Aligned with the national objective of ‘AI for All’, a workshop was conducted to discuss various facets of AI based technology adoption across certain sectors.

Manufacturing in the age of AI, a workshop organised by NITI Aayog and ABB India, brought together entrepreneurs, policymakers, state government functionaries and technology experts. It was the culmination of a partnership between the two organisations to work together and realize the potential of AI, big data and digital connectivity.

Last year, NITI Aayog and ABB signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to support the Indian government to realize its ambitious vision of “Make in India” through advanced manufacturing technologies that incorporate the latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence.

The workshop, recently held at the ABB Ability Innovation Center (AIC) in Bengaluru featured MSME entrepreneurs from sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, electrical and electronics, food processing and manufacturing. While technology was a common thread running through the entire workshop, working groups focused on issues faced by the MSMEs.

Three Key Areas

Addressing sector specific issues such as regulatory, financial and policy concerns relating to automation adoption by the MSMEs, exploring innovative business and economic models (plug and play, cluster approach, shared manufacturing approach) to accelerate technology adoption by MSMEs, while optimizing costs and thirdly. addressing potential impacts of automation and AI on the workforce and steps that could be taken to educate, train and reskill the workforce.

Stakeholders of MSME

According to Anna Roy, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog “At NITI Aayog we are no longer working on one-way policy plans, we have wide and deep interactions with those for whom the policies are intended to focus on. At ABB Ability Innovation Center we have brought all stakeholders of MSME value chain to identify the roadblocks they face in growth, be it in business models, financing or skilled labour, and together find ways in which we can address the same using tools ranging from policy to technology.”

MSMEs eco-system critical

“India can leapfrog and show the way when it comes to innovative AI applications. Working with MSMEs and the eco-system is critical for the industrial and manufacturing adoption of such technologies. With its established history of working with them for several decades and driving the change with new digital solutions, ABB would be the perfect catalyst,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India.

“Just as we have embraced AI in different formats for our regular lives from maps to voice search and its integration with other applications, we believe with the right innovative business models, it could add significant value to the MSME manufacturing sector and help them navigate a continuously evolving landscape of regulatory frameworks, quality imperatives, climate change, global commodity and business uncertainties,” he added.

AI solutions for MSMEs differ

“The nature of AI solutions for MSMEs in manufacturing may differ by organization sizes, their stocks and inventory allocation. For example one might want to know as to who is doing the maximum winding function and what is the right time for resource allocation in order to achieve same goals of increased productivity and lower costs. The other dimension of effectiveness is simplicity of access and use - like storing them on a cloud that we pay per use. Today Indian MSMEs face global competition and we want to use AI to make ourselves more competitive globally,“ said Uma Reddy, Managing Director, Hitech Magnetics & Electronics.

“AI solutions can also provide visibility to manufacturing irregularities in the initial stages without having to complete the process cycle to analyse the impact. AI would detect flaws immediately thus stopping value bleed and ensuring the required quality for global and local markets,” said Sampath Kasirajan, Director, Hydra Micro Business Solutions.

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