The 10 Most Advanced Industrial Automation Companies

â„¢ www.insightssuccess.in June 2018

10 Advanced Industrial The

Industry-Evolution

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AUTOMATION

Innovations in the Industrial Automation Field

COMPANIES

Cyber-Talk Reinforcing CyberSecurity in the Era of Automation

Ravi Shankar Natarajan Managing Director

NARAIURAN CONTROLS

Shaping the Automation Arena by Delivering Smart Industrial Automation

Editorial

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utomation technology is taking everyone on ride and its positive effects have are started resonating in all business vertical including industrial automation. According to reports, industrial automation and instrumentation market in India have a bright future, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7% during 2018-2022.

The ability of enhancing the operations for a sustainable development will be the motivating factor for the growth in discrete industry.

Despite having this optimistic projection, the industry has to face some tough challenges to march ahead with full vigor. The cost of automation is one such issue. Bringing the whole manual setup on the automation is not as easy as it looks. It requires strong financial resources to engineer and adopt automation technology in a business.

Growth of Automation is Inevitable

Hardware solutions like PLC’s (programmable logic controllers) to intelligent robots, quality control tools like inspection cameras and sensors are an inseparable part of an automated production system.

These aspects provides a great benefit to the business which augment the overall efficiency of operations but requires a higher initial cost which is a challenge for any business which is part of the industry but going through a tough time. However, with the passage of time, the cost of technology declines that allows small and medium-size businesses to adopt innovative production solutions.

Labor market is another challenge which is a much more grave issue that needs to be handled very carefully. Millions enter into workforce every year, and there is a huge workforce already across the industries that are employed. Corporates thus need to take the cognizance of their displacement by upgrading their skill set and providing other opportunities that arise with the implementation varied automation technologies. For example, food processing industry has high potential for automation, but the decision to adopt automation will need to consider the cost of manual processing, the abundance of people who are willing to work, benefits that automation can produce, nature of competition and newer roles and responsibilities for the displaced personnel.

Despite these challenges, deployment of automated systems can bring plethora of performance benefits for any business include greater throughput, high-quality products, improved safety conditions, higher productivity, and competitive edge over the peers. These benefits will ultimately attract every business towards automation, sooner or later as someone rightly said: the cost of benefits overcome the challenges with the passage of time.

Ashwini Deshmukh

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Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Shraddha Deshpande Managing Editor Rajarshi Chatterjee Executive Editor Ashwini Deshmukh Copy Editor Ashwini S. Deshpande Contributors Bhavithiran, Anmol Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Priyanka Rajage Picture Editor Alex Noel Art Editor Shweta Ambilwade Visualiser Shweta Shinde Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Ashwini, Meera, Tejaswini Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Bangade Database Management Prashant Chevale Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com

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Cover Story

Contents Articles Cyber-Talk Reinforcing CyberSecurity in the Era of Automation

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Industry-Evolution Innovations in the Industrial Automation Field

38 CXO Standpoints Naraiuran Controls Shaping the Automation Arena

by Delivering Smart Industrial Automation

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Interview Data-Trend A Meaningful Dialogue with Data

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NCC Telecom Delivering Astounding Automation, Control, & Security Systems

Expert's Outlook Understanding the Industrial Control System

B&R Industrial Automation A Global Player Delivering Cutting Edge Automation Products

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Ossian Agro Automation

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Transforming the Rural Facets with its Finest Irrigation Automation Tools

Reex Technologies An Efď€ cient Organization Taking Automation System to the Next Level

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Softhard

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Global Specialists in Hardware and Software Solutions

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Technology Advancements Fostering the Industrial Automation Industry

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oday, to resolve the automation and control related issues, industries are using the ever changing technologies in control systems. These advanced control systems require high quality and reliable control systems to deliver efficient production through manufacturing processes. The smart devices developed in this industry is efficaciously controlling the processes along with communicating flawlessly without linking to other control devices like PLC’s.

In the issue of “The 10 Most Advanced Industrial Automation Companies”, we have presented the leading companies in the Industrial Automation industry, delivering hi-tech and supremely advanced automated products and services.

This issue specially features Naraiuran Controls (India) in the Cover Story. Naraiuran Controls is the leading organization in the industrial automation era which offers the finest and smart manufacturing automation.

Besides, we have listed; B&R Industrial Automation, which combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers with complete solutions for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology; Ossian Agro Automation, the leading organization which provides appropriate e-devices to the rural areas for better implementation of irrigation systems; Reflex Technologies, which is an expert organization providing End-of-Line Automation solutions; Softhard Group of Companies, which is a research, design and manufacturing company with domain proficiency in hi- technology electronics solutions; Delta Electronics India, the world's largest provider of switching power supplies and DC brushless fans, as well as a major source for power management solutions, components, display solutions, industrial automation, networking products, and renewable energy solutions; Falcon Autotech, which is one of the World’s most respected and trusted brand in Intra-logistics Warehouse Automation Space; Mikro Innotech India, who leverage on its in-depth knowledge and proven design & implementation experiences to meet the complex automation systems needs of multinational customers in industries such as healthcare, Automobiles, electrical / electronics and consumer products; Schneider Electric, which is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries; and Voltas Limited, India’s largest air conditioning company, and one of the world’s premier engineering solutions providers and project specialists.

We have encompassed the Expert’s Outlook ‘Understanding the Industrial Control System’, by Falgun Rathod, the Managing Director of Cyber Octet Pvt Ltd, and Data-Trend ‘A Meaningful Dialogue with Data’ by Valmet Automation Pvt. Ltd. We have also featured ‘Interview with Insights Success’ with NCC Telecom, a boutique technology company which designs and develops indigenous products such as home/lighting automation, building/video intercom systems in India.

Also, we have included ‘Innovations in the Industrial Automation Field’ and ‘Reinforcing CyberSecurity in the Era of Automation ’scripted by our in-house editors in the wonderful pages of this magazine.

So, flip through the delightful pages of our magazine and experience the advancements of the industrial automation industry!

Cover Story

Ravi Shankar Natarajan Managing Director

Naraiuran Controls Shaping the Automation Arena by Delivering Smart Industrial Automation

We predict changes & respond in real time

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he automation industry paradigm is shifting towards more customized and flexible production. Automation has its own pattern of high production volumes where the production and the products are always kept changing. While global production volumes remain high, automation now has to be flexible enough to deal with rapidly changing product configurations. Co-operation of Human–Robot as a hybrid team is the collaborative method towards enhanced flexibility and Intelligence.

Our team is sandwiched with multidisciplinary & functional expertise which helps to understand our customer

As every industry is active with the Industry 4.0 strategy, the manufacturing industry is getting ready for smart factory where automation and data exchanges has big role to play in manufacturing technologies. IoT and cloud computing plays a vital role in designing that will reshape the culture of manufacturing process flow.

Headquartered in Chennai, Naraiuran Controls is one of the leading Turnkey automation companies in India which provides end-to-end engineering solutions from the conceptual design to buy off support.

Naraiuran specializes in designing, engineering, manufacturing & integration, and consulting of a complete plant and has more than two decades of vast multi-industry experience. The company has been splendidly working with the functional knowledge of the diverse spectrum of industries which offers quality deliveries to the customers.

