Manufacturing is acknowledged as a developing country's stable engine for economic growth. For the economy to grow, manufacturing vision must be fuelled by innovative and creative leaders, said DrKalam, at a recent forum of Automation industry leaders.

Manufacturing companies looking for sustainable competitive solutions can draw inspiration from that vision. In an era where reduced budgets limit the scope for trials and error, Automation Tech 2013 served a timely reminder for manufacturing leaders to be future ready. On Friday, the 18th October, the link between Manufacturing Competitiveness and Automation was explored at the Automation Tech Conclave, organised by AIA in Pune.

In his opening address, keynote speaker Mr K Nandakumar, President, Automation Industry Association drew an analogy from America’s School for War, saying “It’s a world of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity). To sustain the VUCA world, we must be conscious of how we Manufacture. Feed into the Global Grid, shape Consumer demand, reform Governance and Price our Planet. Presenting an appropriate definition for Automation, he said, “It is the Industrial Infrastructure that delivers ultimate customer experience making positive difference in the Community.”

Padmashri Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Delhi, and known for his path breaking pursuits in Government, Industry, R&D and Academia, was the chief guest. “In Automotive we have transformed from total backwardness.  Ability to add value in manufacturing is important for manufacturing industry to thrive. Whenever we have had a challenge or have been denied anything we have responded. The present time offers an opportunity to create intelligently designed machines to add intelligence on the matter and the energy we process. In the future we may be able to think and control. I would like to see Automation peaking in the city of Pune, which is also the Engineering Capital of India.”

Sanjay Kachre, Head Operations at Kimberly Clark shared how automation strategies impact all manufacturing, because complexity of operations continues to increase. To make the transition to Sustainable Manufacturing, Kachare said “the increasing need for energy efficiency, emissions monitoring, regulatory tracking, process changes, packaging changes, asset upgrades, and new controls and metering places greater demands on Design and Engineering teams to collaborate in bringing new functionality and enhanced visibility to Manufacturing Operations.”

Vishwas Chitale, Director & CTO Chitale Dairy emphasised that holistic use of automation across the entire business process is warranted. He shared how his business is managed with dynamic Business Intelligence Dashboards that provide drill down capability to view and analyze cost and production information coming in from real-time data collectors. “It’s not all over yet,” declares Mr Chitale, “we aim to connect the cows to the cloud.”

Nidamaluri Nagesh, a recipient of the prestigious Boss Kettering Award for Innovation on Collaborative Robots and currently Sr GM with Mahindra Vehicles, dealt with Automation Game Changers, Connected Manufacturing and Disruptive technology. Quoting a Gartner report, Nagesh emphasized "Over 50% of internet connections in the PLANT are THINGS. Manufacturers need a fully connected enterprise to compete in today’s global economy. They need to connect their manufacturing operations and business systems while sharing performance data with machine builders and tier suppliers to improve processes, increase production and reduce risk.

At Autom@tion 2013, global technology giants like Microsoft, Rockwell Automation and Siemens also pitched in with their sneak previews of future automation technologies.  To sum up, Autom@tion Tech really showed how Automation is a hidden value amplifier and how manufacturing businesses can unlock profit potential with real-time decision power. AIA also launched its news magazine, Automation India, introduced as an open and collaborative forum to share unique experiences and challenges.

Program Details

Eminent experts from the Automation Industry have shared their success stories, insights and inspiration with leaders in the Manufacturing Industry. The conference was held as a concurrent event of the India Manufacturing Show .

The manufacturing industry, as the backbone that defined India’s growth in the 1980-90s. While India gained global prominence due to the rapid growth of the service Industry, the manufacturing industry has all the qualities to further enhance the economic development of the country. In fact, it is this sector that is fueling growth, employment and enhancing the other industries such as agriculture and service. To accelerate the efficiency and competitive performance of the manufacturing industry, it is essential to modernise their infrastructure. Now more than ever before, industrial enterprises and utilities rely on their control systems to improve their reliability and efficiency.

Automated, Flexible, Synchronised and Efficient Production Systems are in demand to execute innovative business strategies and sustainable operational practices in manufacturing and improve value for the ecosystem. Industrial Automation is the emerging technology infrastructure for a robust and sustainable economy.

The themes were discussed at the Conference:

The AIA President delivered the keynote address at the ARC Forum on July 6, at Hyderabad on the theme, 'Transforming Industry and Infrastructure'.

