our supply chain management has to be very efficient. We require a high-performing infrastructure to access real-time information and analytics. This shift helped us optimise operational decisions, improve processes, bring in supply chain efficiency, drive better cost and increase our overall efficiencies.”
Industry 4. is no longer about tailoring modules to implement a set of fixed processes or waiting for one to two years to go live. Firms are defining and deploying use situations in tiny chunks, enabling advantages in 3 to six months. IBM’s Jain says, “Enterprises are under pressure to innovate and make smart investments in IoT, mobility, cloud computing and analytics to improve production efficiencies.”
As manufacturers’ organization techniques and operational execution get redefined, Industry 4. therefore assumes a higher relevance in the post-pandemic era.