Naraiuran has been evolved from a small startup to an established technology partner of various renowned clients across the world.

A Leading Light of Naraiuran Ravi Shankar Natarajan is the Managing Director of Naraiuran Controls who established the company in 1997 with his inherent potential and a solid mission of building integrity and innovation. Ravi Shankar is a dynamic entrepreneur who thinks beyond himself and his team believes him for his strategic vision. He has a rich experience in all verticals of the industry which has made the company as a path-breaking organization in delivering the finest and advanced engineering solutions for the industry.

Ravi Shankar is an influential leader who believes in growing consistently and regarding this, he says, “I am gaining experience as I take up challenges of facing high winds, low altitude, mental and physical fatigue, and I keep going as I believe that organization has no age.” For him, business is ‘Beyond Making Money’. Under his leadership, the company is shifting to the next spectrum of growth and enduring both geographical and domain expansions.

Delivering Substantial Industrial Automation Solutions Naraiuran focuses on all segments of the automation industry and marvelously combines them with its powerful technology team and delivers a sophisticated portfolio of engineering services.

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The industry paradigm is shifting towards more customized and more flexible production. Automation has its pattern of high production volumes where the production is changing and the product is changing. While global production volumes remain high, automation now has to be flexible enough to deal with rapidly changing product configurations. Co-operation of Human – Robot as hybrid team is the collaborative method towards enhanced flexibility and Intelligence.

As the manufacturers need to achieve shorter time-tomarket and reduce product life-cycle costs, including energy consumption, while ensuring quality, reliability and economic efficiency adapting Robotic automation and Data Integrity will support to meet Industry 4.0. Our expertise and our team ability to identify opportunities in the production give us the ability to deliver automation solutions meeting Industry 4.0.

The Active Work Culture and Stout Team of Naraiuran A healthy working environment is the most pivotal requirement for every organization which influences its employees and makes them feel valued. Naraiuran offers an interactive environment where each employee is treated as a family member and it also arranges various employee engagement activities. The company provides an open door policy, professional infrastructure, and diverse opportunities to explore their talent. These policies facilitate the employees to improve their crucial factors such as better quality of work, strong team work, and decision making ability. The prime motto of Naraiuran behind organizing such activities is to encourage the organization’s atmosphere which makes it more energetic and apparently increases the overall work performance of employees. It also believes that the pivotal aspects such as long-term trusting relationships with every employee and encouraging their contributions as well as their personal development are the rock pillars of the company’s success.

With Naraiuran, our customers always have a reliable partner to rely on Naraiuran firmly believes in the power of teamwork and it largely invests in team building as well as on the infrastructure for long-term exploration. The company has a robust team in the Electronics, Mechanical, Robotic, Automation, and IT domains which build innovative ideas for the industry. Its competency team delivers the value proposition to its customers, from design engineering to production. It is an efficacious organization which sees through the gaps as well as the opportunities for the improvement of productivity in discrete or process manufacturing plant. The company’s sturdy team is all focused on maintaining their existing customers through ongoing sales, and encourages referrals to the new and potential clients through their high quality service, product, and price.

Unique strategies to Accomplish Customer Satisfaction Naraiuran associates with its customer as a technology partner on the board more than an integrator. The company believes that its experience and expertise makes it capable of building customized solutions as per the needs of the customers. While elaborating the distinct tactics the company implements, Ravi Shankar assert, “Our project team is well-trained to provide the specifications that we

We create a digital link between operations and information technology

agree. The foremost pivotal differential we offer is our approach to new projects, attitude to nurture the relationships.” He further adds, “Understanding the concern at the time of execution and being with the client even after the execution until we see the smile on client’s face brings us real happiness.”

The Future Advancements of Naraiuran Naraiuran is heading with a vision of continuous improvement in providing high customer satisfaction and maintaining its supreme services and solutions. The company is all set to apply Industry 4.0 strategy which would assist it to build innovative systems and solutions.

Articulating the future of the company, Ravi Shankar says, “We are transforming towards Smart Industrial Automation meeting Industry 4.0. Our infrastructure is getting transformed to stimulate the client requirement in-house and becoming smarter and more interconnected with every passing second.”

A team with ‘Centre of Excellence’ is formed to analyze industry gaps and opportunity for automation technology to meet Industry 4.0 standards. With the functional expertise, Naraiuran is working towards building “Industrial Digital Ecosystem”. Naraiuran is also increasing its breadth of reach to the client from turnkey control & automation with Robotic Automation, cloud integration, IoT for tracking system & monitoring, and Augmented reality for the manufacturing industry.

We build Industrial Digital ecosystem with Plant Integrated to Cloud-IoTAugmented Reality application

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Phone - India: 020- 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 USA: 302-319-9947 Email: info@insightssuccess.in in

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Company Name

Management

Brief

B&R Industrial Automation Private Limited. br-automation.com

Jhankar Dutta Managing Director

B&R combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers with complete solutions virtually in every industry for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology.

Delta Electronics India Pvt. Ltd deltaelectronicsindia.com

Dalip Sharma Managing Director

Delta Group is the world’s largest provider of switching power supplies and DC brushless fans, as well as a major source for power management solutions, components, display solutions, industrial automation, networking products, and renewable energy solutions.

Falcon Autotech Private Limited falconautoonline.com

Vineet Baid CEO & Co-founder

Falcon is one of the World’s most respected and trusted brand in Intra-logistics Warehouse Automation Space.

Mikro Innotech India Pvt Ltd mikroindia.com

Rajesh Pawar Managing Director

Mikro Innotech leverage on its in-depth knowledge and proven design & implementation experiences to meet the complex automation systems needs of multinational customers in industries such as healthcare, Automobiles, electrical / electronics and consumer products.

Naraiuran Controls (India) Pvt Ltd naraiuran.com

Ravi Shankar Natarajan Managing Director

Naraiuran Controls is the leading organization in the industrial automation era which offers the finest and smart manufacturing automation.

Ossian Agro Automation Pvt Ltd nanoganesh.com

Reflex Technologies reflexautomation.com

Santosh Ostwal CEO, Rajarshee Ostwal Founder-Director

Ossian Agro Automation is the leading organization which provides appropriate e-devices to the rural areas for better implementation of irrigation systems.

Rajesh Ananthakrishnan Reflex Technologies is the leading organization which provides End-of-Line Automation solutions.

Founder

Schneider Electric schneider-electric.com

Anil Chaudhry Country President & Managing Director

Schneider Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries.

Softhard Automation Pvt Ltd softhard.in

Milind Jagtap Chief Mentor & Chairman

Softhard is a research, design and manufacturing company with domain proficiency in hi technology electronics solutions. Their proficiency lies in designing, development and fabrication of micro controller/ digital signal processor based product and solutions to meet industry business needs.

Voltas Limited voltas.com

Pradeep Bakshi Director & Chief Executive Officer

Voltas is India’s largest air conditioning company, and one of the world’s premier engineering solutions providers and project specialists.

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Interview With Insights Success

Telecom Delivering Astounding Automation, Control, &

ecurity ystems

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Chirag Ajmera Director

We aim to design indigenous, modular, & cost-effec ve automa on systems that are simple to use

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June 2018

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oday, technology is making its move in almost every sector of the world and home automation does not set apart from that. Home Automation has been around since many years in terms of lighting and simple appliance control, and recently, technology has caught up for the idea of the interconnected world. One such organization which is very keen in building quality control and home automation systems is NCC Telecom, which has a core focus on open systems, industry standards, and product innovation.

