Blue Star Chooses PTC's Thingworx IoT Platform for Industry 4.0 and Advanced Analytics

PTC has announced that Blue Star Limited, India’s leading air conditioning and commercial refrigeration company has selected the ThingWorx IoT Platform from PTC to monitor its factory operations to improve operational efficiency and factory quality.

Blue Star Limited fulfils the cooling requirements of a large number of corporate, commercial as well as residential customers. The Company also offers expertise in allied contracting activities such as electrical, plumbing, fire-fighting and industrial projects, in order to offer turnkey solutions, apart from execution of specialised industrial projects. The Company's mainstay of product development and R&D has been energy efficiency, coupled with eco-friendly and sustainable products.

Blue Star Limited was looking at improving its operational efficiency across its five modern manufacturing facilities in India. After an exhaustive due diligence process, during which various software vendors were evaluated, Blue Star Limited selected ThingWorx IoT Platform for its rapid application enablement, connectivity, machine learning capabilities, augmented reality, and integration with leading device cloud offerings.

Speaking on the partnership with PTC, Suresh Iyer, Chief Information Officer, Blue Star Limited said, “We look forward to a long lasting partnership with PTC through implementation of PTC’s ThingWorx IoT platform. We believe it will accelerate our transformation journey and improve operational efficiency of our factories in the country.” Iyer added, “With an objective to develop and produce products that meet the highest standards that Blue Star Limited is known for amongst customers in India, through PTC’s ThingWorx’s capabilities in IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, we strongly believe that we will be able to meet the highest quality standards in the industry, while also increasing our productivity with reduced product failures and unplanned downtimes, thus reducing our OPEX significantly. We intend to be one of the pioneers in operating smart connected factories in India.”

Kalyan Sridhar, Country Manager, PTC India said, “Blue Star Limited is constantly enhancing and transforming all its factories across India with latest technologies that improve various aspects of a manufacturing unit. With Blue Star Limited being powered by PTC’s ThingWorx IoT Platform, we believe that the company will be able to utilize the latest Industry 4.0 technologies and significantly improve their productivity, innovation, operational efficiency.” Sridhar added, “The major benefit that ThingWorx provides is reduced time to deploy, CAPEX and OPEX. We believe that, by leveraging ThingWorx, Blue Star Limited can deliver more robust solutions & serve their customers with preventive maintenance solutions.”

ThingWorx was purpose-built from the ground up for the Internet of Things. It contains the most complete set of integrated IoT-specific development tools and capabilities available, offering the industry’s deepest functional capabilities.  ThingWorx makes it easy to develop and deliver powerful Enterprise IoT solutions that deliver transformative business value.

·  ThingWorx platform will leverage Industry 4.0 technologies - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies to reduce product failures

·  Reduce downtime caused by unplanned events by sending breaking news alerts of the errors to the proper parties and predict the amount of time until a system fails

·  Improve the quality of products by providing a full digital reporting of products produced

·  Reduce delays in decision making by enabling team members with real-time detailed data and creating dynamic visualizations of the status of production systems

·  Identify trouble spots within the facility by observing real-time data on the factory floor with augmented reality (AR), providing a bird’s eye view

Indus Vox Media and Mpower Launch Series of Podcasts on World Mental Health Day

On account of World Mental Health Day, Indus Vox Media together with Mpower launched a series of podcasts called ‘Place of Mind’ which are tales inspired by everyday experiences of people with mental concerns.

Mental health is a topic that is more often than not, shrouded in stigma and misconception. This causes the topic to be relegated to the periphery of our collective awareness. Through weekly podcasts, ‘Place of Mind’ takes listeners on a journey through the minds of people around us. By sharing lived experiences of people, ‘Place of Mind’ will illustrate how all our lives are connected, how we influence each other, and how every single-story matters. Each week, ‘Place of Mind’ will explore the journey of someone coping with a mental health concern. 

The brainchild of Neerja Birla and Ananya Birla, Mpower endeavours to be the movement to affect change and proactively champion mental health causes, create awareness, advocate prevention and provide services with a professional, holistic and multi-disciplinary approach.

