Machinery 4.0, is a must need in India.
Dr. J Ramkumar, Dr. Amandeep Singh Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
The new industrial revolution is all the rage nowadays, known as Industry 4.0. Strong demand and stringent competitiveness have made manufacturing companies enhance their productivity. Industry 4.0 is a concept that reflects how industrial production follows the latest developments and changes over time. This calls for the man, machine, and the production itself to work in one intelligent and independent network, by realizing smart factories and smart manufacturing by using Machinery 4.0, which is the hardware part. Figure 1 portrays how the Industrial revolutions have emerged with the time and technological developments, starting from Industry 1.0 in the 1700s to the current Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Why Machinery 4.0 in India?
Digitalization is not a possibility anymore - it is a necessity. The drastic change in the manufacturing technology and adaptation of the Smart Manufacturing strategies by major players in the industry exerts heavy pressure on the MSMEs to upgrade to the latest version. It is feared that the loss of millions of jobs is imminent, as has happened in developed countries. Owing to the lower quality manufactured by outdated technologies, the economic strife could further exacerbate due to the plummeting demand for the products. This in turn could bring a certain loss of capital and sully the goodwill of various brands in the market. This brings the call for digitization, specifically in the developing countries like India, when we are talking about 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. Machinery 4.0 would help to fulfill the market demand and quality requirements and to counter the expensive imports from the neighboring countries. The initial investment might seem somewhat higher, but this can be early recovered by building the confidence in the consumers while delivering the niche products and services. The technical know-how gap between the developed countries and India would also be narrowed, strengthening the manpower in our nation.