In an Interview with Insights Success, Chirag Ajmera, the Director of Technology & Business at NCC Telecom, shared the unique products and services the company offers to its customers. He has also shared his views and success mantra in making the company one of the leading organizations in the automation industry.

on all areas of product, engineering and customer happiness.

Chirag Ajmera’s purpose for joining NCC is to continue the growth of the home company and to maintain profit margins. He believes this will be accomplished by a continued focus on the culture, people, technology, efficiencies and operating costs.

Chirag holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Engineering in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai as well as a Master’s degree in Computer Science from University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

3. What kind of Automation services/ solutions does your company provide that makes you stand out from the competitors?

1. Kindly tell us about your company.

Digital Dreams - Living Simplified

NCC Telecom Pvt. Ltd. is an entrepreneurial technology company headquartered in Mumbai City. We work on interesting products with smart people, and treat everyone like royalty. Our key products are Digital Dreams - Home / Lighting Automation, Video Apartment & Intercom system with 4 zone security and all of which are designed & developed indigenously. Our focus on open systems, industry standards, and product innovation has kept us in the forefront of technical and market advancements in the control and automation industry; making us one of the leading manufacturers in INDIA. We value our customers and work hard to maintain the highest level of service to our customers.

It is a one stop solution to unify all the lifestyle products you love and create an experience you can’t live without.

By integrating everything from lighting, AV, HVAC, security—even smartphones and tablets—Digital Dreams enhances your everyday world to be more convenient, intelligent, safe & efficient.

2. Briefly, tell us about the CEO/Founder of the company.

Chirag Ajmera serves as the Director of Technology & Business at NCC and is one of the owners of the company.

Chirag’s main focus is to plan and manage all activities of smart home software/product development and the IT infrastructure alongwith growing the company by 15-20% yoy.

His extensive understanding of the latest technology trends provides the foresight for future product development. His technical & problem resolution management skills, coupled with his dedication to customer service have proven to be a true value-added asset to the organization. His work is split between growing the company and working with the team

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Technology makes life easier, design makes it more enjoyable!

The Infinity collection of switches rewrites the rules of design, making your home stand out from the pack.

4. Kindly brief us about the unique strategies that you use in your company.

Modular Solution - We don’t mandate a consumer to buy the most advanced smart home solution, rather we promote “start with basics & keep adding over time”, under that one can buy simple touch switch making basic lighting control easy while giving home a unique decor.

Diverse Offerings - Smart home solutions are confined to certain range of products eg. only switches, centralized solutions etc. With us, it is different, we have a wide range of product offerings which can cater to a single room upto a mansion Make-In-India - Now smart home is no longer restricted to the few select

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5. Kindly brief us about the most satisfactory experience with a client. What kind of game-changing services have you provided them?

We have multiple such instances, but one of our most valued customer is Lodha developers We started business with them in 2010 bagging 140 apartment project to provide smart home solution. Our diligent services, unique offerings and value for money solution rewarded us 3 more projects from them which accounted for a total of 857 apartments. It was our biggest milestone then and we would always be indebted to Lodha group.

6. How do you work on your long-term relationship with your clients?

Prompt service requests & best after sales support - Whatsapp, Support portal, twitter and facebook chat Tech Upgrades - We launched support for Alexa in Nov 2016 & support for Siri in Nov 2017, so consumer gets the latest update in the same hardware he/she is using.

7. What are the values and factors that you attribute your success to? Also, suggest the one quote which adorns your company very well.

Truth, Optimal solution offering &best-in-class services.

“Walk the talk” - we are a company who will show everything that we speak/recommend which is unusual in smart home industry.

8. Kindly brief us about the Automation trends?

For now, automation trends include - Voice controls, AI & Touch 9. What are the future advancements of your company and how well-equipped are you?

We constantly keep upgrading the hardware and software used in our smart home solution and we have the appropriate team of vendors and suppliers to bring new and innovative products in the segment. As far as the future advancements are considered, we shall innovate in the periphery of smart home with increased intelligence in the system such that user/consumer actions are automated and are transparent without requiring user intervention thus increasing convenience of using a smart home system.

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B&R Industrial Automation: A Global Player Delivering Cutting Edge Automation Products

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he manufacturing industries are on the rise worldwide which are evolving and adopting the next generation technology solutions. With these technology transformations, Indian players are not only becoming increasingly competitive but also serving the ever-growing demand of domestic and international market.

The initiatives and policies from the Indian government such as ‘Make in India’, infrastructure development are aiding ambitions of SMEs, thus creating an attractive business environment for the Indian industry.

An Enthusiastic and Adept Leader of B&R Jhankar Dutta is the Managing Director of B&R India.

Jhankar holds a PG degree in Business Management – Marketing after completing his graduation in Electronics engineering and then joined the field of automation. With an extensive experience of over more than a decade in the industrial automation, he is specialized in machine and factory automation in different industry verticals. Jhankar began his B&R career in International Sales at Austria.

Subsequently he was heading one of the major offices of B&R India in preparation for his new role.

On July 6, 2017, an innovative automation company, B&R Industrial Automation Private Limited became a business unit of the ABB Group with its headquarters in Austria. As a global leader in industrial automation, it combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers with complete solutions virtually in every industry for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology. The industrial IoT communication standards like OPC UA, Powerlink and Open Safety as well as the powerful Automation Studio software development environment are constantly redefining the future of automation engineering. The innovative spirit that keeps B&R at the forefront of industrial automation is driven by a true commitment to simplify the processes and exceeding its customer expectations.

B&R Factory’s Advanced Automation Applications and Services B&R is well-known as a technology leader and takes pride in delivering cutting edge technology products. The company provides unique solutions to the machine builders and factory operators in various industries namely packaging, plastics, printing and paper, textiles, automobiles, food and beverages, semiconductors, wood, metal and mining, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Over 4000 machine builders and 30000 plants and factories from around the world trust in B&R. Even the machine builders from India have been associated with B & R over many years, which is strongly resonated in the number of customers visiting their flagship, interactive event called Innovation Day.

With over 200+ offices worldwide, the company provides an entire range of products and software based openarchitecture solutions for machine and factory automation.

By pairing the B&R’s innovative products and software solutions with ABB’s world leading offering in robotics, process automation, digitalization and electrification, they have expanded their position in industrial automation. At present, B&R is uniquely positioned to seize the growth opportunities resulting from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

B&R acts as a key enabler for companies moving in the direction of Industry 4.0 by offering them technologies & solutions. This facilitation improves the productivity, efficiency and flexibility of their machines and factories.

B&R’s Orange Box lets user’s access various parameters and process data from digitally isolated machinery. The Orange Box brings smart-factory intelligence to brownfield installations with cost- effectiveness. It reads data from the machines without making any changes to the existing hardware or software.

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B&R also realize that a product with high features is insufficient from the market-leader situations. Hence, they focus on having professional manpower’s who have mastery over the products to help their customers select and implement the new products and features.

They provide integrated one-stop solutions for machine factory automation applications and services.