Automation Industry Association (AIA) worked as the knowledge partner for a Workshop on Process Control Instrumentation and Process Optimization in Fertiliser Industry

Program Details

Welcome Address by Sunil Khanna, President, AIA-India

Curtain Raiser for Tech Session 1 - Potable Water Quality by R Vanamali, Team Leader, WaterTech 2008

Enhancing Urban Water Systems: Emerging Opportunities for New Technologies by Prof. Srinivas Chary Vedala, Director, CEEUG & ID, ASCI

Challenges in Modernisation of Existing Systems by Anand Wachasunder, Principal Chief Engineer, Goa PWD

On-line Analysis and Control by John Rodriguez, Head, Solutions & Alliances, Endress + Hauser

Cleaning and Reuse of Waste Water by D. Madhavamoorthy, Engineering Director, CMWSSB

Total Analytical Solutions by AJIT JOSHI, Divisional Head (Analytics), Forbes Marshall

Intangibles in Re-use of Waste Water by Dr S. SUNDARAMOORTHY, Creative Director, Environmental Consultants

Micro Sewage Treatment for Rural Areas by Dr Anal Chavan, Specialist, Water Tech., Siemens

Water Audit and Leakage Management by Pranoy Sinha, Chief, Water Management, JUSCO

Enabling 24x7 Supply by Dr. S V Dahasahasra, President, IWWA

Revenue Maximisation by Devarajan Anand Kumar, Product Manager, ABB Ltd

The 21st century is seeing a paradigm shift for Indian Manufacturing industry. Companies looking at local markets are now aiming to be connected with Global markets. "To reach out to newer markets and alliances and business opportunities, company's are faced with the hard fact that unless they improve their return on investments, comply with tough regulatory norms and enhanced safety requirements, they will miss the mark" said Mr J P Singh, President, Automation Industry Association(AIA), while speaking at PharmaTech 2008.

PharmaTech 2008, was organised by the Automation Industry Association, to demonstrate to the Indian Pharmaceutical industry about the benefits of leveraging cutting edge automation technologies and responding to the emerging business environment. The symposium brought together leading Automation process & solution providers on a common platform, discussing industry specific challenges of operational excellence, global regulatory and certification requirement, integrated performance management, manufacturing and automation risks and return on assets.

The Indian Pharmaceutical market which today stands at fourth largest in terms of volume and thirteenth in terms of value has achieved over 7% growth, making its presence felt in the global market primarily through its focus on global generics markets. With many governments encouraging the shift to generics on the back of rising pressure on healthcare budgets, coupled with a significant number of drugs going off patent, Indian pharma companies are now pursuing aggressive strategies to foray new and under-served markets such as Japan, South Africa, EU and CIS countries and Latin America. The Indian Biotech industry too has crossed US$ 2 billion and is projected to be US$ 5 billion by year 2010. While automation started and progressed slowly in Pharmaceutical Industry, it has come to play an increasingly important role in keeping the industry moving ahead.

"Pharma companies are likely to take different steps forward as they reshape their strategies and infrastructure to prepare for future developments, but the starting point has to be the vision of where the company wants to be in 10 to 15 years time and how this will impact manufacturing methods and practices' said Mr Venkat Jasti, Chairman Pharmexcil & VC CEO Suven Life Sciences Limited.

"Companies which earlier were competing with each other with stand-alone equipment, lower production costs, and a market scenario where markets were defined by products are now looking at a new era in manufacturing. Competition is today in terms of value chains, with a lot more emphasis on time and delivery cost to market. Manufacturing firms have to look at a scenario where they have to sense the customers need and respond immediately. Integrated automation in this situation has become a must rather than a mere requirement" added Mr Singh.

Operational effectiveness, profit pressures require manufacturing to contribute and the industry has to work together to enable a compliant manufacturing environment that delivers product to plan with minimal cost and risk. The role of automation technologies is thus crucial in facilitating processes that enable measurement and control, ensure optimum efficiency and increase productivity. Automation is also the key in maintaining consistency & quality and conforming to safety, environmental and a host of other stringent regulatory standards.

"Automation is required to unlock full value of the Business Chain by connecting plant floor to business system , and connectivity to the business system from R&D, through Clinical trial to Commercial Manufacturing" continued Mr Jasti.

Supporting Partner:

Program Details

Welcome Address by J P Singh, President, AIA

Automation enabled global business integration by VENKAT JASTI, Chairman, PHARMEXCIL and VC & CEO, Suven Life Sciences Ltd.

