Leveraging innovation to make it 'smart' in India

The rise of trends such as "off-shoring to on-shoring" and "mass manufacturing to mass customization" has pushed traditional companies to transform rapidly and embrace a new technology-driven business model. Robotics and Automation are helping companies in this transformation. Innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, 3D printing, additive manufacturing etc. are ensuring a rapid innovation cycle for all the players in the domain. The convergence of these technologies has the potential to generate huge improvements in capability, utility and accessibility of Indian manufacturers.

Globally as manufacturing technology continues to advance exponentially, barriers to entry, commercialization and learning are eroding. New market entrants with access to new tools can operate at much smaller scale, enabling them to create offerings once the sole province of major incumbents. While large-scale production will always dominate some segments of the value chain, innovative manufacturing models—distributed small-scale local manufacturing, loosely coupled manufacturing ecosystems, and agile manufacturing are arising to take advantage of these new opportunities.

Delivering more for less is no longer a sustainable strategy, forward-thinking manufacturers are looking for alternative ways to create and capture value. The growing popularity of "smart" products, for instance has prompted some technology companies to make forays into the manufacturing space, either by developing software to run the products or by producing the products themselves. To be globally competitive in the next five years and beyond, it is imperative that Indian manufacturing companies (both incumbents and new entrants) are well versed with emerging technology trends driving manufacturing innovation, commercialise innovative ideas into sustainable businesses and leverage new business models to drive competitive and profitable growth.