Through the ‘Place of Mind’ series, people will get a unique opportunity to listen and really understand some of the issues that individuals are battling with every single day of their lives. How many of us are actually aware of these people and their experiences? We aren’t sure if the person sitting next to us at work needs help or just needs someone to listen. The need to sensitize the public to these issues and alleviate stigma associated with them is stronger, now more than ever. 

Speaking on the launch of ‘Place of Mind’, Neerja Birla, Chairperson and Co-founder, Mpower, said, “This World Mental Health Day we want everyone to empathize with those who struggle with mental issues. Sometimes, we aren’t even aware of the issues that people around us are going through. With this podcast, we are bringing to life, lived experiences of real people to sensitize everyone about mental health issues. I urge each one of you to play an active role in championing the mental health movement.”

Speaking on the partnership with Mpower, Amit Doshi, Founder, IVM Podcasts, said, “We are very excited about partnering with Mpower on "Place of Mind". We believe podcasts are a great way to discuss difficult issues like Mental Health. Using storytelling as the mechanism for passing on this kind of information is an innovative use of the medium and we are thrilled to work on this new concept.”

The Mpower movement strives to stamp out the stigma associated with mental health concerns. Every single day, people come to Mpower to find a safe space, to share their stories, and to find help. Along the way, Mpower hears the experiences of people managing their mental health issues. We see how these concerns impact the individual as well as the people around them, and how these ordinary men, women, and children learn to cope with mental health issues with our help.

Escort’s New Products Displayed at IREE 2017 for Safer Rail Travel

Living up to its role of a leading partner to the Indian Railways, Escorts has developed a series of new products to make rail travel safe and faster. The new products include anti lift AARH Couplers, Axle Mounted Disc Brakes, Brake Disc for high speed LHB coaches, Locomotive Brake Electronics for both Electric and Diesel Locomotives, High end Dampers for Locomotives and LHB coaches besides Air Springs. This will be aligned to modernization of infrastructure, focus on safety and enhancing the experience of traveling by train.

The new products were showcased during the two-day International Railway Equipment Exhibition (IREE) 2017, which opened at the Pragati Maidan in the National Capital today. The portfolio displayed is the outcome of its multi-dimensional product strategy with a mix of in-house R&D and Global Technology collaborations.

Escorts recently achieved the coveted International Railway Industry Standards (IRIS) certification for Design Development & Manufacturing. It aims to contribute to the Make In India program through massive import substitution by offering frugal and value engineering products with its deep inhouse R&D. The company further intends to infuse capital to build the latest cutting-edge products through partnerships with leading Global Railway Component majors.

Dipankar Ghosh, CEO, Escorts Railway Equipment Division (RED), said, with the government focus on safer railway operations and the huge investments planned, a big paradigm shift for the technology is on the anvil.  We see a huge potential in the modernization drive of the Railways in country for Railway Component manufacturers like us. Our endeavor to make the best in India and offer India’s best to the world has also helped us identify potential markets in South-East Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and some African countries.”

Escorts Railway Equipment Division (RED), a division of the Escorts Group, is the supplier of new products like Locomotive Brake Electronics, Loco Dampers Axle Mounted Disc Brakes, Brake Disc and LHB Dampers, besides critical railway products like brake systems, couplers, suspension systems and Rubber and Friction Products in the past. Since 1962, the company has been a reliable partner of Indian Railways throughout its journey of modernization. Escorts has a presence in almost all the rolling stock segments of Passenger Coach, Locomotive, Wagons, EMUs and Metro. Escorts Railway Products are certified to ISO 9001:2008 and its products conform to Indian standards such as RDSO as well as international standards such as UIC and AAR, besides having achieved the IRIS certification.

The Escorts Group is among India's leading engineering conglomerates, operating in the high-growth sectors of Agri Machinery, Material Handling, Construction Equipment and Railway Equipment. The Group has earned the trust of over 5 million customers by way of product and process innovations over seven decades of its existence. Escorts endeavours to transform lives in rural and urban India by leading the revolution in agricultural mechanization, modernization of railway technology and transformation of Indian construction.

