Automated Indica

By OEM Update Editorial September 10, 2019 4:17 pm IST

Today, it has become an impending requirement to increase the speed and timely upgradation of the systems. Automation, caters to every single aspect of that. Here, we have a detailed analysis by the industry peeps discussing how automation is catering the various mainstream manufacturing sectors of India.

There are lot of automation happening in the manufacturing and production. It is more to do with the level of qualities, accuracy and attaining consistency in the quality of delivery, which can largely be achieved through automation.

Defence sector
Automation is more about infusing high-end technologies, delivering quality products and bringing consistency in quality of delivery. Hence, automation is essential in production, including defence production. Sharadhi Babu, Chief Executive Officer, AXISCADES says, “In defence, automation has a different relevance. High quality production is the basic essential requirement, in defence production and procurement, including the recognisation, robustness, quality and reliability. These essential points become more predictable in automation.”Predictability ensures the life of equipment in the defence environment and helps to operate and sustain even in harsh environments. In defence systems, accuracy is very crucial and their limitations are very tolerant as it requires high precision.

However, T K Ramesh, MD and CEO, Micromatic Machine Tools has a slightly different opinion that automation hasn’t been completely applied into the sector. He says, “Our approach so far has been like any other public sector which is dual purpose; one is of employment, which is definitely important and must be done.” Whether it is rifle factories or gun shell factories, it has yet not achieved automation; maybe some industries like HAL, BEL are using some automation, but automation is still spreading very slow in defence sector.

On the other hand, automation can be operated in unmanned Ariel vehicle, with no human control; it can either be remote controlled or completely automated. Babu says, “Earlier, we had remotely piloted vehicles, now unmanned and remotely piloted vehicles can be automated. Here, we completely plan and execute the mission without any human intervention.” Automation in defence, allows a drone or an EAV to take off or pilot a mission on its own; right from diving them into the mission and make a return successfully.

By going automated, Ramesh clarifies that he doesn’t mean reduction in labour, but to implement visibility into processes and technology and connecting processes automatically, so that it empowers people. He says, “We definitely require people at the end of the day. Automation must not result into minimising the human workforce, but embedding and enabling them to make better decision about utilisation of machineries and technologies.”

Food & beverage industry
Ninad Deshpande, Business Head, B&R Automation says that they are witnessing a growth in manufacturing and industrial sectors with a focus shifting from cost-sensitivity to quality, performance, flexibility and connectivity. He further says, “The pursuit of a balance between the conflicting goals of flexibility and cost-effectiveness is making the food and beverage industry one of the most innovation-driven around.” Some of the big brands in this industry are already looking for production solutions that allow high availability coupled with maximum flexibility and human-friendly operation.

The adoption has happened more at the mid and large level industries. The small and micro industries are yet to adopt it on a large scale. According to Indraneel Chitale, Partner, Chitale Group, Indian F&B sector is not lagging behind in the race. He says “In other manufacturing industries, where the product manufactured is not always the end product, but it is more of a component in a larger scheme of things, profitability is always low and unless measures are taken to focus on bottom lines, OEE, cycle times etc.realising complete potential is not possible.”

Anil Bhatia Vice President and Managing Director, Emerson Automation Solutions – India has a different stand all the same. Highlighting the amount of business pressure into the F&B industry, he says that F&B businesses are ought to ensure being profitable and work with a tight budget. He further says, “F&B has been lagging behind due to the assumed high initial cost of adopting automation and IIoT. However, it is important to understand the extremely high return on investment automation offers, providing countless opportunities and competitive advantage for food and beverage manufacturers.”

The demand for processed products has been historically low but with the upward trend in disposable income, there is an increasing demand for premium products. RanjithMukundan, Managing Director, Stellapps Technologies says, “The lack of awareness about the benefits of IoT and automation, coupled with the absence of significant market pull for quality products has made the dairy industry lag behind in the automation race.” But, the increasing technology awareness and demand for value-added products from consumers are expected to level the playing field.

Power sector
Automation in the Indian power sector is a fairly recent development. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power says, “While automation at the generation end of the business has been around for some time now; the same at the transmission and distribution i.e. the consumer end is just about picking pace in India.” To begin with, automation improves the efficiency of generating assets. Improved asset performance basically means better use of assets that translates to more reliable services to customers and improved financial numbers too. That is one part of the story.

According to Sinha the demand-side management in the power industry has seen vast improvement since they got to understand customers better through data. For example, through automation (digital), utilities will be able to match demand and supply better, thereby not only avoiding wastage but also becoming a powerful tool to reduce emissions, thus becoming environmentally more sustainable.

