SAP SE has announced that Knack Systems, a niche SAP consulting partner driving digital transformation across industries, will adopt SAP S/4HANA Cloud and leverage its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities to boost their business. Knack Systems will be enabled to make data-driven decisions with predictive analytics by deploying the intelligent cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), which is also embedded with the first ever true voice-activated digital assistant for enterprises – SAP Co-pilot.
Knack Systems, a fast-growing professional Services company in India with a global presence, is one of SAP’s global strategic partners and is aligned with SAP’s strategy for public cloud and on-premise software solutions. Its presence spans across various industry verticals including manufacturing, banking, technology, and more.
The company will be adopting S/4HANA Cloud to achieve growth through enhanced digital transformation, improve efficiency via automation, and redefine business processes all without the need for any investment in hardware hosting. This implementation uniquely positions Knack Systems as the first reference site in India that can demonstrate the value of a truly intelligent ERP Cloud solution – S/4HANA Cloud – to its customers.
“To prolong success in the current rapidly changing technology environment, it was necessary to take the next step beyond ‘just’ cloud,” said Sandeep Arora – COO, Knack Systems. “With the adoption of S/4HANA Cloud, we will streamline the business for better efficiency using the next generation technologies of AI & ML. This will further strengthen our capabilities by integrating and managing all critical business processes into one powerful system, thus enabling us to deliver an enhanced experience to our clients.”
“Businesses of tomorrow will require the deepest and broadest intelligence to retain their competitive edge,” said Neeraj Athalye, Vice President – Innovation & Digital Business, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “S/4HANA Cloud, the world’s first hands-free ERP solution, will empower Knack Systems to run faster, operate smarter, and achieve industry & operational excellence. The solution will aid them with the necessary skill sets to stay several steps ahead of their competition and help realize greater profitability.”
S/4HANA Cloud is SAP’s intelligent cloud ERP software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution with built-in machine learning and AI capabilities that serves customers in various product-centric and service-centric industries to help them achieve instant value, cost savings and improved efficiencies.
Impressed by the wide range of polymeric films that Flex Films manufactures and the associated R&D capabilities that the company is globally recognized for, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had approached the company earlier in September 2017 with a requirement of specialized film for passive thermal control of spacecraft components.
Flex Films at Noida is the Indian Film Manufacturing Arm of India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company Uflex Limited.
Taking this requirement in its stride, the engineers at Flex Films India developed a solution for ISRO in a record time period of 6 months.
Talking more about this specialized film, Anand Prakash Gupta from Speciality Films and R&D Department at Flex Films, Noida says, “ISRO approached us in an endeavour to achieveits vision to self-reliance in Indian Space Programme which aims at engaging more Indian Industries in producing Space worthy products/technologies for its specific applications.Their desired specifications were in electro-optical and physical terms like Solar Transmittance, IR Emittance, Thickness of Coating in nano-meterson both sides of the substrateand wide spectrum working temperature of -150 to +120 degrees Celsius to name a few. The real challenge was to convert these specifications into our measurable norm.For this we sent an A4 sized sample to ISRO to get everything measuredand testedin their terms.When ISRO reverted to us with their requirements in the parameters that they recognize, we extrapolated that information to our measurable norm. Performing metallization in conventional metallizer was fraught with high risks of getting scratches and other aberrations (anomalies which were absolutely unacceptable for a high precision job that we were processing for ISRO).Further we developed some specialized coatings and applied on the substrate to ensure flawless metallization as required by ISRO.”
Talking more about this major break-through Jagmohan Mongia, President of Flex Films India said, “The specialized metallized film that we supplied to ISRO was subjected to space environmental tests and passed through all parameters/tests qualifying for space application. Here I would particularly like to acknowledge the unrelenting and hard work by the metallizing team of Flex Films India without which it would not have been possible for us to accomplish this goal.After this major break-through we nowlook forward to working with ISRO more closely in other research areas and technologies. This is just the beginning.”
Expressing delight on this breakthrough, Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex Limited said, “The most gratifying part of this whole engagement is that Uflex has been able to contribute to ISRO’s endeavour of indigenization and becoming self-reliant in space technology applications. This is a perfect example of an Indian polymeric film manufacturermeeting and exceeding the performance parameters set by Indian Space Research Organization. This is a major win for Make in India and a moment of truth for Made in India.”
