Milind Kargaonkar, Head, IT, India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products
The manufacturing sector has adopted ICT solutions such as industrial internet of things (IoT), as well as social media, mobile, cloud and analytics in a big way to integrate various stages of the production value chain and gain real-time insight into market trends and customer preferences. However, changing business needs and upcoming data security threats hamper the adoption of such solutions by the sector. Going forward, artificial intelligence and robotics will find many takers amongst manufacturing enterprises. IT heads of leading manufacturing enterprises comment on the key technology trends in this space, their IT strategies, and plans for upgrading their ICT infrastructure…
What are the key benefits and drivers of digital transformation for the manufacturing sector?
The key benefits and drivers of digital transformation are enhanced efficiency, cost reduction and automation with innovation. The changing expectations of consumers also impact the manufacturing sector. Further, connected devices and platforms are the key drivers for digitisation in the manufacturing space.
What are the telecom, enterprise and mobility solutions used by your organisation? How have they helped in enhancing business performance and efficiency?
Telecom solutions have helped in establishing connected factories, which drive business agility and help in taking timely decisions. The entire production planning and dispatches across all our factories/warehouses are being done daily/weekly with the help of enterprise solutions like SAP advance planning and optimisation. Further, business performance and efficiency are being tracked through key performance indicators like inventory carrying costs, case fill rates, stock-out and freshness.
What is the scope of big data analytics and IoT in the manufacturing industry? Is your company using or planning to deploy these?
The manufacturing industry is leading in IoT because of the revolutionary way in which it has simplified and streamlined various manufacturing processes. For instance, IoT can provide real-time feedback and alert companies about any defects or damaged goods. These simple yet critical applications of IoT help reduce cost and wastage. Further, companies will have to opt for big data analytics to manage their storage, analytical and processing needs.
We have been experimenting with digitisation through analytics and IoT to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
What are the challenges faced in managing the existing IT and telecom infrastructure, and deploying new technologies?
We have manufacturing units in remote parts of the country where telecom infrastructure still has significant scope for improvement. Since the factories were set up over a period of time, connecting all machines within a production line to enable communication is difficult. Further, new technologies like IoT, robotics and machine learning are still evolving; hence, experimentation and piloting is the approach to test these technologies and new niche IT partners.
What is your company’s IT and digital roadmap?
The company has worked out its IT and digital roadmap, which focuses on analytics, IoT, robotics and machine learning for the next three years. The key focus for the first year is on digitisation of the sales and marketing function.
Which technological trends are likely to drive growth in the manufacturing industry going forward?
The key technologies driving the manufacturing industry will be advanced analytics, IoT and robotics.