It also serves as a perfect automation partner to machine builders helping them achieve a successful Industrial IoT implementation. In addition, they also offer complete assistance and guidance to their customers during their project design and implementation.

APROL from B&R acts as a middleware and simplifies process data capture including energy and condition monitoring. It collects, monitors, logs and analyzes data, along with providing extensive reports and trends for real time decision making. Users thus do not need different systems for satisfying different needs of energy, condition monitoring and data acquisition and everything can be handled in a single system.

Condition monitoring systems help in predicting the behavior of the machines and reducing unplanned downtimes. APROL PDA can be used to monitor one or more lines of machines in a factory. A clear overview of the entire plant, including aggregated status signals, makes it possible to assess data from individual production lines or an entire plant at a glance. APROL is equipped with comprehensive analysis and reporting tools that generate individual reports at the push of a button. These analysis and reporting tools round off the functionality of the automation platform and make the system an ideal tool to meet the challenges of the future. Factory operators get a complete view of Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE), energy data and condition data at their fingertips.

Enhancing Customer Support Experience Over the years, B&R has consistently grown with their customers playing a vital role in its success. Together ™

June 2018

Jhankar Dutta Managing Director

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We develop scalable

hardware and software solutions

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Successive World-Class Customer Support of B&R B&R’s innovations in its products and technologies are an ideal partner for achieving a cost effective, high performance, modular machines and production units.

B&R has been a believer in open source architectures for over a decade. Ethernet Powerlink, the open source real time deterministic Ethernet communication acts as a backbone for all B&R systems.

ready for Industrial IoT providing Perfection in

Automation

with their customers, B&R wants to pursue their goals and objectives and consolidate the future. “Our mission is to enhance customer support experience and deliver satisfaction efficiently in a shortest possible time. We are proud to say that we are providing best in class service and support to our customers. Our world-class support will definitely enhance our customer’s experience, enabling them to offer their customers faster service and reduce machine downtime” states Jhankar Dutta.

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Cyber-Talk

Reinforcing

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he increased use of IT solutions in the industrial industry has led the management of the control systems to a difficult level, making it vulnerable to outside breaches, especially cyber-attacks. As a general precaution, industries should always be ready for any unexpected situations, activities or occasions and mainly assaults. Industries are in a search of vital security solutions due to the proliferation of cyber-attacks over the past decade. These attacks have rendered companies in the loss of their brand power, monetary loss, damage to the equipment, and infrastructure, tearing alongside the trust of quality and confidential information.

Threats to industrial automation are very much different from IT threats. The difference lies in the matters of workplace security, production downtime, process disruptions and physical damage to plants, assets, and humans. Sometimes, the IT technologies lack the abilities to support industrial automation and are unable to implement safety measures and policies which are necessary to stop the threats. Companies are trying hard to avoid such attacks and set a barrier against cyber-attacks. The current day scenario of the open and collaborative market has made the industry prone to these breaches.

These dangers come from the web, connected corporate systems, and unauthorized access and many more.

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The Exponential Increase in the Cyber Assaults Industrial automation industry increased their concern about the cyber breaches after seeing the aftermath of such breaches. The common credence that the industrial automation industries are immune to cyber-attacks as long as they are isolated from the internet is no longer applicable in today’s digital world. These increased threats are a major concern with the increasing level of automation, digitization, and dependence on IT solutions. The agendas behind such attacks are monetary, competitive, political, social gain, and sometimes personal. Cyber-attacks are primary aimed at DCS (distributed control system), PLCs (programmable logic controller), SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), and HMI (human machine interface). These attacks enter an organization through the loopholes left around unsecured remote access, inadequate firewalls, and less network segmentation.

The past decade has a memorable history of cyber-attacks. Australia’s Maroochy Shire’s SCADA was compromised in March 2000. In Poland, public tram system was hijacked remotely in January 2008 and Google faced the wrath of the attack when its china domain got attacked in 2008. The federal agencies reported around 782% increases in such attacks to US-CERT. The year 2011 witnessed CERT registered with around 200 incidents related to cyber-attacks. One important thing to notice is that these attacks were registered as these were public; many such attacks have gone unnoticed over the long years.

Attack Vectors Cyber-attacks are driven by economic, competition, and political agendas. The

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organizations have no control over such vectors. The basic attack compromises physical security and control system vulnerabilities.

Breaches happened through physical security includes unsecured gates and physical access to servers. These are the internal error and internal threats where malicious attacks happen from employees and third party personnel.

Control system vulnerabilities include network loopholes i.e. unsecured remote areas, inadequate firewalls, and lack of network segregation. Other loopholes include out-dated hardware and software and external devices like PCs, USBs, mobile devices. The past half-decade has forced companies to implement patches and anti-malware solutions. There is a specific need of commitment to be formed within the different corporations because the cybersecurity is now present in the world in a vast form.

Barriers Improving Cybersecurity The first step in improving the barrier stand is to welcome the open industrial environment. In the past, old organisation networks were isolated from each other and they only depend upon their proprietary hardware and software. Now there is a need to form a collaborative mechanism both internally and externally. The open and collaborative system will increase productivity along with profitability.

The second step is to overcome the inadequate end-user awareness. In comparison to other industries, the industrial industry has a low level of awareness. Other businesses have detailed cyber plans and procedures in case of any type of breaches. One reason not to implement such plans is that the cybersecurity does not generate money. It’s just not a good return on investment (ROI). The task of analyzing the threats and risks are

daunting and huge in size. The analysts have a vision they can only create plans and procedures, but cannot take action against such threats. The third step is to increase the IT solutions. increasing it solution does open to vulnerabilities, but it can be more beneficial in strengthening the security divisions. The benefits offered are an increase in ease of operation and working space. The fourth inadequate step is to increase the skilled manpower. The industrial sector prides itself on its manpower. However, there is less technical expertise available in that manpower and the industry should increase its technical manpower.

Partnering with the Right Solution Provider The most effective way of protecting digital technologies is to establish cybersecurity measures and mechanism in the industrial plant as early as possible when any mischievousness is recognised. Firms must understand the technical aspects of the cyber security involving industrial environment. The firms should partner up with others firms whose services centers around security.

These companies are equipped for effective and efficient cybersecurity, sometimes having experience in working for the both IACS (industrial automation and control systems) and cybersecurity principles. The companies forming ecosystem must commit to the safety together.

Enterprises must understands that cybersecurity is not a one-time adventure but a long and learning adjustment.

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Data-Trend

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A Meaningful Dialogue

DATA M

odern pulp and paper mills generate large volumes of data from process instrumentation, process and quality analysers, condition monitoring systems, process automation systems, quality control and inspection systems and laboratory measurements. In addition, there are volumes of data concerning process reliability, productivity, maintenance activities and consumable consumption. When this data is combined, sorted and intelligently analysed, it has tremendous value as a roadmap and metric for optimizing the performance and reliability of process components, sub-processes and even the complete production line. This powerful data can be used to make valid decisions for sustainable improvements in process operation and profitability.

Valmet Automation Private Limited

The Industrial Internet is today’s enabler for accessing data securely and making it a valuable resource for pulp, paper and energy producers. This enables manufacturers to make valid decisions and modifications which can stabilize and optimize a mill’s process operations, quality and profitability. Most importantly, with the Internet and cloud computing, this data is easily transportable so that experts in pulp, paper and energy processes can quickly and surely assess the state of the process, its stability and economical operation.