Siemens Limited flagged off and launched one of the largest industry initiatives, the ‘Ingenuity Tour’ from the iconic Kalwa factory located on the outskirts of Mumbai. The tour is mobilised in the form of a road show that will cover 23 states, 120 cities and travel more than 30000 kilometres.
On display is a comprehensive array of latest products covering Electrification, Automation and Digitalization from the fields of industry Software, Automation, Power Distribution, Drive Technology, Digital & Cloud services, Industrial Training as well as customised Financing solutions. The tour is targeted at various industry verticals and demonstrates the competitive advantage that can be gained by adopting innovative technologies and solutions.
“Siemens has been partnering the Indian manufacturing industry to become more agile, efficient, reliable and future-proof through our engineering, domain and digital know-how. Our focus is on helping our customers generate performance improvements across the entire value chain, from design to production and operations to maintenance. The Ingenuity Tour will bring our innovations live in action, right to the door step of our customers.” said Ashish Bhat, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Factory, Siemens Ltd.
Digital technologies are transforming our world. The 'Make in India' initiative aims to boost the contribution of the manufacturing sector from 15% to 25% of the GDP, by 2022. To support this massive growth, India will need an ecosystem comprising of Tier 1, Tier 2, as well as the Tier 3 suppliers, with an elevated level of manufacturing performance and agility .
“Digitalization is a top priority for us in Siemens and the Ingenuity Tour will help us engage and address challenges of our customers from various verticals and industry suppliers across the complete value chain. SMEs can utilize digitalization to address growing demands such as mastering increasing and process complexity, reducing time to market, adapting to changing market requirements, deliver individualized products and secure continuous product improvement,” said, Bhaskar Mandal, Executive Vice President and Head of Process Industries & Drives, Siemens Ltd.
Digitalization promises lower costs, improved production quality, flexibility and efficiency, shorter response time to customer requests and market demands, and also opens up new and innovative business opportunities. Indian manufacturers have the unique opportunity to blend the availability of advanced manufacturing technologies with low cost of labour to create extraordinary competitive advantage. The need of the hour is for SMEs to take the lead in adopting new technologies and make it an integral part of their business strategies. Those that are successful in understanding the power of digitalization and harnessing it across their businesses will lead this new wave of growth.
With a vision to make India a superpower in the world of para sports, Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) in association with Border Security Force (BSF) will be conducting its 3rd Divyang National sports training camp at STC, BSF Bengaluru, till July 13th, 2018. Over 200 Para Athletes are expected to undergo training in various sports with the objective of training them to international glory at the 2020 Paralympics.
Launched last year, ‘Mission 100’ is an aim to find and coach the most talented 100 para athletes who can represent India at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Through this camp, BSF along with AMF is determined to scout for the best, train, coach and support the participants at every step so that they can represent India at the global platform.
Speaking on the occasion, Aditya Mehta said, “The national training camp is an annual feature where BSF along with AMF brings experienced and fresh talent together at one place. The main objective of the camp is to educate our Jawans and civilians about para sports, screen their abilities and strengths to then recommend an appropriate sport”. The foundation has been supporting para athletes in sports like Swimming, Cycling, Wheelchair Tennis, Athletics, Shooting, Arm wrestling and power lifting.
Apart from screening, counselling and training, the foundation also works tirelessly to raise funds and provide the athletes with appropriate para equipment and funds required.” He further added.
Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) is a non –profit organisation helping people with disabilities to pursue sports. In last three years, AMF along with BSF has reached over 120 Para athletes and won over 50 national and international medal counts. The foundation is also associated with armed force of the country like BSF, CRPF, ITBP, SSI and CISF where they counsel and train the Jawans who got injured in the line of duty and help them become professional athletes at highest level giving them sense of sustenance.
Expanding its retail presence in South India, Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, today inaugurated its 10th Philips Light Lounge in Bangalore. This is the company’s 69th Light Lounge in South India and is an exclusive showroom displaying a wide range of home decorative products from the company. The store was inaugurated by Sumit Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips Lighting India and Ashwath Narayanji, MLA, Malleshwaram Constituency.
