Technology experts from Tata Communications, Bosch, Infor, Microsoft and others gathered at the event.

 

Tech experts from Tata Communications, Bosch, Infor, Microsoft, Unlimit (A Reliance Group Company) and Software Technology Parks of India converged at the Future Factory India Confex 2019 in Mumbai to discuss the convergence of IT & OT, and the many changes brought about by emerging digital technology in the smart manufacturing landscape. Discussions by digital technology enablers and innovators in IIoT, M2M, AI, BlockChain, hardware independent augmented reality reigned the two-day Confex that was held on 11-12 March 2019, drawing 134 attendees.

 

Inaugurating the two-day Confex, Dr. Omkar Rai, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India announced, “As the largest outsourcing nation, India holds 56 per cent of the share of global outsourcing of tech services. The nation holds the position to empower and enable migration to Industry 4.0. To support this vision, government of India has announced NPSP 2019 policy (National policy on Software) which aims to make India move beyond an IT service nation and make it a technology product nation. Overall market size for technology products is $445 billion whereas India’s share currently is only $7.1 billion. Through this policy and subsequent measures, India aims to capture $70-80 bn market share by 2025 – both through domestic and export technology requirements.”

 

Messe Frankfurt has once again put up a focused exhibition and conference where there is a lot of information that will be exchanged on developments that fuel Industry 4.0. “I urge the industry to exchange ideas and information here at Future Factory India and create an eco-system for Indian entrepreneurship,” he added.

 

Discussing the challenges in adopting IoT, Dattatri Salagame, Head, Digital Business, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business solutions, shared, “Most enterprises get stuck in ‘Digital Dilemma’. Managements and businesses are focusing on RoI rather than long-term sustainability of the model. We want to ensure simplification of digital processes to drive efficiency and enable business design.” The Indian subsidiary of Bosch had on display a multiple range of solutions in IoT, AI, automation, data analytics etc., at the two-day event and undertook live demonstrations of their solutions for digital supply chain management.

 

Emphasizing on connected solutions for future factories, Kishore Suprabha, General Manager, Business Development, Unlimit said, “25 per cent of the GDP share is projected to be contributed by the manufacturing sector by 2022. Everything will be connected. Defining an Industry 4.0 strategy within the ambit of one’s business environment that is most probable should be integrated into enterprise strategy going forward.”

Unlimit had on display their key innovation Ocupro – a visual inspection for quality product offering alongside demos running for OmniP & OmniC IoT platforms, asset and production management and predictive maintenance solutions.

 

“While 81 per cent early AI adopters prioritise new revenue potential over cost reduction, 91 per cent enterprises expect AI to deliver new business growth by 2023,” shared Virendra Chaudhari, Intelligent Cloud, IoT Global Black Belt, Microsoft at his session on Collaborate to Innovate. The joint session by Microsoft together with Chief Digital Officer Poorav Sheth introduced to the audience an interesting case study on how the tech-giant has collaborated with Piramal Glass for real time manufacturing insights and the need for partnership for operational effectiveness.

 

Shyamanta Sharma, Senior Manager, IoT Business Unit, Tata Communications informed that the company has set up one of the largest dedicated IoT network in India to provide end-to-end solutions around the factory, be it safety, lighting, energy management and more. The company, which was also present at the Confex, displayed innovations in industrial IoT devices including load protect, ModBus to Lora and worker safety wearables which gained attention.

 

Day two of the Confex brought forth a mix of tech-innovations by STPI start-ups such as Unisoft Systems, WITS Interactive Pvt Ltd, World Vision Infotech Pvt Ltd and Lexicon Networks India Pvt Ltd.