Page 49 - MMI_MarApr 2021 (high-singles)

Embassy of the Federal Re-
public of Germany, New Delhi,
(through video conferencing)
highlighted ‘Make in India’ and
‘Self-Reliant India’ (Atmanir-
bhar Bharat) policies that are
poised to play a major role in
the Automation industry. He
underlined the growing impor-
tance of automation with the
pandemic today and the world
markets going more local in
comparison to global manufac-
turing trends.
Rajesh Nath, Managing Di-
rector, VDMA India, said, “It
is worth bearing in mind that
artificial intelligence, automa-
tion, IoT, and robotics are be-
coming more prominent. The
pace of technological advance-
ment and the rate at which
professionals update their skills (ACMA) on the ‘Rebound of Au-
are already causing the skill
gap to become more expansive.
Further the viral outbreak has
further accelerated the digi-
tal transformation within the
global business ecosystem.”
Automotive industry largest
adopter
Presently, the Automotive in-
dustry is the largest adopter
of robotic solutions in India.
The passenger vehicle segment
clocked a growth of 11.14 per-
cent in January 2021 at 2.76
lakh units, thus remaining in
the positive territory for the
sixth straight month, against
2.48 lakh units in the corre-
sponding month a year ago.
Two-wheeler volumes rose by
6.63 percent to 14.30 lakh units
in January 2021, compared to
13.41 lakh units in January
2020. While motorcycle sales
increased by 5.1 percent to 9.16
lakh units as against 8.72 lakh
in January 2020, scooter sales
were up 9.06 percent at 4.54
lakh units from 4.17 lakh units
a year ago. The total vehicle
sales increased by 4.97 percent
to 17.32 lakh units last month
www.mmindia.co.in
as against 16.50 lakh units in
the year ago period.
Other segments including Food
and Beverage, Consumer Pack-
aged Goods, Electronics and Lo-
gistics industries are also start- Pepperl + Fuchs Factory Auto-
ing to adopt automation and
robotics at a much faster pace.
Leaders opine
Chairing the event, BB Gup-
ta, President & Business Head,
Auto Components Business,
JBM Group, spoke on ‘Emerg-
ing trends in the Automotive
industry with the adoption of
Robotics & Automation’. Vin-
nie Mehta, Director General,
Automotive Component Man-
ufacturers Association of India
tomotive Industry Post Covid’.
Well-known VDMA members
such as Baumer India, Dürr In-
dia, FESTO India, Gudel India,
KUKA India, Pepperl+Fuchs
Factory Automation, SICK In-
dia, and Zimmer Automation
presented their take on applica-
tion-oriented technology. Other
partners included Cotmac Elec-
tronics, DiFacto Robotics and
Automation, Fluro Engineering,
Schmalz India & Wenzel South
Asia. There was a dedicated B2B
exhibition space for the compa-
nies to showcase their technolo-
gies to the participants.
Source: VDMA India
The two rounds of technolo- The passen-
gy-oriented presentations were ger vehicle
led by Manoj Yadav, General segment
Manager, KUKA India; and Ravi clocked a
Agarwal, Managing Director, growth of
11.14 per-
mation, who spoke on ‘Key Ap- cent in Jan-
plications, Challenges and way uary 2021
forward for Robotic Automation at 2.76 lakh
in Auto OEMs and Tier 1 Indus- units, thus
try’ and ‘Sensors for Smart Man- remaining in
ufacturing’, respectively. the positive
territory for
Automation on the rise the sixth
An interesting panel discussion straight
on ‘Role of Robotics + Automa- month,
tion for the Manufacturing In- against 2.48
dustry’ was moderated by Nath. lakh units in
The panel composed of industry the corre-
experts such as Rajachandran sponding
Madhan, Director, Indo-German month a
Science & Technology Centre year ago.
(IGSTC); Achintya Lahiri, Nation-
al Head- Packaging Development
and Engineering, Hindustan
Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd and
Rajiv Wahi, Chief Executive-
International Business (EAM),
Escorts Ltd, who drew attention
to the increasing use of automa-
tion in manufacturing and even
in their own factories. They
stressed on the adoption being
economical and viable for the
SME and MSME industries, and
highlighted the need to educate
the Indian workforce on the
adoption of automation.
| 49March-April 2021