Commenting on the store inauguration, C Arun Kumar, Head – Consumer Sales, Philips Lighting India, said “Bangalore has emerged as one of the most promising markets for us in South India due to its growing real estate demand. Keeping in mind the evolving tastes of consumers and the increasing demand for lighting solutions, we are expanding our presence in the city with the opening of our tenth Philips Light Lounge in Bangalore. This exclusive store will offer a wide range of lighting solutions and is a testimony to our commitment towards providing top-of-line products to our customers.”
Spread across an area of 400 square feet, this latest Philips Light Lounge showcases an impressive display of over 600 world-class home decorative lighting products and concepts that have been designed keeping in mind the lighting needs of Indian consumers, home décor trends in the country and the emerging concept of connected ambient lighting for homes. The store extensively features Philips Hue - the world’s smartest web-enabled LED home lighting system. By emulating actual home settings of a living room, bedroom and a dining room, customers can experience first-hand the light settings and recipes to suit different parts of their day.
Through their live demonstration zones, Philips Light Lounges enable customers to get a first-hand experience and choose lighting products that match their individual design tastes and requirements. The company differentiates its offerings through innovation in design, energy efficiency and its global lighting application expertise.
With the launch of the latest Philips Light Lounge in Bangalore, the company now has more than 180 Light Lounges in India, in addition to LightSTUDIO’s. This new Philips Light Lounge is located at Shop No - 560, Yashwantpur Main road, Bangalore.
Signify became the new company name of Philips Lighting as of May 16, 2018. The legal name of Signify will be adapted in India in the beginning of 2019.
Aligned with its mission to support and provide valuable benefit to the communities, Toyota Kirloskar Motor recently inaugurated its 23rd community based water purification unit at Primary health Centre in Bidadi region [Ramanagara District]. The facility will provide purified water of highest quality for a nominal amount of Rs. 1 per litre to benefit the villagers in the region.
With this, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has installed a total of 23 units in Bangalore, Mandya, Ramanagara and 2 units in North India catering to around 7,000 beneficiaries per unit.
The newly set up unit has a 1,000 liter per hour capacity accompanied with a minimum 6-stage purification system and dispenses 5,000 to 6,000 litres per day. With a first ever advanced feature - Water Quality Standards & Consumption Data Display, the client can easily access from their location without visiting the site to assess the filtration quality standards of the water [TDS, PH contents] for delivering the high standards of purified water to the community members. Also, the advanced app based filtration system will provided water consumption data on daily basis to ensure the cause reaching the affected.
In addition, the installed unit is equipped with solar system, power backup, wastewater management, and 250 ML cup water dispensing with paper cup vending machine among others. The wastewater generated will be discharged into the recharge soak pit after ensuring compliance to waste water quality standards thus ensuring no water waste efficiently contributing to recharging the aquifer.
The uniqueness of this initiative has been the assessment & installation of the water purification unit in such identified location which not only caters to the general public for domestic purposes, but also specifically catering to the ailing patients at the Health Care Centre whose water requirements would be more specific to medical needs for healthy recovery & further prevention of possible water borne diseases. Thus, such intervention ensures a larger outreach to beneficiaries of different categories.
Another specialty of this advanced technology are the multi-purpose water dispensing methodology & end-to-end cleanliness of safe drinking water consumption:
- Ensure ‘Zero Water Waste’ whereby the beneficiaries have the option to dispense water depending on their water quantity requirements each time they desire to source water [Rs. 1/- per 250 mililitre, Rs. 5/- per 20 litres, etc.]
- The “Negative Ion Water” dispenser will cater to the specific needs of the Hospital located near the water unit largely benefitting the patients who require alkaline water which neutralizes the body acidity, thus help restore vital minerals in the body for healthy recovery. Such mineral reserves in the water boosts the immunity in the body and resist diseases. Also, the cost of water consumption at the hospital will reduce to bare minimum, while they were sourcing such water at exorbitant price of appxm. Rs. 150 – Rs. 300 per litre on an average. Toyota has been able to effectively support the affordability of required quantity & quality of water by contributing towards reduction of 98% of the total cost for such water being sourced through other vendors at the health centre. Such water can be dispensed from Toyota installed water purification unit at mere cost of Rs. 1 per litre, which is just 2% of the total cost spent by the hospital for such water standards
- Such installed water unit comes with a special feature which washes and cleans the water cans/containers of the beneficiaries before dispensing the water into such possible unclean water storage. This way further water contamination is prevented serving the real purpose of clean water use at the beneficiaries end too. This water system ensures end-to-end purified water for multi-purposes and ultimate consumption of safe water
Commenting on the new unit launch, Naveen Soni, Vice President - Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “Access to safe drinking water is a serious issue affecting people of all ages, especially for those living in remote communities where the availability of improved water sources is limited. Our aim is to enrich the society with endeavors that are relevant and meaningful with each initiative reflecting uniqueness towards achieving the social cause.
