Industry 4.0: The Future of Indo-German Industrial Collaboration

Industry 4.0 can be described as the fourth industrial revolution, a mega- trend that affects every company around the world. It envisions interconnections and collaboration between people, products and machines within and across enterprises. Why does Industry 4.0 make for an excellent platform for industrial collaboration between India and Germany? The answers lie in economic as well as social factors. Both countries have strengths and weakness and strategic collaboration using the principles of Industry 4.0 can help both increase their industrial output, GDP and make optimal use of human resources. As a global heavy weight in manufacturing and machine export, Germany has a leading position in the development and deployment of Industry 4.0 concepts and technology. However, its IT sector, formed by a labor force of 800,000 employees, is not enough. It needs more professionals to reach its full potential. India, on the other hand, is a global leader in IT and business process outsourcing. But its manufacturing industry needs to grow significantly and compete globally. These realities clearly show the need for Industry 4.0-based collaboration between Germany and India. So how does Industry 4.0 work? In a first step, we look at the technical pers- pective – the vertical and horizontal integration of Industry 4.0 principles in enterprises. Vertical integration refers to operations within Smart Factories and horizontal integration to Smart Supply Chains across businesses. In the second step, we look at manufacturing, chemical industry and the IT sector as potential targets for collaboration between the two countries. We use case studies to illustrate the benefits of the deployment of Industry 4.0. Potential collaboration patterns are discussed along different forms of value chains and along companies’ ability to achieve Industry 4.0 status. We analyse the social impact of Industry 4.0 on India and Germany and find that it works very well in the coming years. Germany with its dwindling labor force might be compensated through the automation. This will ensure continued high productivity levels and rise in GDP. India, on the other hand has a burgeoning labor market, with 10 million workers annually entering the job market. Given that the manufacturing sector will be at par with Europe in efficiency and costs by 2023, pressure on India’s labor force will increase even more. Even its robust IT sector will suffer fewer hires because of increased automation. Rapid development of technologies – for the Internet of Things (IoT) or for connectivity like Low-Power WAN – makes skilling and reskilling of the labor force critical for augmenting smart manufacturing. India and Germany have been collaborating at three levels relevant to Industry 4.0 – industry, government and academics. How can these be taken forward? The two countries have a long history of trade. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) is the largest such chamber in India and the largest German chamber worldwide. VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), the largest industry association in Europe, maintains offices in India. Indian key players in IT, in turn, have subsidia- ries in Germany and cooperate with German companies in the area of Industry 4.0. Collaboration is also supported on governmental level. As government initiatives go, India has launched the “Make in India” initiative and the “Make in India Mittelstand! (MIIM)” programme as a part of it. The Indian Government is also supporting “smart manufacturing” initiatives in a major way. Centers of Excellence driven by the industry and academic bodies are being set up. Germany and India have a long tradition of research collaboration as well. Germany is the second scientific collaborator of India and Indian students form the third largest group of foreign students in Germany. German institutions like the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH) are working to strengthen ties between the scientific communities of the two countries, and between their academia and industry. What prevents Industry 4.0 from becoming a more widely used technology? Recent surveys in Germany and India show that awareness about Industry 4.0 is still low, especially among small and medium manufacturing enterprises. IT companies, on the other hand, are better prepared. There is a broad demand for support, regarding customtailored solutions, information on case studies and the willingness to participate in Industry 4.0 pilot projects and to engage in its platform and networking activities. We also found similar responses at workshops conducted with Industry 4.0 stakehold- ers in June 2017 in Bangalore and Pune and in an online survey. What can be done to change this? Both countries should strengthen their efforts to create awareness for Industry 4.0, especially among small and medium enterprises. Germany should also put more emphasis on making their Industry 4.0 technology known to the Indian market. India’s IT giants, on the other hand, should make their Industry 4.0 offers more visible to the German market. The governments should support the establishing of joint Industry 4.0 collaboration platforms, centers of excellence and incubators to ease the dissemination of knowledge and technology. On academic level, joint research programs and exchange programs should be set up to foster the skilling of labor force in the deployment of Industry 4.0 methods and technologies

Sociotechnical Implementation of Prescriptive Maintenance for Onshore Wind Turbines

Electricity generated by wind turbines (WT) is a mainstay of the transition to renewable energy. In order to economically utilize WT is, operating and maintenance costs, which account for 25% of total electricity generation costs in onshore WT’s, are a focus of cost reduction activities. Implementing a data-driven prescriptive maintenance approach is one way to achieve this. So far, various approaches for prescriptive maintenance for onshore WT’s have been suggested. However, little research has addressed the practical implementation considering sociotechnical aspects. The aim of this paper is therefore to identify success factors for the successful implementation of such a maintenance strategy with clear and holistic guidance on how existing knowledge on prescriptive maintenance from science can be transferred to business practice. These recommendations are developed through case study research and classified in the four structural areas of Acatech’s Industry 4.0 Maturity Index: Resources, Information Systems, Organizational Structure and Culture

