PUNE: Centre for Industry 4 (C4i4), formed by the central government to help small and medium industries under the Samarth Udyog initiative, plans to launch templates for automation and start a support group for digitisation.
Five applications developed by the C4i4- e-scheduling, order traceability, shop floor planner, digital service management and sales configurator_ will be launched on Tuesday by Union minister for heavy industries Mahendra Nath Pandey.
The company is also in talks with universities to launch sub-centres to help manufacturing clusters automate their processes. C4i4 is also working with students in capacity building.
“We have some research students pursuing their PhD or we are helping them ideate and create what is required by the industry. We had two batches of engineering faculty who were trained in the latest technology. We have given internships to about 200 engineering students. We are trying to partner with more universities and educational institutes for capacity building,” Dattatraya Navalgundkar, director of C4i4, said.
Navalgundkar said small and medium industries are reluctant to update. Secondly, he said that there is also fear to invest in digitisation as it would need updating resulting in financial loss.
“We are looking for standard templates that they can use instantly without too much research and development process. We are trying to train one person per unit in the latest technology as well as ideation, creative thinking so that they can understand the needs of their respective units and use technology internally,” he added.
Groups working with factories can approach C4i4 with their problems and plans for advice on SMEs’ automation. Startups working in automation or manufacturing segments can connect with C4i4 for collaborative work.