Further to our earlier Health & Hygiene projects in providing safe drinking water, through this specific initiative, we have moved one step ahead by cautiously assessing the potential needs of the community in terms of desired quantity and quality of water to meet different consumption patterns through in-built choices of such installed unit, catering to multiple beneficiaries be it ailing patient and or general public, etc., covering holistic use of safe water for domestic/medical necessities. In true sense, we at Toyota adopt such sustainable & integrated approach enabling larger outreach of our social contributions to bring in the real difference amongst people lives, without limiting our interventions.”
In the past, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has installed water purification units at Byramangala, Ramanahalli, Bidadi, Manchanayakana halli, and Harohalli Grama Panchayats and one each in Varanasi and Vaishali to cater to the drinking water requirement of villages in Bidadi.
Besides Water Purifying units, Toyota over the years, has undertaken several social projects in the fields of Education, Primary Healthcare, sanitation etc., contributing positively to the society marking a meaningful difference in their lives. The company’s efforts include rebuilding a local residential school, construction of water tanks in rural Bangalore and launch of Mobile medical unit for the sustained intervention in health care system with focus on providing the basic medical equipment to the Primary Health Centers. Besides, the company has undertaken several sustainable flagship programs such as Development of Model School, Lake Rejuvenation, Project ABCD [A Behavioral Change Demonstration] on school sanitation, Toyota Safety Education Programme, Driving Safety Training Programs, etc.
Toyota remains committed to bring in more enriching and sustainable CSR projects for the holistic development of the community members, thus effectively contribute to the underlying cause of positive societal growth.
Ashok Leyland, a flagship of the Hinduja Group, launched the "eN-Dhan" fuel card, in partnership with HPCL Drive Track Plus" program, to provide best-in-class savings in fuel to customers. This initiative with HPCL was developed by the Customer Solutions Business of Ashok Leyland, which aspires to develop a lifetime engagement with customers and to positively impact all facets of their business by offering customized solutions. For the first time in India, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and an oil marketing company (OMC) have collaborated to create a co-branded card, which is expected to result in annual savings in the range of Rs 50,000 per annum per truck especially for customers in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment.
The eN-Dhan cards are free of charge and will be available in all Ashok Leyland dealerships across the country and can be used in all HPCL Fuel Stations.
At the launch, Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, said, “Ashok Leyland's brand signifies innovation not only in its products but also in its solutions. Exemplifying our brand philosophy, ‘Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet’, we are constantly evaluating opportunities to help our customers be more efficient and profitable. Our analysis shows that the current fuel spends on a commercial vehicle in India is between 35% and 60% of its lifecycle cost. Since fuel cost is the major expense, we came up with this fuel card program to help vehicle owners save on this expense and optimize total cost of operations (TCO). Every rupee saved is an opportunity to plough back the profits to grow the business. Besides savings in fuel cost, the card will promote digital payments and offer enhanced insurance benefits to drivers.”
Speaking on the launch, Shri G S V Prasad, Executive Director – Retail HPCL conveyed that “HPCL-Ashok Leyland partnership is essentially for serving the common customer - the trucker, who buys chassis from Ashok Leyland and buys fuel from HPCL. This is first of its kind partnership wherein an Energy Major is partnering with an Automobile Major for fueling the vehicles from the time it is rolled out of the Factory.”
“HPCL believes in improving the logistics efficiency of the vehicles by providing superior quality Fuels and Lubricants to the Customers/Fleets owners. The co-branded card “eN-Dhan” will be accepted at all HPCL outlets and going forward we would like to take the entire business on to a card less platform which is in sync with the “Digital India” initiative of the Govt of India. HPCL also is a pioneer in Retail Automation and is embarking on a plan to automate all its 15100 retail outlets pan-India by December 2018 which will also be integrated with digital transactions.”
With the launch of this innovative solution, Ashok Leyland has once again lived up to its brand’s philosophy “Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet”. Customers can enrol for the eN-Dhan program at any Ashok Leyland dealership.