Technological advancements and innovations driven by rapid electrification, expansion of renewables and digitalisation of the grid are transforming the power sector. The entire business model of utilities is evolving rapidly and state-of-art technologies are gradually making inroads in the Indian power sector as well.Bhatia of Emerson Automation Solutions –India which caters to the power sector, says, “Electrical power generating facilities are having to change the way they operate due to the increasing amounts of intermittent renewable energy being added to the grid.” More startup and shutdown cycles are now required to manage the constantly shifting energy supply to the grid.

If we talk about the power generation, there are large power plants using variable frequency drives with distributed control system. If you look at the distribution point, the sub-stations automation plays a very crucial role in the overall efficiency of the power distribution. Various automation players are also engaged at the distribution level offering solutions to consumers in the power conditioning space. Manish Walia, Business Head- Industrial Automation Business Group, Delta Electronics India Pvt Ltd. says, “In this domain, Delta provides variable frequency drives, control solutions, and power conditioning solutions which helps in increasing the efficiency of the existing plants, and upgrading the overall process. Delta Industrial Automation is one of the leading companies in providing solar pump controller solutions to deliver drinking water as well as water for livestock or irrigation purposes by using renewable energy and power which helps in reducing the over stressed load on grid supply. We also contribute in power sector by providing solutions for pumps and fans along with integrating the overall plant process.”

Textile industry
Modernisation has touched every industry. Textile industry is no exception! Even though decade old machines and processes are still in use, industrial IoT is gaining rapid traction in the textile sector. Deshpande of B&R Automation, which caters to the textile industry says, “Automation provides the apt platform for the primarily manual and semi-automatic industry to become automated and meet growing consumer demands. Moreover, advanced automation and digitalisation solutions represent great opportunities to increase competitiveness in manufacturing.” Increasing connectivity across machines and factories promises improvement in production, productivity, efficiency, inventory management and waste reduction.

Textile manufacturing or production is complex, starting from fibre to finished products. A textile factory includes various machines such as spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, finishing and finally garment manufacturing. Being a continuous process, any unplanned stoppage impacts productivity and profitability. Automated inspection systems have been introduced at various stages for evaluating the quality of yarn or fabric, thus increasing textile quality.

Packaging industry
Adoption of automation and digitalisation platforms will revolutionise the packaging industry. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is a way of extending the shelf life of fresh food products. The technology substitutes the atmospheric air inside a package with a protective gas mix such as CO2. The gas in the package helps ensure that the product will stay fresh for as long as possible and to maintain visual, textural and nutritional appeal.

The controlled MAP environment enables food packaging to provide an extended shelf life without requiring the addition of chemical preservatives or stabilizers. Bhatia says, “Technology interventions can optimise processes in the packing industry. For example, Emerson’s Cascade™ CT4215 Leak Detection System, used on modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) lines to manage the removal of defective packages, even the ones smaller than 0.2 mm diameter, at high speed in real time.”

In the fast-paced packaging industry, most machines and factories are automated enabling higher productivity and throughput. However, today we are on the cusp of a new era, where electronics and software will once again change the way we think about industrial process implementation and development.Deshpande of B&R Automation, which catersto the packaging industry,says, “Consumers are demanding personalised or individualised products, which are driving demands for shorter runs and faster turnaround times in packaging industry leading to targeted marketing campaigns.” As lifestyles are improving, consumer demands for products quality too have exponentially increased, which has added a greater emphasis on constant product inspection throughout the entire packaging process ensuring an unprecedented level of product security as a basis for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) calculation.

Owing to its close interface with FMCG, food n beverage and pharma industry, ‘safety and reliability’ play a crucial role in the packaging industry. Sameer Gandhi, MD, Omron Automation, India says, “Automation is the key to not only ensure the same and at the same time bring significant value additions, it is one of the most dynamic and demanding target industries for an automation player owing to the varied performance indicators and challenges which are not possible to resolve without utilising automation solutions.”. There is also a stringent requirement of complying with industry regulations, combatting counterfeiting and promoting ethical sourcing and minimising the impact of recalls. Integrated automation and digitalisation are enablingmass customisation, increased production flexibility, higher product quality, reduced downtime, minimised wastage and more efficient line integration without compromising productivity, availability and OEE. Various digitisation solutions areenablers for big data analytics and diagnostics, whichare enhancing maintenance techniques, resulting in improved production with zero defects, zero breakdowns and zero accidents.