India will Increase its Data Infrastructure Investment at a Faster Rate of 19.6% CAGR Compared to the Global Average of 6.4%

Local & International speakers will discuss The Future of Digital Infrastructure Industry at The Enterprise Datacenter Transformation Event: DCD Enterprise > in Mumbai on November 9, 2017. 

The much-awaited DCD Enterprise > Mumbai Annual Conference is set to welcome 350 senior IT professionals as well as 20 exhibitors and 20 speakers on the 9th of November. Designed to showcase the latest innovations, covering the full ecosystem for how enterprise data centers are being re-defined and how the economics of digital business, IT and data center service delivery is being re-shaped. As the IoT, Big Data and Clouds drive the industry forward, DCD>Enterprise is about not forgetting the engine.

Key findings and panel topics include: 

·  Accelerating Digital Transformation in India: The Future of Innovation and Building Smart Infrastructure Systems for the Digital Age. Research conducted by DCD indicates that from 2016 to 2020 the proportion of India’s IT footprint kept ‘on premises’ will drop from 57% to 43% in line with most maturing markets. Over the same period, colocation will increase its share from 18% to 21%, public cloud from 11% to 21% and other outsourcing environments from 14% to 15%

·  Technology Industry Outlook 2017: Insight on growth opportunities and challenges with digital infrastructure in India: The increase in investment in data infrastructure will increase at a faster rate in India (19.6% CAGR between 2014 and 2020) than the global average (6.4%). The asset base needed to achieve this across the time period will also increase (by 11.5% CAGR) compared to the global CAGR of 3.6%. There are a number of key drivers for this rate of increase –meeting the expectations of a growing population which is young, increasingly IT-literate and eager to be part of a digital world. Like other maturing markets, India does not have to follow the path of the established IT world. Its companies can move straight into using the different data housing and processing options now available here rather than the established path of starting on=premises and then migrating 

·  Emerging Trends Shaping the Data Center of the Future: While the proportion of IT work kept in-house will be eroded, especially by cloud and outsourcing, there will always be a role for the ‘in-house’ data center. Learning’s from how the very large global players design and operate their data centers can be applied to smaller facilities once the business case for so doing is established. Concerns about the reliability of the grid will add to pressures on efficiency, while edge processing has established a foothold in India and this will shape the requirements of devices and facilities to drive future consumer and business IT capabilities

The program is geared towards C-Level executives, senior managers, department heads as well as technical, operational and other specialist staff within end-user, colocation, cloud and IT service provider companies.

The day will include 18 sessions across 2 halls from 8am to 5pm, including case studies, thought leadership presentations, hour-long participatory panels, as well as technical break-out sessions and thought labs. Displays and demonstration will be available in the adjacent Exhibition Hall.

Sessions will include coverage of Software Defined Infrastructure, Big Data & IOT, Power usage efficiency, Datacenter Modernization, new services and providers arriving in India, and the evolving hyper-converged and automated data center. 

Keynote Confirmed speakers include Sayed Peerzade – Group CIO of Reliance Big Entertainment, Shiv Kumar Bhasin- Chief Technology Officer of State Bank Of India, Satish Pendse- Group CIO of HCC Limited, Keyur Desai- Chief Information Officer of Essar Oil, Bhavesh Lakhani-Chief Technology Officer of DSP Group, James Wilman- Chief Executive Officer of Future- Tech, Suresh Shan- Head of BITS of Mahindra Finance, Lalit Popli-Head IT of ICICI Prudential AMC and many more.

Diminishing Real Estate Returns are Driving Diversification and Risk: RICS’ Trillion Dollar Risk Forum

Ten years on from the global financial crisis, RICS’ Real Estate Investment Risk Forum (IRF) challenges the industry to learn from the lessons of the past, as market dynamics create growing appetite for risk.

The report comes as compressed yields and new all-time highs for real estate investment volumes^, entice investors up the risk curve in a bid for greater returns.