The result is improved performance.

Application and Services for Reliability and Performance

Industrial Internet applications and services are built to improve the reliability and performance of processes. Asset reliability optimization includes online monitoring, predictive diagnostics, as well as data-analysis to improve mill and plant efficiency, to help to plan timely maintenance, and to prevent unplanned shutdowns.

Operations performance optimization concentrates on integrating data from different systems together with production data to optimize mill and plant operations. They also include optimization service for individual processes and the whole machine fleet.

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Performance Centres Experts in pulp, paper and energy processes provide root cause analysis, process stability assessment, problem solutions and recommendations, as well as optimal control implementation and tuning services. A primary objective is to help customers push production and profitability further without major investments while meeting production and quality targets with minimized raw material, chemicals and energy consumption.

The other mandate is to help customers to keep production-assets in optimum working condition while minimizing maintenance costs. It also helps to plan and implement shutdowns professionally, which will aid in avoiding costly overruns, as well as optimize the use of The Future of Analytics and Management Tools The future of data analytics will involve common solutions by suppliers in a “co-creation digital ecosystem”.

The suppliers in this ecosystem understand the value of data for end users and will work together on co-creation and implementation of new industry-specific solutions. The first, concrete steps in building this ecosystem have been taken by combining the knowledge and expertise of MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions for the pulp and paper industry.

With this combination, customers’ business- and production processes will be optimized by integrating data and application expertise and by offering combined solutions. These

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include KPIs for OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency), OTIF (Orders on Time in Full), Quality and Cost.

The combined offering will also include optimization solutions utilizing Advanced Process Controls (APCs) and Advanced Planning (AP). APC reduces process and quality variability, optimizes process areas and moves their targets to optimum economic operating points. AP calculates optimum targets for each process area to maximize overall line performance.

The end result is more production from the pulping process, debottlenecking, and improved ability to plan for disturbances or changes.

Conclusions The enabling-technologies of Industrial Internet and advanced data analytics are complementary capabilities which are helping pulp, paper and energy producers to optimize their process operation, its reliability and profitability. As the value is recognized, this trend is expected to increase over the coming years. With these capabilities, supplier experts in pulping, papermaking and energy are able to diagnose root causes of process instabilities and inefficiencies, optimally tune the process controls to achieve maximum productivity, quality and cost efficiencies, and make sound recommendations for process improvements. With predictive diagnostics, they are able to diagnose maintenance issues well before they become problems, thereby improving process component and production line reliability and uptime.

industry suppliers with a common appreciation of the value of data combine their expertise and product offerings. Line level or mill level optimization will optimize the process as a whole. The line optimization solutions can combine process improvements and consultation, advanced process control and optimization, analyzers and measurements, regulatory controls performance improvement, KPI monitoring and benchmarking services.

In the future, there will be more predictive maintenance solutions and services to improve the reliability and performance of processes. The use of new technologies such as augmented and mixed reality will promote new expert applications which will virtually connect supplier specialists with mill production and maintenance staff.

Analytics have now been developed to the point where traditional data reporting, querying, drilling and alerting have been augmented by more data-intensive advanced analytics which can simulate, predict outcomes and optimize pulp, paper and energy processes. Ultimately, prescriptive, artificially-intelligent analytics will support judgements and decisions by mill staff, internal and external resources.

In the coming years, new tools for data management, process management and business management will emerge as

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Ossian Agro Automation: Transforming the Rural Facets with its Finest Irrigation Automation Tools

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ith every passing day, the technologies are evolving which is creating a deep necessity to increase the pace of automation. A continuous implementation of new trends in the automation market is creating a great confusion among the customers while deciding and finalizing the products which result in delaying the decisions. Also, automation companies are relying on the system integrators due to various challenges in the promotion. This overall scenario has hyped the need for developing best-in-class organizations which deliver innovative products and tools in the automation industry.

A Pune-based socio-entrepreneurship company, Ossian Agro Automation is the leading automation company which is engaged in the rural irrigation automation since 1996. The company was established with a solid motto to provide appropriate e-devices to the rural population for the efficient use of irrigation systems at an affordable cost. Ossian Agro has been recognized globally by the UNESCO, UNFAO, Mobile World Congress, GIZ, Forum Nokia, GSBI, e-agriculture, and the other renowned national as well as the international institutions.

An Influential Duo of Ossian Agro Santosh Ostwal is the CEO & Founder Director and Rajashree Ostwal is the Founder-Director of Ossian Agro. Santosh is an Electrical & Electronics engineer who is well-known for understanding the farmer’s mind and pulse towards the smart irrigation. His entrepreneurial journey has always been full of excitement and courage along with severe falls and tiger leaps. All these have been followed by a tremendous success and a worldwide recognition from GIZ

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(Germany), The Tech Museum (USA), UNFAO, UNESCO, and etc. Santosh is an exemplary leader who is an exclusive example of how a long-term goal can be achieved with passion and dedication against all odds.

Ossian’s Comprehensive Set of Services One of the Ossian’s inventions comprises ‘NamoGanesh’ which controls the water-pumps with the help of a mobile phone. This invention has proved to be a big ICT revolution in the telecom automation field during 2003-2004. The company provides a wireless automation of rural irrigation systems consisting of water tanks and pumps in the farms as well as in the drinking water supply systems. It has also launched a special system called ‘Namo Ganesh M2M’ for the automation of water tanks which have been popular among the rural and urban applications.

The company is spearheading with its game-changing services like friendly relations with the customers, providing training to the local technicians from the villages along with easy-to-use & low-cost technology supported tools. The hardworking team of Ossian believes in building trust with long-term commitments with a proven track record and gives personal attention to every farmer with their innovative networking models.

Creating a Splendid Amalgamation of Challenges & Opportunities Ossian Agro’s robust team takes every challenge as an opportunity to reach the finest level in their work. There are numerous challenges that the company faces and one of them include the access of the rural community as the

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buyers prefer local and secured products where even an inferior product can also be a big competitor.

Enhancing the digital skills among the user as well as local village technicians and building trust among the users for a particular technology which consumes a lot of time is also one of the major challenges.

The government is keen on developing smart villages and digital skill development and this scenario has brought numerous opportunities for Ossian Agro like increasing the implementation of advanced technologies in the rural areas, penetration of mobile and telecom skills in the villages, and monitoring more than one million water tanks in the rural drinking water supply systems.

Santosh Ostwal

Ossian Agro has been working with the rural community since three decades due to which the company shares a strong bond with the farmers.

While remembering one of the valuable experiences, Santosh says, “A basic product in the first generation of 2004 has been recently bought for small repairs. The customer was very happy with the product and insisted on its repairing instead of buying an advanced version. He was not only satisfied by the cost-effective services we provide but also endorsed the product to more than 40 new farmers in the village.”

Augmenting Growth with a Meticulous Planning Ossian Agro is working on an ambitious project of connecting rural water tanks and pumps to the mobile network. This project is adopted across India with Maharashtra as a pilot state. The company is also working incessantly on a business model such that the products will be provided to the villages at a lowest possible cost with advanced technical features to save water, electricity, labor, time, and civil structures.

