President's Message - July, 2009
Dear Friends,
The
world is presently experiencing changes of momentous magnitude. The
automation industry is no exception. Information revolution has swept
all aspects of our lives. Physical and financial boundaries have
virtually collapsed.
The economy has given us a timely wake up call. We are alive
to the fact that the cooling period will continue for some more time.
Nevertheless, technology development will continue unabated since
researchers and engineers thrive on challenges. This is a good time for
our customers to invest in knowledge upgrade, both at the people level
and within the process management systems. As usual, AIA continues to
organize learning events that are vendor-neutral. We also endeavor to
tap into emerging segments. The focus on Infrastructure was seen with
WaterTech 2008 and recently we have created a technology forum for
packaging OEMs. In each of these we have been successful in sharing
global best practices and neutralize the perception that high-end
automation is the monopoly of large process industries. This shifting
is unique and augers well for the general economy.
Indian
Industry has a galaxy of remarkable leaders and we are grateful that
they bring in a passion for building an inclusive and growing economy.
I am pleased to announce that at our last Executive Council meeting, we
decided to open AIA and bring in eminent leaders from the Industry on
our Industry Leadership Councils. This decision confirms our commitment
to be guided by the aspirations and concerns of our customers. The
Industry Leadership Council will be drawn from an eminent pool of
people who have infused an integrated business approach to
manufacturing and infrastructure.
We dropped our plans to hold the September 2009
Automation Expo; instead, we have a more austere event planned this
November. Hopefully the intensity of knowledge sharing will be made up
through sustained interaction before and after the event. I hope the
Industry Leadership councils will come up with innovative ways to
foster this. AIA team members at the Executive Council are alive to
this responsibility and I am grateful for their unstinted support on
this initiative.
Best wishes,
SUNIL
KHANNA
Hon. President, AIA
President's Message - 2008
Dear Friends,
In the few years
since our inception, AIA as an apex body of all the leading automation companies
in India has been successful in increasing awareness amongst users about the benefits
of automation. Various 'industry-specific' seminars and user meets have been conducted
that evinced keen interest from new users who were hitherto skeptical about investing
in automation and deriving the benefits from a resultant reliable, safer and efficient
production facility. Pharma Tech 2008 and the previous summits in Automotive,
Textile, Food Processing, Mining & Metals, have been successful in sharing
the global best practices and change the perception that enterprise level automation
is not just the monopoly of large process industries. AIA continues to be a nodal,
vendor-neutral, platform for users, integrators and academia to exchange ideas
and disseminate information on latest technological developments.
The economy
seems to be looking up. Many major Projects have been cleared and it seems that
we are back on GDP growth rate of +8%. The lowering interest rates, high liquidity
in the economy and an increased consumption, is surely creating a "feel good
factor" within the businesses. The question, however, remains of building
new investments around cutting edge technologies and getting the best to work
for the Automation Industry in India. In today's world of global competitive existence,
it is the quality and efficiency, which would differentiate one stream from the
other. Going forward we will explore with many other stakeholders to enhance mindshare
for our industry. As you all know we are soon organizing India Automation 2009
Expo at Mumbai in collaboration with CII and look forward to everyone's active
involvement in making this event a success.
On behalf of the new Executive
Council, I take this opportunity to compliment and thank my predecessor, JP Singh,
on his untiring efforts and leadership during his tenure and would like to place
on record our gratitude for the contribution made by him.
Best wishes,
SUNIL
KHANNA
Hon. President, AIA
Past
President's Message, March, 2008
Dear Friends,
2008
has begun on an exciting note. We signed an agreement with CII to host 'India
Automation 2009' - our first, joint International Automation Exhibition &
Conference. This event will provide a platform for many industry verticals to
witness automation-enabled, global best practices, deployed in manufacturing and
infrastructure. And we return to Hyderabad with the Pharmatech 2008 symposium,
being supported by PHARMEXCIL.
According to IMS Health, the world's Top
20 pharmaceutical companies are responsible for roughly 65% of the global production
of drugs. This clearly demonstrates that the business is highly global, and consequently
the key competencies must be represented on a worldwide basis and be able to demonstrate
global compliance. This is the only way, with extensive efforts, extended internal
communication and networking, to accumulate experiences, partnerships, exchanges
and improved awareness. All of which are needed to serve global customers properly.
