About iFactory (Live Exhibit & Training Facility on Industry 4.0)

Since, the era of Digital world come into existence, not a single aspect of life has been untouched. In the age of digital technologies, it is imperative to integrate smart technologies with in the manufacturing sector to get benefit of their great potential to evolve, and reach broader audiences by transcending geographical and cultural boundaries. Developing Smart factories provides an incredible opportunity for the manufacturing industry to enter the fourth industrial revolution; analysing the large amounts of big data collected from sensors on the factory floor ensures real-time visibility of manufacturing assets and can provide tools for performing predictive maintenance to minimize equipment downtime.

Background and context

The automotive industry and related industries including light engineering and hand tools are undergoing massive transformation with the introduction of newer technologies like Industry 4.0, Electric and Hydrogen Vehicles etc. and on the policy front with the more focus towards lean and green manufacturing. The over exploitation of resources is directly and indirectly affecting not only the environment but also the productivity, cost, and profitability of industries. Industry 4.0 has the potential to improve on these parameters and enable the transition to a more resource efficient and cleaner production in which end-of-life products are reduced, reused, re-manufactured and recycled leading to a circular economy.

We observed that there is a mismatch between the skill set that MSMEs need for the transition to Industry 4.0 and the skill sets that workforce or youth possesses. The manufacturing sector is constantly evolving and the skill set required are ever changing. Hence, to ensure the employability of youth and workforce, their skill set need to be developed and systematized as per the requirement of industries and businesses. The lack of know-how among the employees, and reluctance to change conventional ways of working is another major hindrance for the introduction of digital technologies. To overcome these Hindrance the Human capital needs to be equipped with skill set with respect to Industry 4.0 and on available digital technologies development in relation to Industry 4.0 and digital transformation is the prerequisite.

Also, the UNIDO’s assessment on the challenges and opportunities of digitalization for automotive component manufacturers in Punjab has evidenced that the adoption of digital technologies in MSME segment of automotive components sector is still in early stages. It however also found that whilst financial considerations are one of the major restrictive concerns among the other constraints for starting with digitalization, those firms that has moved ahead were able to achieve cost savings and productivity improvements within much shorter timeframes than they had expected. As such, the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies to increase productivity and reduce waste does not necessarily mean big investments in machinery. With the adoption of low-cost solutions, the needs of SME’s can efficiently be met.

So, in the pursuit of bridge this gap, “Hands-On Training” centre (iFactory / Industry 4.0 Centre) on “Digital Technology” has been established at IAHT, Ludhiana for the Dissemination of Knowledge on Cyber Physical Connectivity Approach (Industry 4.0). This "Live Exhibit & Training Facility" set up with the assistance of Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), GoI and Samarth Udyog Technology Forum's, C4i4 Lab, Pune.

Through this intervention “iFactory (Live Exhibit & Training Facility),” the current and future workforce will be better skilled, re-skilled, upskilled, and equipped to operate in the global technological driven labour market, as well as the strive towards a sustainable circular economy will be enabled, leaving no one behind.