Automation Strategy for Integrated lines in Bulk API industry by DEBADEEP MUKHERJEE, Associate Director, Dr Reddys

Enabling operational excellence through automation by SATHI KANNAN, Marketing Director, Emerson Process Management

Emerging trends in Biopharma and benefits of automation by DR. A.P.KARIATH, President, Biozeen

Process Analytical Technology (PAT) Guidelines by RAMESH P LALA, Director, Klenzaids Contamination Controls (P) Ltd.

User experience in deploying automation for implementing PAT by UDAYKUMAR K. RAKIBE, Director (QA), Ranbaxy

Automation solutions with GAMP compliance by PHILIPP ZUMOBERHAUS, Head Engineering, Endress+Hauser Product Center Process Solutions, Switzerland

User Case Study – Driving process decisions through automation by Dr. VIKRAM PARADKAR, VP Process Development, Reliance Lifesciences

Business Process Improvement by ANTHONY V SOLLAZO, Lifesciences Solutions Manager, Rockwell, Asia Pacific

Track and Trace for e-pedigree compliance by ARUN T. DIVAKARAN, Domain Consultant (Pharma Manufacturing), Siemens Information Systems Ltd.

“Automation - The Next Enabler to Global Competitiveness in Automotive Industry” 

Against the backdrop of The Automotive Mission Plan, AMP 2016, and the emerging synergy amongst all stakeholders, Automation India Association, AIA, hosted this Industry Vertical Summit for the AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY.

The summit was organized around 3 major themes – Digital Manufacturing, Plant Safety and Reliability, and Manufacturing Execution Systems.

Each theme was deliberated upon by eminent speakers representing user’s perspective, automation technology perspective and an integrator’s view. The consensus was that to achieve the target of US$ 145 billion output that this industry has set for itself as a global hub we must also recognize the accompanying challenges in the face of consolidation, globalization, and likely over-capacity. The strategic intent that emerged as a result of the global and local experience sharing was to recognize the role of Industrial Automation as the next key enabler for “Global Competitiveness in Automotive Manufacturing in:

• Achieving higher margins by creating effective global scale, collaborative manufacturing and supply infrastructure
• Implementing rapid Manufacturing and Delivery processes assuring the right product, at the right time, and at the right quality

AIA’s AutomotiveTech 2007 Summit in Mumbai brought together the Automotive fraternity – OE Manufacturers, allied equipment manufacturers,1st Tier Suppliers, and connected them with the Automation industry experts.

Speaking at the inaugural session, JP Singh, President AIA, spoke about the special and exciting role that automation has in manufacturing and infrastructure, which is opening up new career prospects. Pilloo Aga and Ranjan Sen, both representing ACMA highlighted the urgency to look at automation as an enabler for implementing flexible and lean manufacturing systems. Leena Pandey, SIAM, shared the investment climate, stating that 15 billion dollars investments have already been announced, and India is well on the road to becoming a global manufacturing hub. Summarising the seminar theme, Vijay Paranjape, EC member, AIA, invited the delegates to take the discussion forward after the seminar, and form teams so that we can apply global best practices in our automotive assembly and auto component manufacturing plants. “The automation industry is fully committed to support you”, he concluded.

Supporting Partners:

Program Details:

Welcome Address by JP SINGH, President, Automation Industry Association

Manufacturing practices in globally connected businesses by Mrs PILLOO C AGA, EC Member, ACMA & RANJAN SEN

Automation: To increase Productivity & Manufacturing Competitiveness by Ms LEENA PANDEY, Associate Director, SIAM

A Curtain Raiser to Automotive Tech 2007 by VIJAY V PARANJAPE, EC Member, Automation Industry Association

Role of Robotics & Automation and Challenges in implementation by Dr RANJIT ARUN DATE, President & JMD, PARI

Flexible Automation and Lean Manufacturing by KM KARANDIKAR, AGM, Tata Motors Limited

Digital Manufacturing - Concept to Implementation by B KRISHNAN, Regional Manager, South Asia Pacific, Dassault Systems

Benefits of automated plant safety and reliability by NAGARAJ BANAJI, GM, Motor Industries Company Limited

Integrated safety and security in machine controllers by TSUYOSHI MOGI, Specialist (Safety Technology), Mitsubishi Electric

Relevance of Global Plant Safety Standards by VIKRAM JAISINGHANI, VP, Cummins India Limited

Business Value and ROI from MES implementation by SUHAS MHASKAR, Dy GM (IT), Mahindra and Mahindra Limited

Enhancing Productivity with MES by ROBERTO GIAVAZZI, Specialist, Automotive MES, Siemens AG

Integration with Tier 1 suppliers by ANIRUDDHA KADKOL, Project Manager - MSEA, Tata Technologies Limited

AIA Founder Member Sunil Khanna spoke about the challenge that auto manufacturers are facing today. Though there are certainly a number of automation and information technology solutions available, the automobile supply chain is still full of hurdles when it comes to passing information from ancillary units to the shop floor. If it takes just 72 hours to actually build and assemble a car in the manufacturer's shop floor why does it take 6 weeks for most cars to get delivered to the show room once the order is placed?

