Shubhankar Chatterji, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Cummins India
Shubhankar leads the Integrated Supply Chain Management (ISCM) function for Cummins India. Responsible for identifying and driving strategic opportunities that help achieve the vision for Cummins India, he is focused on creating a digitally enabled, agile, and resilient Supply Chain Organisation that is capable of supporting the organisation’s growth.
“Digital manufacturing ensures seamless data access across machines, applications, and systems, thereby aiding decision-making. Digitalization is reinventing the workflows and experiences never intended to be digitized in the past. Existing digital workflows are being amplified, and new digital workflows are being created. Like it or not, digitalization will continue to impact all areas of business functioning in the future, happening at an incredible pace,” says Shubhankar about the future of digitization in the industry. He further adds, “Technological disruptions and advances in technology are changing the ways manufacturing is done, and companies must adapt to these new technologies to remain relevant and competitive. Investing in training and improving institutional engagement is the need of the hour.”
Manufacturers understand the importance of having a sustainable and environment-friendly process which, when coupled with the demand for being cost competitive has forced the manufacturers to look at alternative solutions and methods for manufacturing. “At Cummins India manufacturing plants, we take a proactive approach to tackle the industry challenges by investing in new technologies, developing new products, building strong relationships with suppliers, investing in employee training, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and building a diversified supply chain.
When asked about the trends that will shape the sector, he said, “Smart factories will be the norm in the future, where factories will be fully connected and automated using advanced technologies such as IoT, AI, Big Data, Digital Twin and robotics. This will enable real-time monitoring, data collection, and analysis, leading to improved efficiency, increased productivity, reduced cost and boost competitiveness in the global market. Adoption of additive manufacturing principles in product design will be an emerging trend in the future.”
What about the impact of government initiatives like Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat? “Both initiatives have fostered a culture of Innovation and Research&Development within the manufacturing sector, encouraging organizations to invest in new technologies and processes. This has catalyzed to spur groundbreaking ideas and improve the competitiveness of Indian manufacturers. The initiatives have propelled manufacturing growth by attracting investments, improving export opportunities and have helped place India on the world map as a manufacturing hub.”
As robots and other automation technologies continue to evolve, manufacturers will increasingly rely on human-robot collaboration to increase efficiency and improve product quality. This will involve robots working alongside humans to perform tasks that are too complex or dangerous for humans to do alone.
With regard to sustainability, he says, “With today’s consumers being more environmentally conscious, manufacturers will continue to be under pressure to produce more sustainable products and reduce their environmental impact. This will increase the use of renewable energy, recycling, and the development of sustainable materials and processes. Some possible developments in the near term include increased use of electric vehicles, greater adoption of biofuels, and continued investment in research and development of new technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzer technology. In the long term, it is possible that new technologies and forms of energy storage will be developed, allowing for the wider use of hydrogen.
Moreover, the potential of having green hydrogen is an ideal condition for the future.” However, it is important to note that the future of alternative fuels is difficult to predict and is subject to change as new developments occur.