Indian factories and automation: The ‘everything bagel’ is here

What was once just some occasional cherry on the cake, has now become an all-you-want seasoning. The bagel of manufacturing is now surpassing the dough-nut phase of intelligent automation.

From the initial, and obvious, surface-areas of immediate sweet-spots like banking, retail and IT; advanced automation breakthroughs like robots, visual intelligence, AI, connectivity, analytics and sensors are now entering the more savoury sides of business landscape. Some factories in India are designing and making better products, making them faster, making them with smarter QA, and in machines that can be not just run but maintained without too much sweat. It’s the turn of factories now to smell this new technology-spread.

Whether it is Mahindra Accelo trying to rethink real-time plant visibility, optimised production, and improved quality control; or contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies exploring AI-powered Industry 4.0 across 24 plants; or Chitale Dairy milking IoT and RFID; or Foxconn handing over 80 per cent production tasks to AI and planning use of humanoid robots; or Ola using digital twins for faster design to commissioning in manufacturing operations (Spinning up its largest 2-wheeler plant in just eight months)- the bagel of a typical Indian factory is neither boring nor stale anymore. And it’s getting hotter and hotter.

The future of robotics and physical automation in manufacturing involves native AI integration for adaptability, human-robot collaboration, swarm robotics intelligence, and robot-as-a-service (RaaS) models lowering lower entry barriers, observes Charlie Dai, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.

Automation is entering a new phase where these technologies are not just improving operations but fundamentally changing how businesses are built and run, highlights Sivakumar Krishnamoorthy, Sr. GM, Sales and Marketing, Epson India Pvt Ltd.

Slicing The Bagel- What’s Inside?

A lot of new flavours are being felt in areas like Design and product assembly lines, maintenance and factory uptime. It’s not just about IoT or plain-Jane AI anymore. The ambition and execution have moved beyond these basic automation levers.

Vivek Lohia, Managing Director, Jupiter Wagons Limited (an Indian private manufacturer of railway freight wagons, passenger coaches, wagon components) gives a peek into how automation in manufacturing is moving decisively into areas once thought too complex for machines. “In global rail systems, for instance, a 650-metre freight train that traditionally requires a 24-hour halt and four to six hours of manual brake checks can now be cleared through fully-automated brake testing systems. This dramatically improves turnaround time and eliminates human risk. With its rapidly expanding freight corridors, India is taking great strides in adopting these practices.”

For India, embedding such intelligent systems into wagons and bogies will be as transformative as electrification once was.

- Vivek Lohia Managing Director, Jupiter Wagons Limited

An Indian manufacturing plant of one of our customers has recently tried a better, lesser expensive and simpler alternative to IoT, tells Suhani Gambhir Dey, Chief Customer Success Officer, Presence 360. “We are trying to use intelligent cameras for defect detection through new advancements of the AI agent manufacturing module. These cameras do not just give the advantage of visualisation for spotting defects, but they also liberate the factory from hassles of installation, integration, software and expensive budgets that IoT requires. They can give real-time prompts and also help in machine-upkeep.”

Intelligent cameras liberate the factory from hassles of installation, integration, software and expensive budgets that IoT requires.

- Suhani Gambhir Dey, Chief Customer Success Officer, Presence 360

Consider how AI-powered robots will optimise product design via real-time simulation and enable flexible assembly lines, Dai points out. “Predictive maintenance through agentic analytics will anticipate failures and cut downtime. Cobots will improve uptime through adaptive task handling. And humanoid robots will facilitate automation of repetitive and dangerous tasks with reduced operational costs and errors.”

Condition monitoring is another frontier, Lohia illustrates. “Internationally, wagons already carry integrated diagnostic modules that continuously track axle health, braking efficiency, load distribution, and even handbrake status. The result is safer, more reliable operations with far lower maintenance overheads. For India, embedding such intelligent systems into wagons and bogies will be as transformative as electrification once was.”

Predictive maintenance like fixing machines before they break can greatly improve factory uptime, Krishnamoorthy seconds. “It can reduce unexpected breakdowns and cut maintenance costs. This leads to big improvements in equipment performance and protects profits.”