Key decision makers from different industries, suppliers of automation systems and enterprise solutions, and other stakeholders such as engineering consultants and policy makers deliberated, discussed, shared experiences, and formulated strategies to succeed in these challenging but opportune times. JP Singh, AIA President outlined the strategy being pursued by AIA.

Indian Textile Industry is on the march again and is being looked at as a " Sunrise" industry with tremendous global potential. Few are aware that with US$ 16 Billion of exports and US$ 30 Billion of domestic textile and apparel market in 2005, Indian textile and apparel industry is one of the largest in the world. Process Automation has been at low key in the Textile Industry of the past. But, now with globalization and competition, process automation is emerging as a Key enabler for the success of the Indian Textile Industry.

In order to create greater awareness of benefits of process automation, AIA organized a one-day seminar at Ahmedabad- one of the leading textile centres in India. AIAs initiative was backed with the support of the Key Industry Associations, TAI, CITI, TMMAI, ITAMMA, leading Industry Captains, Consultants and R&D Houses. 

Over 100 delegates from various Textile Companies, Automation and Machine experts and policy influencers attended this Seminar and benefitted from the extensive experience, learning and discussions. 

Delivering the keynote address, Shri Shekhar Aggarwal, Chairman, CITI, said "The Indian Textile Industry should not under-estimate the magnitude of the challenge posed by global competition. For one thing, replacing the existing machines with machinery incorporating state-of–the-art Control, Instrumentation and Automation systems will require huge investments. Cost- effective solutions would need to be devised for the industry to survive in the face of globalization. Replacing existing production machinery with microprocessor based electronic systems may help in achieving the desired level of automation at affordable costs." 

Speaking at the inaugural session, the chief guest, Shri Nayan Parikh, Convenor Textile Panel, CII, Gujarat stressed on the need to communicate tangible benefits of automation. AIA President Shri JP Singh announced that it will facilitate any "Automation related Action Group" that supports and sustains a concerted initiative to make Indian Textile Industry more productive and value driven.

Program Details

At Food Tech 2006, a symposium organized by Automation Industry Association of India (AIA), leading Indian and international experts from the Food & Beverage sector and Automation specialists emphasized the increasing role of Industrial Automation technologies in helping Indian companies raise standards and become more globally competitive.

Calling for 'early adoption', to cater to the burgeoning domestic middle class and a growing export requirement, the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Subodh Kant Sahai, commented, "The relevance of Food Tech 2006 needs to be viewed in the light of enormous opportunity that global technology provides to India's food processing industry." He stressed on the need to move fast in adopting technologies. 

In his opening remarks, J.P. Singh, President AIA said, "The Food & Beverage Industry has been declared as a 'priority sector' and is amongst the fastest growing sectors in India today. Given the enormous demand potential, changing socio-cultural complexion and inherent agricultural strengths of India, the food & beverage industry has a golden opportunity to leverage automation technologies and attain global standards. As bigger players optimize economies of scale it is equally important for small scale sector to adopt modern technologies in order to attain better quality standards and establish a strong imprint of Brand India." 

The event attracted 100 delegates. The deliberations brought out the important role automation technologies play in enhancing quality, productivity, safety and consistency. Presentations from industry leaders and users of Automation technologies, such as Nestle, NDDB, KRBL, HLL, UB and EID Parry highlighted value of industrial automation to manufacturers of Milk, Milk Products, Rice, Beverages, Sugar and other food items. AIA welcomes your suggestions for partnership in enhancing the competitiveness of the Food Processing Industry.

Program Details

Automation to ensure Global Compliance on Quality by P L Kaul, President, All India Food Processors Association

Leveraging automation to enhance brand value in a global economy by Laxman Bhargava, Sr VP, United Breweries

Business impact through Automation - the strategic equation by Krishna Mohan, Plant Head, HLL Foods

Intelligent sensing - key to Quality Production by VK Ghoda, GM - Dairy Plant, Kaira District Co-operative

Process Management for higher Yield and improved Quality by Ashok Chand, CEO, KRBL Rice Mill

Tech Session 1 - Automation trends in Breweries by Claude Pfeiffer, Manager (F&B Competence Centre), Siemens, Germany

