"Smart manufacturing to improve competitiveness, will not lead to job loss"

Industry 4.0, by all accounts, is going to be disruptive. It will make manufacturing companies more productive and change how factories look today. It will change the labour dynamics as well. In an interview with Business Today, Dr. Andreas Wolf, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing & Quality at Bosch Ltd. in India says companies will have to work to upskill its workforce.  

How would you define Industry 4.0?

It is kind of the fourth industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution was in the 19 century (mechanical production based on water and steam power). The next one was about mass production. In the 60s, there was the computerised control of machines. Now, there is the fourth, which has to do with connectivity. Technology is available and we can use the technology in a smart way. It will be interesting not just for manufacturing businesses but also for customers, consumers.

How do you see some of these technologies - Internet of Things, robotics, automation transforming manufacturing?

All these new technologies will mean some disruptive changes in the future. I see more opportunities in this. This will lead to more connectivity, to more competitiveness in companies.

Can you give us examples from Bosch on how Industry 4.0 is currently working?

We have 15 manufacturing locations in India. We want to use Industry 4.0 or smart manufacturing in our production lines in order to improve our competitiveness. There are many examples that show that by using connected industrial or smart manufacturing we can react much quicker and proactively to machine breakdowns. One classic example is spindle monitoring. When spindles fail, they have to be repaired. But when do they fail? Usually, they fail when you are not prepared for it. You don't have the spare parts. The idea now is to observe the spindles by simple vibration sensors and then based on a mathematical model, predict when it could fail. There is an automatic signal that goes to maintenance - make sure spare parts are available and plan proactive repair. This way, we can improve our productivity significantly.
Second is energy management. We have implemented a very interesting software system and have connected all machines so we know exactly the energy consumption per machine. This allows us to control which machine has to be switched on or stitched off. In two-three plants, the energy management system is already in place. The spindle monitoring system is implemented in two Bosch plants as well. The results are really promising.

How does Industry 4.0 impact the labour dynamics of the country? There is always a trade-off between automation and hiring people …

To be a manufacturing hub for the world, the industry has to improve its competitiveness. That means productivity and cost. It also means quality. Smart manufacturing is a very good approach for that. Will higher automation lead to less people? I don't think so. Why? In Europe, in the 90s, they came up with a very smart idea - Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). They said they wouldn't need people anymore. Computer after computers control each and everything. There was an idea - the plant manager goes home in the evening, leaves his plant to computers, and comes back the next morning to see how many parts have been produced. It has never worked. We need people who understand the processes in detail, and who can drive these new technologies. If we use smart manufacturing to improve competitiveness, it will not lead to less labour.

We need more labour because we can sell more products at attractive prices, at the best quality, inside and outside of India. However, the plants will look totally different. The operator who only inputs the part into the station and takes it out - he could be replaced in some cases by smart automation. But, we need these people to run the lines, to understand the processes, and to communicate with the machines in real time. We need higher qualification, we need training, we need more know-how. It is also our responsibility to provide this training here.

So we need to upskill our labour to adapt to Industry 4.0?

Yes, we definitely need to do it. At Bosch, we spend a lot of money every year into training and qualification of people.