Robots are moving from being isolated machines behind safety cages to becoming collaborative partners on the shop floor.

- Sivakumar Krishnamoorthy, Sr. GM, Sales and Marketing, Epson India Pvt Ltd.

And smarter equipment maintenance is just one part of this big swing of the pendulum. The needle has moved towards the more initial stages of a factory already. Like design.

True competitiveness in manufacturing now hinges on integrating automation right from the design stage and not just on the assembly floor, indicates Krishnamoorthy. “By connecting CAD environments with robots friendly jigs, manufacturers can reduce programming times by 30 per cent, speeding up product launches and boosting agility in responding to market demands.”

You can now walk around a plant inside your computer- thanks to the power of modelling technology. “In brownfield set-ups as well, 3D scans can do a lot of modelling. Once all that is in place, sensors and IoT can be installed easily. A lot of plant surveillance can happen in 3D models and there is no need for people to be deployed on watching and reporting faults or maintenance issues. Even the maintenance inventory parts can be improved a lot- one can just see which ACs and where they need compressor replacements- and do the needful. For any business, time is money- and that can be saved here- a lot.” Explains Anil Sivadas, Chairman and CEO, Enventure.

Some new Sesame seeds and Poppy seeds

If you thought it’s just chic robots that we can expect walking around in our factories, well, there’s more. Like better connectivity tools, cobots and smart sensors to add to all that.

Marc Fleschen, Chairman, Light Communication Alliance told us in an interview how new advancements are creating new advantages in manufacturing applications. “Think of how LiFi and 5G/6G, when combined, can create robust and comprehensive communication networks that leverage both RF and Visible Light Communication (VLC) or Infra-Red (IR) technologies. For instance, in Industry 4.0, LiFi Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is specifically used for highly secured, high bit rate communications between production machines and ceiling-located network access points.”

In Industry 4.0, LiFi Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is specifically used for highly secured, high bit rate communications between production machines and ceiling-located network access points.

- Marc Fleschen, Chairman, Light Communication Alliance

These leaps are necessary as the current industry 4.0 paradigm demands solutions offering diverse services, massive connectivity, easy capacity upgrades, ultra-low latencies for deterministic services, and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication. “Here, a ring optical network, supporting 10 Gbps access points with a 100 Gbps path-through for M2M communications, serves as the backbone. This is combined with Wi-Fi for global coverage, LiFi FWA for highly-secured, high-bit rate communications between production machines and ceiling-located network access points, and OCC for accurate robot geo-localisation. The optical ring network provides a sustainable backbone for fixed-mobile convergence and enables M2M communications, vital for industrial automation.” Fleschen explained.

Krishnamoorthy adds how robots are moving from being isolated machines behind safety cages to becoming collaborative partners on the shop floor. “AI integration is making them more adaptive and responsive, allowing manufacturing systems to adjust to real-time changes in demand, supply, and processes. This makes factories not only more productive but also more resilient to global disruptions. Using advanced robots like Epson 6 axis and SCARA Robots on the assembly line, helps increase output and maintain consistent quality.”

Sachin Arora, Head of Connectivity & IoT, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), India shines a light on how IoT is playing its part. “Secure IoT connectivity is significantly transforming automation and efficiency in the Indian manufacturing sector by enabling real-time data exchange, facilitating predictive maintenance, and minimising downtime.”

Automation in Indian manufacturing is not about replacing jobs but about augmenting human capability enabling consistency, speed, and safety while keeping people at the heart of operations.

- Manish Patel, An automotive industry CIO

Not Just New York’s anymore

When it comes to India, we have both a special context and a unique appetite with automation here.

Let’s ask Manish Patel, former CIO of MG Motor India Pvt Ltd (who has made many remarkable strides in the automotive landscape) about the specific Indian context of automation in manufacturing. He distills his experience well when he tells that automation in Indian manufacturing is not about replacing jobs but about augmenting human capability enabling consistency, speed, and safety while keeping people at the heart of operations. “Our automation journey must be modular, cost-effective, and scalable, so that MSMEs as well as large enterprises can adopt Industry 4.0 without leaving anyone behind.”

