INDIA INCREASINGLY USING ADVANCED DIGITAL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES: UN REPORT

remotely monitor body temperatures and disinfect public places; and 3D printers have become the core of rapid development and production of new medical equipment, including lower cost ventilators.

René Van Berkel also said that “laudable work is being done across India for example through the Department of Heavy Industry with its Smart Advanced Manufacturing and Rapid Transformation Hub (SAMARTH)UDYOG Bharat 4.0 which supports four centres to popularise and demonstrate practical industry 4.0 solutions. These SAMARTH centres singled out limited experience with production process planning and design and outdated machinery, typical of the third or the second industrial revolution, as major bottlenecks for Indian firms. This reflects UNIDO’S global finding that successful uptake of ADP technologies requires industrial capabilities which include the capability to operate technology, make investments, and capture the learnings that come from running and optimising factories”. According to the UNIDO report, India will stand to benefit from the promotion of Industry 4.0 applications.

“Those firms that already have advanced digital capabilities deserve support to create new products for new services and new markets. As an example, Sagar Defence Engineering, a leader in floating drones, combined to create India’s first unmanned vessel to collect floating plastics and other waste from surface waters. Manufacturers operating traditional machines and assembly lines can benefit from customised digital enhancements and partial automation.” René Van Berkel said. “UNIDO’S assessment found that ADP policies are highly contextual. However, three areas are particularly important: developing framework conditions through industrial, technology and digital policies; fostering demand and adoption by improving awareness, readiness and availing appropriate financing; and strengthening of capabilities, particularly human resources and research capabilities. The Government has voiced strong intent to modernise manufacturing sector policy to achieve self-reliant India and move towards a world-class USD1 trillion manufacturing sector by 2024. The SAMARTH programme is supporting demand creation as do the smart manufacturing initiatives of leading industry bodies, such as NASCOM, CII and FICCI. This can be expanded to demonstrations in the main manufacturing clusters around the country to demystify Industry 4.0 to majority of firms and indeed seed an innovation ecosystem that is increasingly driven by the manufacturing sector’s design, product and technology needs,” Berkel further added.