Insights, Research & Manufacturing Intelligence

CII and KPMG's first annual survey of Industry 4.0 digital readiness across ten Indian manufacturing sectors, benchmarked against Germany, Japan, South Korea, China, the US, the UK and Singapore. The report exposes wide disparities — large firms score 3.4/5 while MSMEs trail at 2.4 — and although 85% of senior leaders prioritise digitalisation, only 30% of organisations have successfully scaled their initiatives.

Published for CII's 'Smart Factory for Chemicals & Petrochemicals Industry' seminar (Dec 2023) with McKinsey as knowledge partner, this report outlines how digital and analytics (DnA) transformation can unlock competitive advantage for Indian chemical companies — particularly MSMEs — at a time when the sector is projected to grow 11–12% annually through 2027 and triple its global market share by 2040.

An article by Irina Ghose, Executive Director of Microsoft Cloud Solutions India, arguing that COVID-19 has permanently accelerated digital transformation across factory operations, supply chains, product innovation and customer engagement. It highlights how IoT, cloud (Azure), AI and mixed reality enable intelligent and agile factories, with examples from Zeiss Group, Eureka Forbes and Larsen & Toubro.

A Hexagon MI / MSC Software case study showing how Satven used ODYSSEE CAE (LUNAR) machine learning to predict energy absorption and force for a crush can across different material and thickness combinations — reducing prediction time from multiple hours to a few seconds and removing the need for simulation software for initial predictions.

An article by PVN PavanKumar, Director of IoT Product Management at SAP Labs India, arguing that embedded business context — associating raw sensor data with master data, business rules and process parameters — is the key differentiator for Industrial IoT. Silo replenishment and predictive maintenance examples show how Edge ('the subconscious mind') and Cloud ('the conscious mind') complement each other.

A whitepaper from MSC Software / Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence defining Generative Design as a disruptive technology that automatically creates multiple manufacturing-viable design alternatives using topology optimisation, AI and advanced simulation. It articulates seven habits — Exploration, Usability, Productivity, Costing, Sustainability, Manufacturability and First-Time-Right — and demonstrates a ~50% weight saving on a Formula Student wheel carrier at Paderborn University.