Smart factories, AI, Data Analytics: Traditional manufacturing gains a competitive edge.

The pandemic brought into sharp focus two areas for manufacturing: the fragility of their supply chains, and their unpreparedness to work from home. As traditional manufacturing units were late to the digitisation party, they've had a sharp learning curve, with lessons worth delving into.

CNBC-TV18's Reema Tendulkar spoke with stalwarts of the Manufacturing industry who navigated the pandemic successfully, while also readying their businesses for strong performance in a digital-first economy. In an hour-long webinar, Tejpreet Chopra, President CEO, BLP,  Ranganathan Iyer, Group CIO & EVP IT, JBM Auto, Naresh Kumar Agarwal, Head-Information Technology, Vikram Solar Limited, Ashwin Prajapati, CIO, Symphony Limited, Vipin Kumar, CIO - Global, UFlex, Nirav Goradia, Director, Searce, Deepak Singh, Head of Corporate Accounts, Google Cloud and Manoj Kumar Chauhan, Head Domain Manufacturing Excellence, UNO Minda shared their insights and future plans w.r.t. Cloud adoption, AI, IoT and automation.

The Pace of Change is Punishing 

BLP's Tejpreet Chopra opines that the speed of disruption in India will set the standard for the world, as the level of innovation here is much higher. Between the scalability that Cloud solutions provide, the levelling of opportunities through availability of high performance computing to one and all, mobility of datasets, and the vast human capital that India boasts of, Indian business are in the midst of a perfect storm that drives not just innovation, but the speed of innovation too.

Customer tastes change rapidly. Ashwin Prajapati of Symphony Limited talks about the specific challenges of manufacturing products that generate ROIs through energy savings, and the opportunities for innovation inherent within these constraints. Green products will continue to gain ground as more customers choose these products over others. Smart metering with IoT which gives customers increased control over performance, and proactive and preventive maintenance through data analytics generates enormous value.

The Unconnected Cloud 

JBM Auto's Ranganathan Iyer agrees with the potential of cloud based technologies. According to him Cloud solutions are a must have where one needs scale. However, he has his reservations on using cloud in conjunction with MES, where instantaneous decisions need to be made, in addition to instantaneous response times. Particularly when one considers that factories are often situated in areas where internet connectivity isn't at the level required for running cloud based solutions.

Nirav Garodia from Searce however, feels that this is best addressed through edge solutions combined with the power of AI and ML to mitigate challenges of connectivity. Google’s Deepak Singh talked about how the cloud journey is never just a rip and replace. Each implementation involves workshops to understand the nuances of the specific business. Applications are then identified for migration to Cloud and SaaS, and the final architecture is arrived at, as is the security solution bespoke for the business.

Security, in the Times of Cloud 

Historically, organisations have treated technology as the perimeter layer. Today, as employees become more mobile, security has had to evolve. The pandemic saw a rash of end-user attacks. According to Vipin Kumar of Uflex, today, when a new project is designed, technology is an integral part of the design itself. To his point, today even antivirus solutions have evolved to include AI that monitors user behaviours to stop particular threats.

Data security and data loss prevention have also evolved to fit particular businesses. There are no set formulae any longer - all security solutions are custom to the type of business, their data storage and classification, and user behaviours. While all cloud solutions come with their own security solutions, an intermingling of security architectures is important, says Vipin. Deepak, who feels confident in Google's security solutions, points out that Google uses their own products, and these are solutions that have proven capable of the task of keeping Google secure.

What Is Holding Manufacturing Back? 

According to Vipin, the primary reason is the mindset that data isn't as safe on the cloud, as it is on an on-prem server. Fortunately, this is changing. Business decision-makers are also seeing the cost advantage of cloud vs the upfront costs of hardware. However, the lack of industry-specific solutions continues to be a pain point. As do data migration struggles and a lack of definition in exit strategies. However, the biggest barrier to entry, according to Vipin, continues to be the lack of connectivity and poor bandwidth in factory locations, particularly for companies that have significant geographical spread.

Tejpreet, however, feels that 5G is expected to be a huge factor in driving adoption. Manufacturing solutions using AI can be deployed on 5G networks, and he expects that that is going to be the way connectivity happens in factories, mines, ports, and other areas not traditionally connected through broadband. India leads the way in frugal manufacturing, and AI and IoT solutions are going to be critical partners in this journey.

For more insights on how Cloud solutions are powering India's aspirations to be the world's manufacturing hub, visit The Cloud Enterprise. You can also view the full webinar here.

Moneycontrol journalists were not involved in the creation of the article.