Products,
Services and Solutions must be compliant, according to the rules. But the people
involved in the business are of equal importance. All Staff supporting the regulated
industries must be trained on the Good Practices, this includes Management, Marketing
personnel, Sales, Project Teams, Sales engineers, Service staff, Documentation
specialists, etc.
For AIA, organizing the Pharmatech 2008 is just a first
step. We are glad that PHARMEXCIL has supported our learning initiative and in
doing so strengthened the possibilities of fulfilling on the global vision of
our exporting community. We look forward to taking this partnership forward through
other joint initiatives that will promote the capability and business success
of our respective member organisations.
Past President's Message, April, 2007
Manufacturing industries
in India - be they process manufacturing or discrete manufacturing have, over
the last 2-3 years, achieved a higher growth trajectory than ever before in our
history. Demand is burgeoning - be it cement and steel - the basic building blocks
of an economy, or be it consumer durables, automobiles, electronics or white goods.
Driven by growing disposable incomes, domestic demand alone accounts for much
of the growth. Given that global economies too are going through an unprecedented
growth cycle, clearly India has a huge opportunity to participate in global demand
fulfillment, particularly of "engineered manufactured" goods - not to
talk of product design and engineering services - PES.
Whilst China leads
in terms of mass manufactured goods, India has a great window of opportunity in
the "engineered-manufactured" space. In close competition for this space
are the emerging economies of Eastern Europe. If one analyses for manufactured
goods, Automation and productive use of assets would be high on the list of key
enablers that could have a positive impact on our global competitiveness.
Global
competitive pressures mandate that manufacturers seek higher economic returns
from production assets. At the same time, integrating these assets has become
quite a challenge, where disparate systems of various generations - supplied by
multiple vendors - are now the norm. Automation and plant information system integration
would necessarily play a key role in achieving both objectives - asset management
and information integration.
Then there is infrastructure. Power generation
and distribution, transportation infrastructure - airports, metro rail, highways;
upstream oil and gas exploration and development and transportation of hydrocarbons
- pipelines, in particular, are vital infrastructure elements that will fuel competitiveness.
What is interesting for both Automation providers and infrastructure developers
is that Automation is the key to maximizing the returns from infrastructure assets
too. SCADA for electrical transmission & distribution networks for pipeline
grids and water management systems; integrated airport automation, automated ticketing,
traffic management for rail and road networks as well as efficient use of power
generation assets are just some of the areas that automation is crucial to.
Automation
Tech 2007 and the CEO Roundtable featuring eminent industry leaders, will highlight
many of the areas of Manufacturing and Infrastructure that impact Global competitiveness
of Indian Industry. AIA believes this event will be the forerunner to many such
events that will focus attention on this crucial aspect of national endeavour.
Automation
is clearly then a key next enabler to global competitiveness in manufacturing
and infrastructure. IT is good, but can contribute little without the right Automation
at the plant or field level. AIA newsletters will continue to present themes that
will drive interest in our community to educate, collaborate, innovate and upgrade.
JP
SINGH
Past
President's Message, July 2006
The application of automation is currently
transitioning from the traditional productivity enhancement and cost reduction
thrust to more encompasing areas like quality, flexibility and time-to-market.
Another major shift in automation is the increased emphasis on reliability of
operations & "convertibility" in the industrial process. Business
owners are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from producing
Product 'A' to Product 'B' without having to completely rebuild the production
lines.
As market conditions continue to change, manufacturers are looking
for any extra advantage they can get to differentiate themselves in their competitive
space. World-class organizations are spending considerable effort and money to
invest in real-time data connectivity, aligning their manufacturing with the rest
of their supply chain to gain strategic advantage and make their manufacturing
operations drive business leadership. Automation technologies can empower manufacturers
with the intelligence and ability to "sense" critical activity at the
equipment, factory and enterprise levels as well as fluctuations in the supply
and purchase pipelines; "analyse" how to leverage production resources
throughout the manufacturing system; and "respond" by executing informed,
automated commands - all in real-time.
AIA represents a rapidly expanding
body of technology providers who encompass all three facets in their value proposition.
Having
overseen the successful launch of Automation Industry Association (AIA), Mr. Uppal
handed over charge to the new team of myself and Hon. Vice President Mr Ranjan
De at the Executive Council meeting on Feb 25, 2006. On behalf of members of the
Executive Council, I want to place on record our sincere thanks to Mr Ravi Uppal
for championing the cause of AIA in its formative period.
JP
Singh
