By Anand Raisinghani, VP – Platforms & Technologies, SAP Indian Subcontinent
The first wave of the pandemic was overwhelming, resulting in supply chain breakdown, work from home scenarios and disruptions in the economy. Companies were forced to rethink their business model and envision newer methods to keep the global supply chain running. Manufacturing, which is a cornerstone of our country’s economy,had to halt production leaving the industry in turmoil. But the will to keep functioning and ensuring business continuity pushed this industry to restructure their business operations.
To keep up with the growing consumer needs and expectations in this new normal, Indian manufacturing industry progressively adopted new-age technologies. We witnessed a growth in the adoption of AI technologies by Manufacturing companies which resulted in better predictive maintenance and building quality products. Through digital transformations manufacturing companies stepped up to create a robust data strategy and a clear digital roadmap for the industry.
AI based technologies proved to be a critical factor for the manufacturing sector enabling them to digitally transform their daily operations. By automating processes while limiting human intervention, AI solutions helped manufacturers to gain real-time insights and make prompt decisions. This enabled many organizations both large and small to keep their business functions running while also ensuring safety.
With businesses stabilizing and finding their way back to functioning as they did pre-pandemic; companies are now working on making recoveries. We are already witnessing the adoption of AI technologies such as market Machine learning, deep learning, big data analytics and robotic process automation (RPA) in solving complex problems, product planning, predictive quality assurance and much more.
With artificial intelligence gaining rapid traction in the manufacturing industry. Many businesses are reaping the benefits through its implementation in their supply chain management and logistics. It enables them to enhance their productivity, track operations and strengthen their business strategies making it easier for them to better engage with their customers digitally.
Manufacturing industry is only scratching the surface of how we can utilize the best of AI technologies. As slow deployment, higher operating costs and lack of infrastructure often hamper the growth of AI in the market till now. However, the integration of manufacturing technology with information communication technology as well. It will be a game-changing transformation in terms of manufacturing models, manufacturing approaches, and its ecosystems giving rise to Intelligent Manufacturing.
Intelligent Manufacturing will be a leeway for manufacturers to provide a high efficiency, environment-friendly service to their customers across the spectrum. This will open the doors of newer opportunities to make manufacturing practices more efficient, giving rise to a much better ecosystem.
AI now has become an integral catalyst for many companies during these times to restart their business operations. A number of potential use cases for artificial intelligence were witnessed in pharmaceuticals, medical sciences and agriculture during the pandemic which enabled them to receive real-time data-driven insights and create better results.
AI solutions are increasingly growing in numbers, thereby, improving people’s lives and creating positive change in the world. Technological developments in AI promises to be prevalent, with impacts not just in the manufacturing industry but also in healthcare, economics, security, and governance. In combination with other emerging such as Blockchain, Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT), AI has the potential to transform our society through better decision making and improvements to the human innovation.