Towards a Framework for Smart Manufacturing adoption in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Smart Manufacturing (SM) paradigm adoption can scale production with demand without compromising on the time for order fulfillment. A smart manufacturing system (SMS) is vertically and horizontally connected, and thus it can minimize the chances of miscommunication. Employees in an SME are aware of the operational requirements and their responsibilities. The machine schedules are prepared based on the tasks a machine must perform. Predictive maintenance reduces the downtime of machines. Design software optimizes the product design. Production feasibility is checked with the help of simulation. The concepts of product life cycle management are considered for waste reduction. Employee safety, and ergonomics, identifying new business opportunities and markets, focus on employee education and skill enhancement are some of the other advantages of SM paradigm adoption. This dissertation develops an SM paradigm adoption framework for manufacturing SMEs by employing the instrumental research approach. The first step in the framework identified the technical aspects of SM, and this step was followed by identifying the research gaps in the suggested methods (in literature) and managerial aspects for adopting SM paradigm. The technical and the managerial aspects were integrated into a toolkit for manufacturing SMEs. This toolkit contains seven modular toolboxes that can be installed in five levels, depending on an SME’s readiness towards SM. The framework proposed in this dissertation focuses on how an SME’s readiness can be assessed and based on its present readiness what tools and practices the SMEs need to have to realize their tailored vision of SM. The framework was validated with the help of two SMEs cases that have recently adopted SM practices

Maturity SCAN 4.0 - An analysis and discussion of results from the scanning of digital capabilities adopted in Argentinian CPG companies

Industry 4.0 is a new dynamic paradigm for manufacturing companies, being studied by academia and evolving at the same time as companies are trying to leverage its potentials. Readiness and maturity models have been developed to assess Industry 4.0 adoption, diagnose the current state of companies regarding digital transformation and help them understand how to move from the current situation to a desirable future one. However, these models are generic, based on general principles of Industry 4.0 and do not consider the particular challenges and potentials of each industry and company. In practice, the success of Industry 4.0 implementation depends on how companies manage to match the concepts and technologies with specific potentials in the context of their strategy. For this purpose, a study within companies of the same industrial sector is proposed. It serves as first step of "customization" of industry 4.0 concepts to help companies identify their specific benefits. The results of the study within 30 companies in the Consumer Packaged Goods sector in Argentina is presented. It combines the findings from surveys and self-assessments based on a proven maturity model with workshops and semi-structured interviews within a group of managers who are responsible for digital transformation, IT and Operations in their companies. In addition to an initial evaluation of the current Status quo, the analysis focusses on the main challenges and needs of the sector and possible actions to address them

Industry 4.0 and how purchasing can progress and benefit from the fourth industrial revolution

Since its’ announcement in 2011, the number of scientific publications on Industry 4.0 is growing exponentially. Significant investments by industrial firms, at present and planned for the coming years, indicate the expectations by the industry in terms of increased productivity because of the fourth industrial revolution. However, the link between purchasing and Industry 4.0 is largely lacking in scientific literature, despite the high financial impact of procurement for organizations. The fourth industrial revolution – cyber-physical systems with autonomous machine-to-machine communication – could enable several possibilities for purchasing. On the one hand support systems for purchasers are conceived, such as contract analysis software. On the other hand, the scenario of digital negotiations emerges, which could revitalize e- marketplaces. Operative processes can act autonomously, with automated demand identification in cyber-physical systems. In order to support the development of I4.0 strategies in purchasing, this paper further contributes by presenting the result of a project on developing a specific purchasing I4.0 maturity model

A Concept For The Development Of A Maturity Model For The Holistic Assessment Of Lean, Digital, and Sustainable Production Systems

Manufacturing companies today face a volatile environment with a variety of challenges. Particularly, external factors such as the climate change, the digitalization, the material scarcity, or the shortage of skilled workers can be noted. At the same time, these factors are forcing companies to take measures to remain competitive and ensure their production system's future viability. In this context, established paradigms such as Lean Production and Industry 4.0 promise optimization potentials in terms of efficiency, quality, and costs. A new paradigm has gained importance with the emergence of the topic of sustainability, which aims to improve companies' use of resources and the recyclability of their products. However, there is no transparent model that enables companies to assess the status quo of their production system regarding these three paradigms, considering the interdependencies between the paradigms, and at the same time showing the implementation potential of methods or technologies within these paradigms. To support companies in rationalizing, digitalizing, and making their production processes more sustainable, this scientific paper presents a three-stage concept for a holistic maturity model. By providing transparency about the status quo of production systems in terms of Lean Production, digitalization, and sustainability, the model contributes to ensuring the future viability of such production systems in this highly competitive environment and under the political, social, and regulatory challenges

Capabilities of the Intelligent Manufacturing Enterprise

Manufacturing enterprises encounter pressure to digitalize and increase their intelligence as their environments demand improved productivity and agility. Based on existing research on intelligent enterprises, manufacturing enterprises, and data technologies, the authors developed an explanatory model for the derivation of a definition of the intelligent manufacturing enterprise. This paper expands the formerly developed model by presenting the characteristics of the intelligent manufacturing enterprise and the capabilities needed to become such an enterprise

A tool for holistic assessment of digitalization capabilities in manufacturing SMEs

In a constantly evolving global market, manufacturing companies need to be flexible and adaptive to survive. Digital twins of production systems have been proposed as one part of the solution, however this comes with multiple challenges. Manufacturing SMEs have limited resources and need to direct their efforts in this area wisely. This paper presents a tool for holistic assessment of an SME manufacturer\u27s level of digitalization, in order to visualize current gaps and guide digitalization efforts over a production system\u27s life cycle. The tool was empirically developed together with Manufacturing SMEs and has strengthened their digitalization awareness and capabilities