Vijay Ratnaparkhe, MD and President, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI) on the emergence of M2M technology in India |
How does your company cater to a market like India that is not as highly automated as its global counterparts?
India when compared to the western world is at a different starting position. Europe is highly industrialised where they look at automation to optimise and reduce manufacturing costs by being more flexible. There is no uncertainty when it comes to goods sold and purchased. Such a highly industrialised manufacturing line does not make sense for India as the labour costs are much lower.
Therefore, we as a company optimise our products to suit the local market needs. The focus is on high quality where we offer a step-by-step approach – for example, ‘shop floor to top floor’ is an optimised solution for India where importance is given to dynamic scheduling. If one can schedule their machines they can optimise its up-time and get higher benefits with lower investment cost.
To answer your question, I think the change in India will come in steps. Automation has various stages like machines updating the status of the various parts processed to diagnosing itself. The machines will identify bottlenecks, reschedule accordingly or update when it requires maintenance, etc. there are a plethora of things that it can do. Thus, from a scenario that was hitherto human to becoming completely automated – to the extent of the machines taking care of itself – are the various scenarios of automation. And all of these developments will come into India but gradually. First, however, will be the focus on cost and quality.
What your strategies to deal with a price sensitive country like India?
We are not a company that does not practice what we preach. That is what differentiates us from the rest. We walk the talk meaning all the solutions that we propose to our customers are first deployed in our own plants and we test them ourselves. We actually provide our customers with the “users view” of technology and that is how our pitch has always been. We provide solutions only in those areas where we have found benefits.
How is India placed in M2M technology?
This is the world of connected things and India is well poised as a country to adapt to this technology. M2M is present in bits and pieces in every sector but the emerging fields continue to be automotive, health care, medicine, etc. What is also interesting is that we are talking of M2M technology in India when the world too is beginning with it. Unlike, several years ago, when Germany made fantastic machines or Japan outdid itself in electronics, India was still not independent. However, that is not the story today. Currently, we are at the same level as the other countries and that spells good news. Augmented reality is gaining significance by its inherent potential ranging from enhancing user experience to improving productivity.
Can this be taken to the shopfloor as well?
Indeed! We have already done it within Bosch in the machine areas. For example, while pitching to a client, the augmented reality solution gives them a unified platform from previewing a product to knowing the basic service. For example, it could construct 3D images of how a manufacturing line will look like. Another benefit is that since everything is in the CAD system one can automatically check to see if it really fits. Basically, augmented reality solutions are created for specific situations or machines.
With respect to India, would you also consider writing the instructions in languages other than English, as this is primarily not a language spoken on the shopfloor?
Yes. It is very easy on augmented reality to show another language. Some of the solutions we prepare, within my area, may have up to 30 different languages. That is a standard thing that we always take care of.