In an era when manufacturing competitiveness hinges on digital intelligence, Pricol stands out as a legacy enterprise that modernized early — and is now reaping the compounding benefits of sustained digital investment. Long before “digital transformation” became an industry rallying cry, the Coimbatore-headquartered auto components major established technology as the backbone of its operations.
Today, as the automotive ecosystem undergoes unprecedented technological disruption, Pricol is leaning on this digital foundation to future-proof its factories, products, and value chain. In an exclusive conversation with Express Computer, Srikrishna Narasimhan, CIO at Pricol Group, shares how the company is reinventing its core operations with IoT, AI, advanced analytics, and a unique “internal machine builder” capability that gives it strategic independence on the shopfloor.
Digital as a Culture, Not a Project
Most enterprises talk about digital transformation; Pricol built it into its DNA. From early ERP adoption to pioneering PLM and ALM implementations in India, the company has consistently modernized its core systems decades ahead of its peers.
“For us, digital is not a one-time initiative — it’s a culture,” Narasimhan emphasizes. “It runs through every part of our business.”
The company’s approach is both expansive and structured. Enterprise systems now unify core processes, while in-house applications support cross-functional collaboration and transparency. The result: sharper visibility across the value chain, faster decision-making, and a tightly integrated manufacturing–supply chain ecosystem.
This digital-first posture has created a strong runway for Pricol’s next phase of growth as the automotive sector embraces electrification, smart displays, ADAS, and connected technologies.
The Product Is Changing — and So Is the Factory
As one of India’s largest manufacturers of automotive instrument clusters, Pricol sits at the heart of an industry that is increasingly defined by software.
“The modern cluster looks more like a mobile device than a traditional gauge,” Narasimhan explains. That shift has forced automotive suppliers to rethink not just product development but also manufacturing agility, quality expectations, and data intelligence.
Pricol’s strategy for staying ahead of this curve is refreshingly simple: Better efficiency, easier operations, higher productivity, improved quality, and greater transparency. ROI, Narasimhan adds, always follows.
This clarity of purpose has enabled the company to adopt new technologies consistently, even in periods when the industry was still testing the waters.
IoT, AI, and Advanced Analytics: Pricol’s Digital Factory Advantage
Pricol’s biggest differentiator is its identity as an internal machine builder. Most of its equipment is built in-house, giving the company end-to-end control over performance, data capture, and customization.
This has allowed the company to integrate advanced technologies earlier than the market — including AI-based end-of-line vision inspection systems that many manufacturers are only beginning to explore.
“Quality and productivity have always been our primary focus,” Narasimhan says. “Technology has been the backbone driving both.”
At Pricol, technology adoption is methodical. The company:
* Assesses emerging technologies quickly
* Internalizes and integrates them at scale
* Implements them through structured, planned transitions
* Identifies failures early and course-corrects rapidly
This disciplined agility is rare in traditional manufacturing and reflects a leadership mindset that embraces experimentation. “We are never afraid to fail — we only fear not trying,” Narasimhan adds.
Turning Data Into an Operations Engine
Pricol has been capturing machine data for years. But as Narasimhan notes, “We soon realized we were sitting on a gold mine.”
The company’s recent push into advanced analytics and predictive maintenance is now unlocking the value of that historical data. Real-time monitoring and early-warning systems have significantly improved equipment uptime and reduced unplanned production disruptions.
Key outcomes include: Higher machine uptime, improved equipment reliability, predictive maintenance alerts and better resource optimization (materials, energy, manpower)
Data-driven decision-making across plants
These gains translate directly into improved productivity, operational resilience, and consistent output quality — critical metrics in a sector where global OEMs expect high reliability.
The Next Phase: From Digital to Intelligent
Pricol’s next frontier is moving from descriptive analytics to predictive and prescriptive intelligence across the enterprise.
A major initiative underway is the establishment of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for AI — a move intended to embed data science into core business functions such as:
* Manufacturing optimization
* Automated quality control
* Supply chain forecasting
* Customer insights
* Capacity planning
In parallel, Pricol’s long-standing IoT partnership for shopfloor digitalization is maturing into a comprehensive transparency layer for operations. This includes real-time capacity visibility, turnaround insights, and data to guide capex decisions.
The company is also tightening its data governance and cybersecurity posture as digital maturity accelerates — an essential step as more business processes begin to rely on AI-driven intelligence.
The Strategic Road Ahead
Pricol’s digital roadmap offers a compelling blueprint for CIOs navigating manufacturing transformation:
* Build foundational systems early — ERP, PLM, ALM, and in-house applications
* Own your data and your machines — internal machine building is a competitive advantage
* Adopt emerging tech with discipline — structured assimilation, not impulsive adoption
* Create a culture that embraces experimentation — speed matters
* Scale from digital enablement to digital intelligence
Ultimately, Pricol’s transformation story reflects a company that understood — long before the industry caught on — that digital capability defines manufacturing competitiveness.
As Narasimhan puts it: “Our goal is not just to be digitally enabled, but digitally intelligent.”
It’s a direction more manufacturing CIOs are now realizing they must follow — but few have Pricol’s head start.