Material Handling, Warehousing and CSM In Digital Era
Published on : Sunday 01-09-2019
The Union Finance Minister has recently revisited the Bahi Khata, the new Indian term for Budget, presented in early July, in response to the market sentiments.
It is a good sign of a responsive government alive to business sentiments. The industry has welcomed it, as it had welcomed the budget presented earlier. However, there is also a feeling that the FM was reacting more to the falling stock market rather than addressing the fundamentals. Despite the strong mandate to the BJP led NDA government, one gets a feeling that it is still hesitant to go that extra mile to strike a blow for crucial reforms on many policy fronts. With the Prime Minister setting the goal for a US$ 5 trillion economy in five years, the country needs to grow at a whopping 12% over the next five years. While Make in India has struck a blow for raising the contribution of manufacturing to the GDP basket, carrying it further requires a digital impetus. The automobile industry in India, presently reeling under a prolonged slowdown, has shown the way in this respect. One of the most automated sectors globally and in India, it has transformed the Indian landscape in a little over two decades post liberalisation, and today ranks 6th globally. Coupled with the success of IT industry in services, India has all that is needed to make a digital success story. The government has to leverage these advantages to achieve this audacious goal. It is not impossible, is doable.
The benefits of digitalisation are well known – lower costs, better quality, improved productivity and shorter time to market. Yet implementation is either delayed, waiting for the right moment, or becomes a victim of piecemeal approach. There is no right moment when it comes to digitalisation – it is now – should have been yesterday, actually. For manufacturing enterprises, especially SMEs, digitalisation must be implemented at two levels – on the one hand they must implement digitalisation in their own operations, on the other, they must tweak their offerings to provide digital solutions. While it is not practical nor economical to invest in all new machines, many vendors are now offering the tools to equip legacy equipment with digital interfaces, something that is of particular relevance to the SMEs.
Where do companies find solutions to implement these transformational changes in their business? Automation Expo 2019, to be held from September 25-28, 2019 at Bombay Convention & Exhibition Complex, Goregaon (E), Mumbai, could be a good starting point. Organised by IED Communications, Asia’s second largest automation exhibition is now in its 14th edition. With special focus on digitalisation this year, the event has the largest participation of global automation companies. Spread across Halls 1 and 2, it promises an unprecedented opportunity to sample the best available technologies for digitalisation and robotics in the Indian sub-continent.
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