B&R India explores IIoT topics at 4th annual Innovation Day

The members of the panel discussion agreed unanimously that digitalization is not an option, but an imperative step forward for every organization. Left to right: Sudhir Kalkar (GM – Technical, ACG), Rajesh Sharma (GM & Head Manufacturing Eng., Fiat India Automobiles), Yogesh Zope (CIO, Kalyani Group), Deepak Shrivastava (Technical Advisor – IOT, Accurate India), Akilur Rahman (CTO, ABB India) and Jhankar Dutta (Managing Director, B&R India).

The fourth edition of B&R India’s “Innovation Day” once again provided a platform for thought leaders, industry experts and decision makers to share ideas on the Industrial IoT, smart manufacturing, design efficiencies, Industry 4.0 and digitalization. This year’s event welcomed more than 200 attendees with a mix of technical presentations, live demos and a panel discussion – whose members agreed unanimously that digitalization is not an option, but an imperative step forward for every organization.

The tone for the event was set by B&R India Managing Director Jhankar Dutta: “In order to help our customers achieve their goals of improving productivity, throughput, quality and cost-effectiveness, we must adopt next-generation technologies and move towards smart manufacturing.”

In addition to unveiling numerous technological innovations designed to equip machine and plant builders for the future, B&R also took the opportunity to announce the launch of its new support hotline: “Our world class support further enhances our customer’s experience and helps them offer their customers faster service and reduced machine downtime,” said non-executive chairman PV Sivaram. “This will only be possible by utilizing the strength of our IIoT-enabled approach.”

Guest speakers from Logindex Solutions, Technoshell Automations and Prasad Group highlighted various aspects of Industry 4.0 readiness for SMEs in competitive markets. “Ever-changing consumer demands are driving machine complexity – and in turn requiring increasingly complex software,” noted Nikhil Baste, director of Technoshell Automations.

By encapsulating frequently recurring machine functions in thoroughly tested software components, B&R’s mapp Technology helps them do precisely that. “mapp enables easier maintenance and diagnostics by giving us access to control variables without the need for dedicated software, special training or access to source code,” explained Baste.

The highlight of Innovation Day 2018 was a panel discussion titled “Industry 4.0 – What is in it for me”. The discussion addressed various aspects next-generation Industrial IoT, Industry 4.0 and digitalization technologies. The panelists examined challenges in adoption from the perspective of Indian organizations, as well as the benefits to be gained from successful deployment and the steps they can take to get there.