Industry 4.0 necessary to hike mfg share in GDP : Experts

The Dollar Business Bureau 

Indian industry cannot ignore adopting Industry 4.0 and it has to focus more on making use of green technologies and best practices followed the world over, experts opined. This reaction comes in the wake of the Indian government setting its sights to increasing the share of manufacturing from 17 to 25 percent of GDP. And the government intends to do so in order to create millions of jobs and to push the country’s economic growth. 

Speaking to the media about aiming for an increased economic share in GDP, Hospira Healthcare Managing Director, Srini Srinivasan said, “To achieve this target, Indian industry has to adopt Industry 4.0 as it is important to boost manufacturing,". He also added that adopting Industry 4.0 would enhance the quality of the products produced and ease of doing business would also improve. 

Industry 4.0, or ‘Industrie 4.0’ as it was originally called in German, is the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes internet of things, cloud computing and cyber-physical systems. Industry 4.0 creates what is termed as a ‘Smart Factory’. Many experts term Industry 4.0 as the Fourth Industrial Revolution though for over 7 decades this term has been applied to many significant technological developments not clearly defining which stage or which phase in these developments can take that distinction. 

Speaking about Industry 4.0 under the caption, 'Industry 4.0: leveraging for efficiency, adaptability, productivity, - what is in it for India' at a special session at the AP Investment Summit held in Visakhapatnam, DIPP Secretary, Ramesh Abhishek said, in order to adopt Industry 4.0, India Inc has to adopt best global manufacturing practices with good investments. The other areas that also need focus when adopting the best global manufacturing processes are innovation, higher quality products, job alignment, robust supply chain and skilling. 

Industry experts Keerthi Prakash, Vice President of Renault Nissan Alliance, Vehicle Production Plant and Plant Engineering, Sunil Mathur, M.D and CEO, Siemens Ltd, Tata Chemicals MD, R. Mukundam who were distinguished guests at the Summit echoed the minister’s views. Keerthi Prakash said, “India cannot shy away from Industry 4.0. We have to look at Industry 4.0 seriously.” 

Most of them agreed that Industry 4.0 integrates the manufacturing world with the digital world. Big data analytics, Internet of things, augmented reality and cyber security are like pillars in the transforming manufacturing landscape. Implementing these can catapult the Indian manufacturing sector to greater heights in the international arena. But to attain those heights, the manufacturing sector requires significant economic, social and political transformation, a transformation that can happen through government agencies. 

Affirming to this Ramesh Abhishek said, “the government along with the states are working on this.”