Tech Session 2 - Processed Foods Safety - Tracking & Tracing solutions by Divya Prakash, Leader Food Industry Applications, Rockwell Automation, USA

Tech Session 3 - Real-time integration to manage plant performance by Sathi Kannan, Regional Mgr(Advanced Solutions), Emerson, Singapore

Role of Automation to meet global competition in the Sugar Industry by JJ Bhagat, Mission Director, Sugar Technology Mission

Business impact through Automation - the Sweet experience by M.Murugesan, General Manager, EID Parry

Leveraging Automation for global acceptance by Rakesh Verma, Chief Engineer, South Asia, Nestle

The first of these is planned on the Pulp & Paper industry. Paper Tech 2005 is scheduled for Monday 11th July 2005 at Taj Krishna, Hyderabad. The forum will provide a common platform for information and knowledge sharing on the development and deployment of automation technologies across users, consultants and technology providers.

The event showcased the latest trends and global best practices across the paper industry, regardless of the size or scale of operation. Industry leaders shared their experiences of how automation technologies are playing a key role in their premier organizations and contributing to their success stories and future vision. The technical sessions were 'vendor neutral' and focussed on industry specific challenges like optimization, leveraging automation, quality control and energy efficiency.

Program Details

Increasing Relevance of Automation in the Indian Paper Industry by Pradeep Dhobale, Chief Executive (Papers Division), ITC Ltd.

Market Overview - Indian Paper Sector by Kasi Vishwanathan, President (Operations), Seshasayee Paper & Boards Ltd

Tech Session 1 - Leveraging Automation by Ajay Kumar, Regional Director, Rockwell

Tech Session 2 - Optimization by Ashish Gaikwad, Honeywell

Tech Session 3 - Quality Control by Hakan Nytorp, ABB

Tech Session 4 - VFD by Chirag Shah, L&T

Benefits of Automation The JK experience by OP Goyal, Director, JK Paper

Case Study Benefits of Digester Automation by CN Sudarshan, Chief Manager, Seshasayee Paper & Boards

An OEM perspective by CS Panigrahi, CEO, Voith Ltd.

Case Study QCS experience by Victor Anandaraj, Manager, TNPL

Plenary Address – Leveraging automation for higher productivity and efficiency by RR Vederah, Joint MD, BILT

AIA organised Metal Tech 2005

As India integrates itself with the world economy, Indian industry is also in the process of transcending geographical borders and fast coming to terms with the fact that 'factor advantages' are only one part of the story. The 'real and sustainable' advantage to earn a place in the international arena will be 'competitiveness' in the form of a 'complete value proposition'. This proposition encompasses several key parameters including price, quality, productivity, efficiency, aesthetics, delivery systems etc. State-of-the-art automation technologies have a vital role to play in enabling these.

Metals & Minerals is among the fastest growing sectors in India today. Along with new capacities and expansions, there is an increasing focus on productivity and efficiency. In keeping with its primary mission of increasing knowledge and awareness levels and helping Indian industry to leverage cutting-edge automation technologies, AIA organised Metal Tech 2005, as part of its series of industry-specific seminars. 

The forum provided a common platform for information and knowledge-sharing on the development and deployment of automation technologies and showcased the latest trends and global practices across the Metals & Minerals sector. Industry leaders shared their experiences on how technologies are playing a key role in their premier organisations, contributing to their success and guiding their future vision. Technology providers presented some of the latest technologies on offer and delegates got an opportunity to listen to the OEM and consultant perspective as well.

Increasing Relevance of Automation in the Indian Metal Industry by Dr. B.N. Singh, JMD & CEO, JSW Steel

Benefits of Automation - the Aluminium experience by A. Ray, Director, NALCO

Leveraging Automation in Steel production by D Sengupta, Vice-President, Tata Steel Ltd.

Technological Developments in Cold Rolling Mills by S Avhad, General Manager, Flat Products Equipments Ltd.

Enhancing Efficiency & Productivity by Helmut Langlotz, ABB, Germany

Automation for Non-ferrous Metals by Neil Freeman, Global Consultant, Honeywell - USA

Using Real-time Performance Mgt. Systems by Abraham Samson, Head, Engg and Software Systems, Larsen & Toubro

A consultant's view point by G K Jha, Director, MN Dastur & Co

Automation benefits for a mid-size metal producer by O P Gupta, President, Project & Engg Services, Usha Martin Ltd.

An OEM Perspective by Dr. Michael Jansen, SMS Demag Germany

Benefits of Automation - on the tin trail by B L Raina, Managing Director, Tinplate Co. of India Ltd.