Since the last downturn, material changes in the way that risk is managed have ensured the sector is better placed to weather complex and volatile markets. However, new research released today by the IRF highlights there is yet more to be done, with:

· Over half (57%) of investors citing style drift away from traditional investment strategy

· The same proportion, (over half - 57%), saying that their risk management processes are primarily driven by performance, but that nearly a quarter (24%) are driven by compliance

· 90% of respondents believe the industry’s approach to risk management has improved since the GFC

With changes to occupier habits, technology, and some major markets now trading on yields well below historic averages and, in some cases, close to all-time lows, respondents see investment moving away from traditional portfolios. More broadly, the sector is faced with automation.  Investors have been working hard to build resilience in the face of these new developments and disruptive change. 

With some investors believing that we’re nearing the top of the cycle, several are moving further up the risk chain. The 2007/8 Global Financial Crisis remains in the minds of investment managers, prompting an increased focus on risk management over the last ten years. However, investors are balancing this with a need to achieve returns. With some investors believing that we’re nearing the top of the cycle, several are moving further up the risk curve to achieve them. The results show that 90% of respondents believe the industry’s approach to risk management has improved since the Global Financial Crisis, 33% believe it has improved markedly, while 57% believe it has improved somewhat.

Concerns about lower returns for many retail, residential and office portfolios are motivating investors to request diversification away from the traditional and into secondary locations and alternative assets (such as hotels, student accommodation and PRS), in a move which is fundamentally changing the risk profile of investments. Alternative assets require further investment in risk management.

Although 90% of respondents believe that the financial crisis has acted as a catalyst for positive change when considering risk management - which in practical terms has manifested in businesses growing their risk management teams, greater integration of research within the risk management process and the introduction of new quantitative modelling techniques - challenges remain.

In response, the report offers solutions to improve risk management and support global stability through the greater use, and consistency, of data and enhanced levels of transparency.

RICS’ IRF, has identified three tangible solutions which will enable the industry to address these challenges and act as a broader catalyst for wider industry collaboration: 

1.     Establish a mechanism for cross-border sharing of quality, comparable real estate market data.

2.     Learn from other investment sectors to ensure greater leadership, and best practice in risk management systems and processes, drawing on lessons from other investment sectors.

3.     The industry needs to improve institutional knowledge sharing to ensure each new generation learns from the experience of previous cycles.

Commenting on the report, Martin J Bruhl FRICS, CIO Union Investment Real Estate  said: “The primary objective for investors is to generate satisfactory risk-adjusted returns. We, as an industry, bear a heavy duty to support responsible and sustainable markets. We must ensure a sophisticated and professional approach to risk management to ensure the lessons from the past are learnt sufficiently.”

Philip Barrett, Global Chief Investment Risk Officer, PGIM Real Estate, said: “A robust risk management framework does not just look backwards but, also, to the future. The real estate investment management business has been accused of making long term investments with short term memories. The increased focus on risk management we are championing will hopefully be the start of addressing this criticism.”

Richard Stokes, Head of Global Corporate Affairs, RICS, added: Risk is, and always will be an essential part of any investment. But that must never come at the expense of responsible practice, which is vital to ensuring global stability. Ten years on from the global financial crisis, it is incumbent on us all to ensure the lessons of the past cannot be forgotten. Much progress has been made to enhance risk management approaches and, whilst there is more to be done, RICS Investment Risk Forum demonstrates genuine, global leadership and a desire to foster best practice in this area.

Advantage Healthcare India 2017 - Global Medical Value Travel Summit in Bengaluru from Oct 12-14

Advantage Healthcare India 2017(www.ahcindia.in), the third international summit on medical value travel (medical tourism) jointly organized by FICCI, Dept. of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India, and Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC), will be held at Bengaluru from October 12-14, 2017.

               

Priyank Kharge, Minister - IT, BT & Tourism, Government of Karnataka, Rita Teaotia, Secretary, Dept. of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and Sudhanshu Pandey - Joint Secretary – Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, among other dignitaries, will launch the mega event.

