Smart manufacturing will disrupt SMEs, say experts

CHENNAI: The emerging trend of smart manufacturing will be highly disruptive to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector, especially for those focused on the local market, concluded the deliberations made in a workshop on smart manufacturing organised by the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM) Kancheepuram.
Smart manufacturing is an emerging sector in manufacturing that involves more automated and IT driven tasks, with engineers analysing machine data to improve operational efficiency . The institute is involved in promoting IT-enabled design and manufacturing.
Experts from the industry , academia and government, who participated in the workshop, said it is important to not only raise awareness of this issue but also help SMEs to train their workforce and exploit new entrepreneurial opportunities emerging from technologies such as 3D printing.
In the coming months, IIITDM will organise a series of workshops along with government bodies to spread awareness and encourage SMEs to explore new opportunities through its newly-launched technology business incubator called MaDeIT Innovation Foundation.