alfaTKG & IISc Will Jointly Drive Industry 4.0 among Indian Manufacturing Companies

alfaTKG Co Ltd, a leading Japanese manufacturing firm has signed a joint agreement with the Indian Institute of Science to take Industry 4.0 forward as part of the Make in India campaign. The Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) along with alfaTKG are interested in playing a role of a catalyst by joining hands with manufacturing industries in establishing a full-fledged ICT system and benefit from Industry 4.0.

With the advent of Industry 4.0, there is a revival in the strategy adopted by manufacturing industries, said Toshio Takagi, president of AlfaTKG Co Ltd, here on Tuesday. At a technical seminar on 'Mini Industry 4.0', Takagi spoke on how Industry 4.0 would transform Small and Medium Enterprises. "The concept of Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution was initialised in Germany and Japan is currently formalising it," he said. Due to Industry 4.0 and various technologies associated with it, companies will be able to take customisation to the next level, by meeting all the specifications sought by a consumer, he said. Implementing intelligent manufacturing practices, such as computer-operated manufacturing will ensure a reduction in preparation time, reduce defects and increase productivity, he adds.

Prof Kota Harinarayana, professor of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, noted that Industry 4.0 has been fuelled by an exponential decrease in the cost of sensors, reduction in computing cost, developments in cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The fourth industrial revolution is important to India, especially when the country is trying to transform itself to a manufacturing hub, he said. The revolution is based on cyber physical systems and will be a crucial driver of economy in the future.

He said adopting Industry 4.0 measures will ensure asset utilisation, employee productivity, supply chain and logistics, and customer experience. During the seminar, experts delved on various topics related to Industry 4.0. Need to invest in skill and technology development as well as R&D facilities in India and the potential for Indian IT firms to contribute towards Industry 4.0 was also discussed at length during the seminar.