Advantage Healthcare India 2017 is meant to promote India as a premier global healthcare destination and enable streamlined healthcare services exports. Over 70 countries and 600 hosted buyers from Africa, Middle East, Europe, US, UK, and Asia (including SAARC) would participate at the event, with thousands of international and national business visitors.

Speaking on the build-up to the summit, Sudhanshu Pandey - Joint Secretary - DoC, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GoI said: “The Medical Value Travel sector has picked up in last two decades and is now gathering steam as a much more organized activity, with a lot of emphasis from the government. The sector has shown promising growth in double digits, and the future looks promising. I am happy that India's professional competence is serving the global health needs admirably and reducing sufferings of millions of people.”

Bhavdeep Singh, Chair – FICCI Medical Value Travel Committee & CEO - Fortis Healthcare, said: “It is worth noting that the medical value travel landscape in India and Asia is continually evolving as price no longer remains the only important consideration; focus has now shifted to diversity in offerings, quality of clinical care, and niche medical offerings.  Through this Summit, we would like to discuss these issues, that will bring-in the right impetus for policy change to provide a paradigm shift for further development of the sector.”

Medical value travel (MVT) has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments of Indian tourism industry. According to a FICCI-IMS report, over 500,000 foreign patients seek treatment in India each year, making the country a key medical tourism destination in Asia. However, coordinated efforts are required by key stakeholders to turn India into “The Provider to the World” and accelerate MVT growth from the existing 15% to 25%. Foreign patients mostly come to India for heart surgery, knee transplant, cosmetic surgery and dental care, as the cost of treatment here is considered the lowest in Asia, much lower than Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Panel discussions during the summit include --- AYUSH: The Indian System of Medicine for Healing and Rejuvenation, Clinical Excellence in Medical Care: Destination India, Leveraging Technology for Diagnosis, Treatment & Aftercare, Health Insurance – A Key Enabler for high - end Tertiary Care and Karnataka : An Emerging Destination for Medical Value Travel.

Advantage Healthcare India 2017, spread across three days, will have more than 40 speakers, 600 hosted buyers and over 1,000 business visitors. The exhibition will host more than 160 exhibitors to showcase medical services and expertise. Thousands of reverse buyer-seller meetings will offer opportunities for tie-ups with Indian hospitals and healthcare centers for medical tourism.

In addition, the event will showcase India’s medical devices sector to encourage foreign companies to start manufacturing locally with Indian partners.

A key highlight of the event will be Medical Value Travel Awards 2017 which will recognize and showcase innovations that have helped promote India as a premier medical travel destination.

A Knowledge Paper on Indian Medical Value Travel on the theme ‘Indian MVT- a value driven and patient centric initiative’ highlighting the progress made on focus areas, which were identified for accelerated growth of MVT in India, and the next steps would be released during the Summit.

Participants at Advantage Healthcare India 2017 would include international hospitals, government organizations, insurance firms, medical tourism organizations, global medical associations, medical journalists, doctors, and investors.

Supporting partners of Advantage Healthcare India 2017 include EEPC India and Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil).

Lenskart Ropes in Katrina Kaif as Brand Ambassador for Next Two Years

India’s leading eyewear company – Lenskart has announced notable Bollywood star – Katrina Kaif, as its first ever brand ambassador. Katrina will be the face of Lenskart for the next two years and would also feature in the brand’s new campaign.

Commenting on the new campaign launch, Peyush Bansal, Founder and CEO, Lenskart.com said “Lenskart as a brand is all about fun, fashion, playfulness and friendliness. Katrina, we feel, is all of this too naturally, hence a perfect fit and not a forced fit”. He further added: “We were looking for someone who naturally fits the Lenskart brand proposition of ‘Addictive Playfulness’. Katrina fits this the most. Her song ‘Kala chashma’ was a phenomenal success and we think she will be really successful with the actual chashma (spectacles) as well”.

On becoming the brand ambassador, Katrina Kaif stated: “I am delighted to be associated with Lenskart which is one of the most loved eyewear brands in India. It’s very important for me to find synergies with my brand associations and I believe Lenskart resonates the same. Lenskart is a brand loved by Indian youth and this is a conscious effort to connect with the fashion savvy Indians.”