India should drive innovation in industrial automation

June 29, 2016 3:27 pm

The manufacturing industry in India is reimaging its work place and entire ecosystem with computing inside.  The IIoT is the next wave of innovation and in India; IIoT will enable transformation of nearly all industries.Rajarshi Datta, Sales Director, Honeywell Process Solutions (India)
  India’s manufacturing sector is on a high growth trajectory. Prime minister launched the ‘Make in India’ program to place India on the world map as a manufacturing hub and give global recognition to the Indian economy. The campaign, has made an impact on the investment climate of the country, the growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) has been significant after the launch of ‘Make in India’ initiatives.
In an exclusive interaction with OEM Update, Rajarshi Datta, Sales Director of Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS), India talks about the ‘Make in India’ initiative and the direction that India’s manufacturing sector is heading towards. In his conversation, he discusses the emerging trends in automation technologies; the challenges before the sector and the future of industrial automation.
Indian manufacturing sector has lot of potentialIndia’s manufacturing sector has the potential to touch $ 1 trillion by 2025. If India is to achieve its goals of increasing manufacturing output to 25 per cent of GDP and create up to 90 million domestic jobs by 2025, India will have to go further and drive innovation in the field of industrial automation. To accelerate efficiency and productivity, manufacturers will need to invest in energy efficient technologies and automation solutions and processes.
There is strong potential in the Indian industrial automation market especially in industries like oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical industries which are expected to see good growth. HPS, one of the pioneers in automation control is focused on utilising these trends to deliver tangible results for customers like transforming data into meaningful information, virtualisation, remote collaboration, wireless connectivity as well as cyber security.
Industrial Internet is the next industrial revolution Changing demographics, increasing connectivity, and the need for real-time insights are transforming the process and discrete manufacturing industries. Industrial Internet is the next industrial revolution for the 21st century. In this industrial system all processes such as product design, manufacturing, services and refurbishment are completely integrated and will exchange information in real time. This revolution will transform the manufacturing processes in sync with the speed of change in customer needs – which implies, making the production process flexible without taking excess time.
The manufacturing industry in India is reimaging its work place and entire ecosystem with computing inside.  The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the next wave of innovation and in India; IIoT will enable transformation of nearly all industries. A connected enterprise significantly enhances decision making, increases security and productivity as well as improves overall collaboration across the enterprise by providing the right information at the right time, to help optimise operations. As India progresses in its pursuit to become one of the preferred manufacturing destinations, current practices have to make way for adoption of ‘everything smart’.
Honeywell recently announced its new digital transformation business unit within HPS, focused on technologies and industrial solutions to help manufacturers harness IIoT.
Among Honeywell’s leading technologies that help operators prioritise and manage a growing amount of operational data are DynAMo alarm and operations management; Industrial Cyber Security Risk Manager, which proactively monitors and manages cyber risk for industrial environments; Assurance 360, a multi-year cooperative service arrangement to maintain, support and optimise the performance of Honeywell control systems; and most recently, Honeywell Pulse, a mobility app that allows plant managers to easily monitor real-time operations from a smartphone.
Abundant opportunitiesWhen an economy is growing fast, opportunities are abundant and India’s positive investment climate and vast consumer markets has led to a decade of phenomenal growth. India is a long-term opportunity that will continue to get bigger and better. There will be ups and downs but, overall, the long-term trend is upward.
There is a strong potential for growth in the Indian industrial automation market. Investing in intelligent automation and control systems to optimise manufacturing, plant optimisation, and control and process monitoring systems, is the way forward for the Indian manufacturing industry. In this increasingly competitive and globalised environment, India continues to experience inertia in keeping up with global trends or in adopting new technological innovations.Competition compels to adopt advanced automation solutions The automation industry, in any country, is directly related to the growth of the manufacturing sector. It is further boosted with the desire to produce better products. Competition among the manufacturers compels them to adopt advanced automation solutions as they want to excel in their operations by producing optimum quality products in large number with less human intervention. In India, many companies were not willing to expand their facilities till last year and it was affecting the automation industry to some extent. However, the scenario is likely to change in the near future. Both these elements – a strong manufacturing industry and the desire to produce the best, will pave the way for the automation sector in India. Safety and sustainability are the other two components.
Managing safety and security, and maintaining plant efficiency are some challenges. To achieve higher levels of plant safety, a comprehensive and integrated approach to safety is necessary. Plants and refineries use Honeywell’s safety instrumented system (SIS) platform, Safety Manager, to safeguard their assets and share critical safety information with process control systems. This system helps them prevent and mitigate safety incidents by protecting equipment, monitoring for fire and gas leaks, and maintaining critical control functions. The company offers customers a comprehensive set of technologies like surveillance, alarm management and consulting capabilities that allow them to meet key security objectives.Process industries, today, are also focusing on driving down costs, maximising production and improving availability. Honeywell’s suite of advanced solutions helps to increase throughput of a plant, increase yields of valuable products and lower cost of production with existing resources.
Honeywell’s contribution towards ‘Make in India’‘Make in India’ is at the heart of Honeywell’s strategy in the country. Honeywell India employs close to 15,000 employees to deliver innovative technologies that help customers improve energy efficiency, safety, security, and productivity, all of which are key imperatives for India. Honeywell and its employees are creating solutions and technologies in India, for India, and for the rest of the world.
Honeywell has a significant ‘Make in India’ footprint with seven manufacturing facilities in Chennai, Dehradun, Gurgaon, Pune, and Vadodara, and five technology and engineering centres in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, and Madurai.
Overall Honeywell has an extensive customer base in verticals including oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical industries, power, mining, minerals, paper and pulp, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, mining, infrastructure, IT/ITeS, telecom, banking, healthcare, hospitality, automobiles, defence, aerospace, transportation, and the residential sector. Honeywell’s contribution to the ‘Make in India’ story has been one of constant growth and commitment.