The country, as Dai sees it, has substantial strengths in a range of areas, such as warehouse automation, logistics cobots, and affordable industrial robots and drones.

India’s position in the global automation landscape is evolving, says an upbeat Krishnamoorthy. “In 2023, India ranked 7th globally in annual robot installations, deploying 8,510 new Robots. India is among the fastest scaling automation adopters worldwide, even outpacing several mature economies. Growth opportunities are coming in areas like automobiles, electronics, electricals and precision assembly, where using automation can give companies a strong edge over competitors.”

As assessed by a report from the International Federation of Robotics in 2024, India is one of the fastest growing emerging Asian economies. Robot installations have seen a rise of 59 per cent to 8,510 units in 2023, a new high. Specially noteworthy is how the demand from the automotive industry rose to 3,551 units - a 139 per cent spike and both car manufacturers and suppliers contributed to this development.

There is a lot that we need to put on the front-burner, though. “India still needs to catch up in core components like AI chips and actuators, as well as high-precision manufacturing robots. Accelerating R&D partnerships with policy support will be critical next steps.” Weighs in Dai.

India’s robot density still remains low at just 7 units per 10,000 workers compared to the global average of 126. This gap should be viewed as a massive opportunity, suggests Krishnamoorthy. “Even within the automotive sector, the density is 148 Robots per 10,000 employees, which falls short of South Korea’s 2,867, Germany’s 1,500, and China’s 772. These contrasts underline the vast headroom India has for automation-driven growth.” India must focus on three levels: localising critical robotics component supply chains, investing in workforce skilling at scale, and channelling targeted capital into automation across diverse sectors.

He tells how Seiko Epson Corporation is also developing its first collaborative robot, planned for launch in FY2025. “While initial releases will focus on Japan and Europe markets, a phased rollout to the Indian market will follow.”

India is rapidly adopting robotics in manufacturing, positioning itself as a potential leader in intelligent manufacturing. This shift is reshaping industrial culture, boosting resilience, and redefining global competitiveness beyond just efficiency gains.

Lohia points out our strengths lie in scale, engineering talent, and proven frugal innovation; though to catch up, we must focus on reskilling workers, enforcing stricter safety protocols, and managing the turbulence of integrating automation into legacy facilities.

The Black Hole Bagel?

As attractive and revolutionary this advent of automation is, some holes still remain to be looked into. Like labor replacement, robot taxes, turbulence in brownfield facilities and accidents due to automation changing so much in the factories.

Dai avers that automation may displace low-skill jobs but will address labor shortages. As to Robot taxes, they will become a norm in the long term amid the rise of robotics to balance innovation and social disruption. “Robotics governance is becoming increasingly critical to ensure security, privacy, ethics, and regulatory compliance.” He feels.

India still needs to catch up in core components like AI chips and actuators, as well as high-precision manufacturing robots.

- Charlie Dai, VP and principal analyst at Forrester

Lohia opines that while debates on robot-taxes may arise, the more urgent priority is ensuring that the efficiency and safety gains of automation translate into new opportunities for the workforce and shared gains.

Krishnamoorthy views these issues with similar optimistic beats. “By assigning robots to repetitive, hazardous, or heavy tasks; manufacturers free human talent to focus on higher-value, creative, and supervisory roles. Admittedly, integrating automation into brownfield facilities brings its own set of challenges, especially when aligning with legacy processes. However, with careful planning, phased implementation, and a strong focus on upskilling, companies can ensure a smooth transition, enabling both technology and people to thrive together.”

Notwithstanding these challenges and evolution-points, the future looks tantalising.

“The future of robotics in manufacturing is about more than efficiency gains—it is about reshaping industrial culture, building resilience, and redefining global competitiveness. India, with its rapid adoption and supportive ecosystem, is not just catching up but positioning itself as a potential leader in this next era of intelligent manufacturing.” Captures Krishnamoorthy.

We might soon come to a point where automation and robots move everything in our factories to a new era altogether. Well, everything but the kitchen sink.

pratimah@cybermedia.co.in