Ossian Agro is planning to implement IoT and mapping of irrigation components in the rural as ™

June 2018

CEO & Founder Director

‘‘

We deliver

hi-tech advancements in the rural areas to build competent and economical

‘‘

A Glimpse of Ossian’s Most Satisfactory Customer Experience

irrigation systems

well as the urban area in the coming years. Articulating the future strategy of the company, Santosh & Rajarshee says, “We have well-developed technologies in our stock with the proven life test models. The basic task is to expand the business model looking into sustainable factor and accordingly, we are working with different government bodies, international institutions, NGO’s & industries for the partnerships.”

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Expert's Outlook

Understanding the

Industrial Control System

I

CS - Control System is the Technology which encapsulates the several types of control systems or network associated with Instrumentation and used in Industrial Processes. The Industrial control system (ICS) is a general term that encompasses several types of control systems, including SCADA systems, DCS, and other control system configurations such as PLC often found in the industrial sectors and critical infrastructures. (NIST) Before Understanding ICS Security let’s talk about few other technologies like PLC – Programmable Logic Controller, PLC’s are controller used in Instrumentation and acting as digital computers with multiple I/O and used for Automation of Small & Heavy Industrial systems. SCADA – Supervisory Control data acquisition is a control system that uses Systems, Networks, and GUI for running efficient processes of Industry to monitor and control Infrastructure of Industry. SCADA & PLC’s are utilized and used in small-scale within the industries like chemical, Paper, power generation, telecommunication and much more as they are cost effective. More complex architectures can be developed by the communication of other internal devices and controllers.

Few other examples are DCS (Distributed Control System) – It’s a hierarchical control system with distributed elements across a facility via communication technologies, IED (Intelligent Electronic Device) – A Microprocessorbased controllers device for controlling power systems equipment. Major of the industries like Chemical, Gas, Energy, Transportation, Manufacturing, Production and many more are nowadays implementing and utilizing this technology.

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Mentioning the small brief below.

SCADA 9SCADA are highly distributed Geographically separated assets 9Centralized data acquisition and control are critical =Oil and gas pipelines =Electrical power grid =Railway transportation systems 9Field devices control local operations Distributed Control Systems 9Supervisory control of multiple integrated systems responsible for a local process 9DCSs used extensively in process-based industries =Examples: =Oil and gas refineries =Electrical power generation =Automotive production 9Feedback loops maintain set points 9Programmable logic controllers used in the field Programmable Logic Controller 9Computer-based solid state devices

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About the Author Falgun Rathod is the Managing Director of Cyber Octet Private Limited. He has nearly one decade of experience in Industry. Falgun is specialized in Cyber Crime Investigation & Infrastructure Security. He is also a renowned Cyber Security Consultant and listed in Top ten Ethical Hackers of India & Top Ten Cyber Cops of India.

Falgun had delivered over 100+ seminars & trainings in various colleges and corporates across India. He has been known for his distinguished contribution to the society for cyber security awareness and has also assisted State & Central Government for many projects & cases.

Falgun is a member of ICTTF – International Cyber Threat Task Force, CSFI – Cyber Security Forum Initiative & Chapter Leader of OWASP for Gandhinagar Region. He is committed towards delivering an aim of Securing Digital Boundaries of India by contribution of his knowledge, skills and consistently trying to minimize the gaps between academics and Industries.

9Control industrial equipment and processes 9Regulate process flow =Automobile assembly line Differences for above all: 9Location =SCADA – geographically dispersed =DCS and PLC – factory centered 9Communication =SCADA – long distance, slow speed =DCS and PLC – LAN, high speed 9Control =SCADA – supervisory level =DCS and PLC – closed feedback loops Hacking Industrial Control System Almost 40 percent of all ICS and critical infrastructure

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Falgun Rathod Managing Director Cyber Octet Private Limited

faced a cyber-attack at some point in 2017. Most of the Systems either logically or physically impacted by Cyber Attacks like Ransomware, Trojans, Malicious Insiders, Malware, and other Hacking methods. More than 300 Attacks were noted in 2015 increased in 200 % since 2010.

Many companies, especially in Asia, are running Windows XP which are already not supported and out of Market and possess thousands of vulnerabilities.

There have been enormous development and distributions of hacking tools on the Internet which can easily scan this type of networks, systems through which vulnerabilities can be found and exploited and meanwhile the whole Network of Industry can be brought down in a couple of minutes.

Stuxnet was the major first worm impacted Nuclear Power Stations and was developed to attack Iran’s Nuclear Power Plant. It exploited 2 known windows vulnerabilities and had infected 2, 00, 000 computers and ruined almost one-fifth of Iran’s Nuclear Centrifuges. Later, Stuxnet origin Duqu, Flame, Triton were the major malware discovered which were exploiting the vulnerabilities of components of ICS.

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Given below are the Major Threats for Critical Control Systems.

1) Network Access – All the Internet accessible devices are mapped by multiple tools and search engine like Shodan, Google etc., Moreover Attacker will get to know the technology been used and version of same.

2) Governance – There have been always lack of security policies implemented and understood at ICS environment. Assets in ICS if not standardized and not maintained can be a threat to the ICS. 3) Physical Security – Attackers can easily target the ICS Assets where physical controls are not in place and without proper monitoring can be stolen.

4) Cyber Actors – Script Kiddies, disgruntled employees, foreign intelligence, Insiders, Contractors/vendors could also be a major threat to an ICS. 5) System Management – Delays in Upgrades and Updates could also be harmful and cause a threat, No DLP, Antivirus, Firewall on a system can be crucial and the system could be hacked within no time, Physical Media movement is also a part of the concern.

6) Supply Chain – Third-party vendors and contractors can be attacked in order to target indirectly to an ICS. Even Third party Hardware & Software data can be breached or attacked through various vulnerabilities existing prior to being installed in ICS environment.

Compromising ICS can result in: =Unavailable systems =Compromise of sensitive production data =Impact delivery of materials/parts/weapons =Impact integrity of the part being produced/repaired Securing Industrial Control Systems The industry’s spotlight is on Cyber Security of Critical Infrastructure. It is not possible to prevent all incidents from happening; we can identify the risks and mitigate the threats with some new technologies emerging. The tailored security solution is always trustworthy and advised to be

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implemented. Moreover, Standards are been developed and deployed on Infrastructure critical resources but again it is not advised as there are a bundle of technologies, tools, instruments, networks and software’s are been used hence it is critical to rely upon one particular standard.

Following are the Controls and measures to be taken to Secure ICS 1) Risk Assessment: Conducting Security Assessment of the Infrastructure of ICS based upon relevant standard to be implemented VS the Security Best practices.

Identification of the controls and implementation of same for the Systems Security, Reviewing Network Architecture, Software & Hardware used.

2) Conducting frequent Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing: Internal & External VA should be conducted and proper testing should be conducted to identify known vulnerabilities.

3) SOC & NOC to be properly set up to monitor the network and infrastructure. Moreover, International Standards/Compliance are defined which could be implemented depending on the type of Industry.

4) Board-room Training from the Management to Employees to be organized in order to avoid the Social Engineering attacks and minimizes the risks of human errors.

