Changing Manufacturing Ways

Having garnered an overwhelming response on its first attempt at raising awareness on Industry 4.0 and its importance in the manufacturing space, German Engineering Federation (VDMA) once again organized a second symposium on ‘Industry 4.0 – the Future Concept of Manufacturing’ on April 25 and 26, 2019 in Ahmadabad and Chennai respectively. Highlights…

The event, that had its focus on implementing Industry 4.0 in Manufacturing including Automotive, Aerospace, Machine tools, Construction & Material Handling, Food Processing & Packaging, and Heavy and Process Engineering sectors, convened more than 250 delegates comprising industry veterans, policy makers, academia, research institutions, and media from both the cities.

Ahmedabad Event

The event had Nitin Tiwari, Head – Business IT, Manufacturing Execution System, TATA Motors Ltd, Sanand, as the Guest of Honor; and Amit P Dharva, Technical Advisor, Industries Commissionerate, Government of Gujarat, as the Chief Guest. Dietmar Goericke, Managing Director, Forum Industrie 4.0 at VDMA Frankfurt; and Sandip Roy, Regional Head – East, VDMA India, were also among the ones gracing it. While Tiwari spoke on Industry 4.0 and the ‘Digital Transformation of the Automotive Industry in India’ from the perspective of an OEM, Dharva highlighted the importance of Industry 4.0 and briefly touched upon the initiative of the Gujarat Government to attract FDI in manufacturing.

Chennai Event

Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula, CTO, Ashok Leyland Group, was the Chief Guest, while Karin Stoll, Consul General, Consulate General of Federal Republic of Germany, Chennai, played the Guest of Honor. Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India; Dietmar Goericke; and Sandip Roy were also present.

Nath covered the various aspects of Indo-German bilateral relation and emphasized on the importance of adopting Industry 4.0 to achieve the ambitious target of making India a global hub for manufacturing, design and innovation.

There were total seven speakers for technical sessions in both the cities from VDMA member companies like Beckhoff Automation, Bosch Rexroth, Pepperl + Fuchs, SAP India, Schaeffler Group and Siemens.

Yogesh Mali, Application Manager, Beckhoff Automation, made a presentation on ‘Open Automation Technology - PC-based Machine Control for Industry 4.0’ Whereas Ravi Agarwal, Managing Director, and Regional Director - MEI, Pepperl+Fuchs Factory Automation, enlightened the audience on ‘Implementing Smart Manufacturing Solutions in India’ and how the country can benefit by harnessing automation in the manufacturing sector.

While, most speakers ex-pounded on ‘why’ important is Industry 4.0, the speakers from SAP spoke at large on ‘how’ to implement Industry 4.0 either in an organization or a country. While, most speakers ex-pounded on ‘why’ important is Industry 4.0, the speakers from SAP spoke at large on ‘how’ to implement Industry 4.0 either in an organization or a country.

The event that convened more than 250 delegates focused on why Industry 4.0 is so important to implement in the manufacturing process and how to do it.