The pandemic without a doubt has been a blessing in disguise for the Indian manufacturing industry with added opportunities like #AtmanirbharBharat and #VocalForLocal. The country is expected to rank amongst the world’s top three growth economies and amongst the top three manufacturing destinations before 2025.
In the fiscal year 2020, manufacturing generated 17.4 per cent of India’s GDP compared to 7.4% in 2018. With these statistics speaking aloud for the empowerment of the manufacturing sector, it’s evident that technology has been spurring a wave of innovation in the sector while digital transformation in the manufacturing industry is also seen as a trend to gain an edge in the hypercompetitive market. According to MPI Group, nearly a third (31%) of production processes now incorporate smart devices and embedded intelligence.
With this as the background, please find below some of the trends predicted for the sector in 2021:
• Emergence of smart spaces: The most notable trend in the manufacturing industry is the smart spaces – to leverage a plethora of technology combinations to dynamically coordinate with people and production processes in a flexible and automated fashion. Advanced manufacturing companies are implementing new technologies like AI, IoT and Data analytics to drive growth and profitability. 34% of manufacturers have plans to incorporate IoT technology into their processes, while 32% plan to embed IoT technology into their products.
• Increasing interest towards emerging technologies like 3D printing: Manufacturers’ shift to 3D printing to support prototyping, a highly cost-effective way for product designers to test and troubleshoot new products, is expected to gain ground in 2021, especially in sectors like jewellery-making, medicine, aviation etc. There has been a gradual shift from conventional manufacturing techniques to new and emerging technologies that provide higher precision and resolution, thus speeding up the manufacturing process. This will help manufacturers to produce items on demand, saving up on warehousing costs thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the sector.
• Focus on skilled human capital: It’s not all tech that is calling for attention, post COVID19, in order to stay aligned with the Government’s agenda of being Atmanirbhar, organizations will have to focus on building skilled human capital equipped for the future. Many state governments have already taken up the initiative of skilling migrant labourers to equip people with value-added skills to enhance the employability factor.