5) Licensed, Updated and Patched OS and software to be used 6) Updated Antivirus, Unified Threat Monitoring Systems, Industrial Firewall, Data Diodes, IDS. 7) BCP & DRP in place No such 100% Security can be achieved but it’s all about the Risk Reduction, Impact Mitigation, Operational & Functional Security.

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Reex Technologies An Efcient Organization Taking Automation Systems to the Next Level

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he Indian manufacturing segment has undergone a paradigm shift over the years and the global exposure has made the customers more quality conscious. Also, the advancements in the industry have bought a whole lot of opportunities for the automation companies. Hence, consistent manufacturing process enabled by the automation is the only solution to cope with these advancements and customer requirements.

Automation helps in reducing the cost of production, due to which the Indian Manufacturing industry is treating automation as a necessity instead of the luxury.

A renowned organization which established a pure techoriented approach in the automation and robotics industry is Reflex Technologies. The company is the leading organization in providing End-of-Line Automation solutions to the giant organizations across India. It has strong partnerships with the global industry leaders and offers a highly-customized as well as a cost-effective solution under “PACKTOPACKOFF”™.

A Dynamic Leader of Reflex Rajesh Ananthakrishnan is the Founder of Reflex Technologies who has been standing as a strong pillar of the company since its inception. Rajesh completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 1992 along with a specialization in Controls and Robotics.

In the early days, he worked as a Research Assistant in the robotics lab at IIT to develop his ideas and concepts of the robotics. After mastering the core concepts of robotic technology, he stepped into the nascent world of automation in India. Under his effective leadership and guidance, within the initial years, Reflex successfully developed a 6-Axis Robot and a 3-Axis CNC machine from the first principles.

Rajesh is engaged in the operational areas of typical segments such as Sales, Finance, Project, etc. Also, being an entrepreneur, his core interests and responsibilities lie in the product development, technology development, and market development in the organization.

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An Extensive Set of Services Reflex Technologies possesses high adaptability over the fluctuations in the market and the evolving global technology developments. With the extensive experience of over two decades in the various industries like automobile, food, pharmaceuticals, textiles, plastics, and FMCG, the company has narrowed down to the End-of-Line automation solutions since a decade.

Reflex offers a complete range of quality products and solutions to the high volume manufacturers in food & beverages, FMCG, and textile market to meet the IntraLogistics challenges of their customers. The company is an expert in providing Case Packer, Palletizer, Conveying Solution, Warehouse Automation, Product Tracking Solution, and Truck Loader. It also provides thorough endto-end solutions under its ‘PACKTOPACK’ by integrating its products with the third-party products if required.

“At Reflex, we have taken the concept of designing and delivery of automation system to altogether new levels. All of our designs and inventions are highly customer-focused and backed by the strong intellectual property rights”, says Rajesh.

The USP of Reflex Technologies Reflex Technologies holds a strong USP in having a ‘unique approach’ towards solving a customer problem. The company’s vivid strategy starts with the customer requirement and then proceeds with developing the required solutions. This unique approach of the company has made it stand tough among its peers and has thrown a long lasting impression on its clients.

One of the milestones achieved by the company includes its outstanding service delivered to the edible oil industry in 2016. The edible oil industry was facing a major issue regarding the strapping of a brown cardboard cover to the 15 kg tin. This process was proved to be more expensive in terms of the material and labor involved in it. To solve this issue, Reflex developed a robust process of sticking the cover by eliminating the strapping and developed an

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automatic machine which would eliminate the human intervention and hence, the bottle-neck. This strategy gave a huge benefit to the oil manufacturers. With more such achievements Reflex is spearheading the automation era.

One of the toughest challenges Reflex has faced include the palletizing process. Palletizing is an operation of stacking up products (Cartoons, Pails or sacks) on a pallet for easy storage and transportation for high volume manufacturer this process involves high labor and strenuous work. In 2007, Reflex introduced its first robotic palletizer. The robotic palletizer of Reflex de-bottle neck this activity and improves plant efficiency. After the successful commissioning of first installation, this concept has now become a standard norm in the paint industry.

Unwavering Vision Reflex is currently working on the two major technologies which are Haptic Technology and Machine Vision Technology. With Haptic technology, an operator of a tele-operated robot can “feel” a product even though it is being remotely handled. On the other hand, the machine vision technology is the next major explosion in the automation industry where robots would be coupled with a vision.

Reflex’s products and services are widely accepted and implemented due to its unique and innovative designs.

The company is gearing to scale-up and deliver their products to more customers. While enunciating the future of the company, Rajesh asserts, “We are aggressively working to get the cheaper and more cost-effective as well as user-friendly products using some very promising technologies like AI & IoT. Also, we are working on a project to eliminate the complexities of our product with a reduced cost.”

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Rajesh Ananthakrishnan Founder

‘‘

Reex takes pride in

successfully delivering

‘‘

Overcoming the Challenges and the Opportunities While sharing his views on the opportunities and challenges of the company, Rajesh expressed, “We see both opportunities and challenges in today exciting market. I have seen Indian manufacturing segment mature over the years. Thanks to our fast growing economy, volumes have shot up. Global exposure has also made our consumer very quality conscious.

Consistent manufacturing process enabled by automation is the ONLY solution. To be competing in the global market, cost of production is paramount .Automation helps greatly in reducing the cost of production. Indian Manufacturer has experienced the above and treats automation as a necessity and no longer a luxury.”

concept solution in the

Intra-Logistics segment over the last two decades

“PACKTOPACKOFF”

TM

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Industry-Evolution

A

utomation industries attain efficient production and manufacturing processes by eliminating issues related to their production with the help of every day changing technologies. An industrial robot exceeds any human performance based on precision, accuracy, and speed. These robots operate on various mechanical, electrical, and software systems to overcome the fatigue experienced by the humans. Various types of control devices are used by the industries to obtain full controlled, desired, and optimal performance from machines without the intervention of a single human body.

To achieve such desired speed and accuracy, automation industries use modern day hardware devices to control variables like checking the condition of electrical equipment, control of devices, communications systems, HMI (Human machine interface), and maintaining standalone computer systems. Such variables are necessary to be controlled in order to increase and improve productivity, cost, quality, flexibility, and safety.

Innovation in automation industry comes from applications rather than coming from the new technology. The reason for not using the latest technology lies in their utilizing method. Whenever a new technology comes into the market, companies use new technology in a customized way accustomed to their usage, instead of using it as a whole. Looking into the history, PLCs/DCS PCs/ dominated three decades in the automation industries becoming a commodity over these years. PLCs replaced the old relay logic and were easy to program and reprogram and showed great growth in the automobile industry.

At the same time, minicomputers replaced large mainframe computers, although they were not distributed properly due to their large clumps of computer hardware and cabinets. PCs were merely an extension of technology developed at that time and were widely accepted and used in the automation industry. The new trends in the automation fields are the latest control devices and communication protocols.

Industry 4.0 The fourth industrial revolution is the amalgamation of engineering and software combining core engineering and IT skills.

It’s the next trend in automation where the devices talk to each other. This fourth gen comprises cyber-physical systems,

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Innovations in the Industrial

Automation Field

internet of things, cloud computing, and cognitive computing. ‘Smart factory’ is the name given to the fourth revolution, where cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes and Internet of Things, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems communicate with each other and with humans in real-time.

