Mr. Shankar Karnik, General Manager, Industrial Lubricants, ExxonMobil Pvt. Ltd., tells us what the future holds for manufacturing.
How does the future look for IIoT?
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has become the buzzword for many industries. As these industries evolve, the need for accelerating the efficiency and productivity of various operational processes is rising, relatively. Talking specifically about manufacturing, many are adopting IIoT enabled technologies. A recent survey – Data’s Big Impact on Manufacturing, revealed that 70% of the 200 manufacturing executives plan to invest resources in data analytics technology in the near future. IIoT helps in catalysing and transforming various industrial operations. It is of paramount importance in bringing about the revolutionary benefits of predictive and proactive maintenance, real-time monitoring, resource optimisation, efficient diagnosis and much more. It enables a connected, smart manufacturing enterprise by enhancing decision making, increasing security and productivity, profitability as well as improving overall collaboration. Given the promising offerings of IIoT, and the government agenda of boosting manufacturing, I foresee increased investments in IIoT related technologies.
Which industries will drive IIoT adoption in 2018?
According to a latest research, the IoT market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 28.2% during 2016-22. The Indian IoT market is dominated by Industrial IoT followed by consumer IoT. Higher use of automation and data exchange in any specific industry will enhance efficiency, improve profitability, foster innovation, and allow smart management of safety, performance and environmental impact. As a result, companies across India and the globe are increasingly turning to IIoT to avail these benefits. Government’s Digital India campaign is also spreading awareness and adoption of IoT. The sectors adopting IIoT technologies at a relatively faster rate include energy, manufacturing, plastics, steel, mining, and infrastructure as these sectors are the propellants of economic growth and development in the country
Could you discuss about your company’s preparedness in this front?
ExxonMobil™ has always played a part in the progress of industrial revolutions, where industrial lubrication ensured optimum equipment performance. For over 150 years, innovation has been our core focus in providing the best lubricant solutions for manufacturers, where ExxonMobilTM continues to make breakthrough innovations that redefine the power of lubrication. One major issue that has been pertinent for the manufacturing sector is the performance of heavy duty machinery. Lubricants play a crucial role in ensuring consistent protection and performance of equipment to minimise financial losses. That said, oil-health analysis becomes a quintessential program that ensures reduced downtime and increased reliability of equipment. However, the traditional oil analysis process is laborious and costly, and may cause unscheduled downtime, production delays and reduced efficiency. Furthermore, the diagnosis from the analysis could also impact their productivity, safety, and environmental goals. Industrial lubricant and grease makers are shifting towards digitised lubrication practices. ExxonMobilTM with a long history of working with equipment manufacturers, worked to develop a modern, app based platform. A model of ‘Mobil going Mobile’, was developed to reach every end-user through a regular and convenient operational interface. Mobil ServSM Lubricant Analysis (MSLA), a Mobil enabled used oil analysis program was launched in 2016. MSLA is designed to enhance efficiency and simplify the oil healthy analysis process by replacing a paperwork-heavy approach with a simple, intuitive mobile-enabled service platform that reduces the number of steps involved in the used oil analysis process. MSLA is a solution, manufacturers need to take to move towards Industry 4.0 and digitisation. The platform streamlines the entire oil analysis process – from initial sample gathering to final reporting, with QR coded scan-and-go sampling bottles that deliver used oil samples to
ExxonMobilTM’s oil analysis laboratory. Customers can also leverage application specific analysis options which allow them to access results and perform customised equipment recommendations directly on their mobiles or tablet devices, saving them from unnecessary downtime that could affect production output and delivery deadlines. With ExxonMobilTM’s MSLA program, operators can now look forward to increased productivity and performance from their equipment – the analysis helps identify issues that can be mitigated with minimal downtime, reduce the amount of lubricant needed to operate machinery, and improve and extend overall machine life.