The basic principle behind the industry 4.0 is to establish autonomous communication between machines, workpieces, systems, and networks. The machines present in such factories are self-organized and can predict failures and trigger self-maintenance processes autonomously. A typical factory differs from a 4.0 factory in many ways. The latter is the high-end production service and a key for upcoming future. In an ordinary factory, various data sources are available only to provide information. Not to mention, the large and centralized production plants are now a thing of past. The new factories are smaller, movable to resources and customers. Manufactured products will not be produced halfway across the world thus, saving a lot of time and costs. Moreover, 4.0 components and systems are self-aware and self-predictive. Industry 4.0 surely will have a huge impact on services like business models, reliability and continuous productivity, IT security, machine safety, product lifecycles, skills, and socio-economic factors.

Autonomous Factories The notion of a fully autonomous factory has existed for a long time now. The online and electronic transactions, digital payments apps, AI-powered apps, and devices have severely contributed to the upcoming digital age. AI-powered intelligent robots will handle all the necessities required by the supervisors of a factory. These automatons will aid in packing and unpacking, loading and unloading of equipment.

The need for human handling and consolidation will be diminished. Drones and remote controlled automatons will further assist in manufacturing. They provide better communication that too with high precision with the sensors, fast networks, diagnostics software, and interfaces. Furthermore, such devices and sensors deliver abundant mobility using the wireless technology. They assist in converting overloaded data into useful knowledge and interpreting the various types of control layers. ™

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Software as a Future Software has been around humans for decades now so there is no innovation present there. However, they support in re-establishing the growth in innovation and technology. These types of automation cannot replace the exploratory skills of a human. They are simply embedded in hardware, products, systems and aid in supervising control and data recognition. New digital age software will be coupled with AI to improve their work methodologies and display humans with the correct information.

The New Technology Directions The future of automation lies in the hand of nanotechnology, nanoscale assembly systems, and MEMS nanotech sensors. This revolutionizing technology has impacted almost every manufacturing industry like electronics, chemical synthesis, biotechnology, agriculture, printing, metals, and many others. The mid-1970s marked the radial concept of nanotechnology, first imagined by MIT undergraduate K. Eric Drexler who examined that the biological machinery could be adapted to manufacture anything. At the core, the nanotechnology can place atoms in almost any reasonable arrangement, allowing fabrication of almost anything along with the capability of replicating themselves.

Nanotechnology can be used to manufacture nano-scale materials, devices, miniaturized mechanical and electro-mechanical elements. The materials manufactured by this technology will be much stronger, lighter, durable, water-repellent, antireflective, self-cleaning, and infrared/ultraviolet resistant. Nano-scale circuits will be powerful and more energy efficient.

Nano-scale circuit chips comprising nano logic gates connected via nanowires can store large information at a very low cost.

The future belongs to the nanotech, wireless, and complex adaptive devices. New apps and software will be combined with wireless sensors distributing information via peer to peer networks, measuring anything and everything over the internet, machine to machine. To summarize, software along with networking and manufacturing pooled with nanotech and wireless autonomous devices will be the key drivers of the upcoming industrial state of automation.

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Softhard

Global Specialists in Hardware & Software Solutions

D

uring the eighteenth century, the industrial revolution came up and hence the automation was introduced. With the coming of Automation the machines were used to replace human labour and animal power. With the advanced technology coming in, electronics, computers, optical testing and rapid development in other fields has made machine control even more complex.

commercial industry. They value their customers to the core. They wish to attain highest level of success in their dedicated field. Developing and providing robust technology at very reasonable rates and competitive prices.

Providing an innovative and commitment enabling environment to all of its employees is their key feature.

Softhard, since 1994, has devoted itself to the automation field. It is an ISRO 9001:2008 certified company that has a team of electronics professionals who have an aim of providing high quality hardware and software solutions.

Today they have over 150 engineers and technicians spread over manufacturing, R&D, Sales and Servicing all over the country. Their sales have increased from USD 0.1 million to USD 7 million in last one decade. The main focus of this company is to provide robust embedded solutions across various industry segments. Driven by strong technology leadership and a committed team, Softhard is forging ahead to meet the challenges of tomorrow with constant focus on customers.

Milind Jagtap is the Chief Mentor & Chairman of Softhard, who has come from a lower middle class Maharashtrain family. At first, his family did not allow him to do business as they believed that Marathis never succeeded in doing a business. Milind took the entrepreneurial plunge and left his job to try his hand at business with a promise of getting back to business if this doesn’t work. A business that was started with a capital of 20,000 in 20 years has reached 200 crore. He believes that innovation is the only way your business can do well.

Hitachi and Tata Group of Companies were the first ones to give the order to Softhard.

Experts in Hi-Tech Electronics Solutions Softhard is a research, design and manufacturing company with domain proficiency in hi technology electronics solutions. The core competence of company lies in designing, development and fabrication of micro controller/ digital signal processor based product and solutions to meet industry business needs. From building management systems, data loggers, energy management and process control and automation to instrumentation and control, they have a wide experience profile to cater to all the customer needs. It is one of the few companies in the world to offer complete range of Air conditioning control solution up to 8000T. Softhard’s vision is to become the best company in India for embedded and automation solution for manufacturing a

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About the Ingenious Mentor of Softhard

With innovation, he has replaced many technologies in DRDO; they are in the main vendors for replacement of German and Switzerland technologies and they are the only vendors in India who have been approved in Missiles and many important technologies where secrecy is to be maintained. The Bhabha Atomic Centre,ISRO, the Prime Minister’s house are all clients of this prestigious firm.

Softhard has made about 10 lakh Installations in over 20 years.

Overcoming the Challenges Rising energy costs and ever-stricter environmental regulations are squeezing productivity and reducing competitiveness in the industry. Being profitable in today’s market means controlling expenses. Greater energy efficiency is therefore the order of the day. In order to

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achieve this, there must be more transparency and real time accurate information on actual amount of energy consumed as well as degree of efficiency and the losses incurred and/or likely to be incurred in case system is allowed to continue in its present form.

Expert in Intelligent Energy Management SOFTHARD from day one has provided innovative, integrated solutions that make energy safer, more reliable and more efficient while making your operations more productive and sustainable. From power distribution to expert services and support, their unique solutions are focused on energy efficiency, reliability and safety. Softhard helps you to reduce costs and emissions, stay connected at all times, and tap into a clean, secure and uninterrupted power supply.

Softhard helps you discover new opportunities to make the most of your energy.

Mission of Softhard Softhard’s mission is to be a leading Indian enterprise providing quality product and solution based on embedded system technology. Introducing automation and electronics to rural areas at a very affordable cost. Employing women, lower caste people and rural people and giving them special training is what this company aims to do. They wish to make maximum people independent with the employment that they provide. All in all Softhard aspires to improve the life of the people living in the urban and the rural areas of India.

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Milind Jagtap Chief Mentor & Chairman

‘‘Thinking inside the

‘‘

Power availability and reliability are among the most critical issues affecting the company’s profitability and competitiveness. The challenge is to ensure availability of safe, clean, reliable power, and meet expanding demand without raising production costs.

SOFTHARD µ-EMS aids all phases of the operations. Its system can verify normal activities and provide actionable information to help proactively access and analyze the network to determine and implement improvements.

Controls

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