Presenting ARC's Tenth India Forum
Transforming Industry and Infrastructure through New Processes and Technologies
July 5-7, 2012 - Hyderabad, India
Globally, the manufacturing industry is going through major transformation. In the future, industrial companies cannot be built on the premise that they will have unlimited access to cheap energy and other resources, natural or human. A country, 
such as India, which after many lost decades is embarking on the path of building the industrial base, has to reckon with these transformational forces. The entry challenges are numerous, but the country, not burdened with the past legacy, has an opportunity to make a new beginning. India can leapfrog and directly enter the era of smart manufacturing that is resource-efficient, sustainable, and extensively leverages manufacturing information technology, advanced automation, and analytics.
While the price of energy and other resources are rising, the evolving information technology is becoming inexpensive, powerful, and all pervasive by the day. The country's proven IT capabilities and affordable access to a vast pool of IT professionals provide India an excellent platform to move into the new age of manufacturing. In the past, technological, process, and product innovations largely contributed to industrialization, but in the future, the ability to appropriately leverage and apply technology will play a greater role.
ARC's Tenth India Forum will discuss how manufacturing information technology empowers continuous improvements in critical areas like asset management, production efficiency, product quality, safety, sustainability, and supply chain efficiency. New technology helps companies retain vital knowledge, collaborate effectively with customers and suppliers, maintain operational excellence, achieve sustainability goals, and improve their processes to stay ahead of competitors. New technology also plays an important role in achieving efficiencies during the entire plant lifecycle.
Why India Is the Destination of Choice for New Era Manufacturing
India’s economic expansion provides impetus for the growth of process industries in India. The country ranks as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and more importantly it is domestic demand driven unlike most others. Yet another difference is that economic resurgence of almost all countries has been led by the growth of the manufacturing industry, whereas it is the service sector that has largely contributed to India's economic growth. As the country's economy expands and the disposable income in the hands of people increases, the domestic consumption will further rise, and this in turn will spur the industrial growth.
Economists tracking India's growth story trends believe that in the coming years the domestic consumption will continue to grow robustly, expand four-fold and exceed $3.5 trillion by 2020. This, happening at a time when most countries are struggling from slackening demand, shows that India has the potential to emerge as a destination of choice for industrial companies. It is equally true that the country needs a strong manufacturing industry to sustain its long-term growth momentum. However, this is an opportunity only for those companies which embrace the new era manufacturing – technology driven, resource-efficient, and sustainable manufacturing.
The country's demographic profile also indicates that for the next three decades the section of the population in the age group of 20 to 45, which will contribute to both demand creation and enter the labor market, will keep expanding (by 2020 the median age in India will be 28). According to analysts, with the evolving demography, the country has to gear up to absorb almost 8 to 9 million workforce in the years to come and that is possible only if the manufacturing industry expands. India can benefit from this demographic dividend only if the country succeeds in manufacturing.
In this three-day India Forum, industry thought leaders will share their experiences and thoughts on their new era manufacturing strategies. The Forum will bring together key decision makers and thought leaders from chemical, oil and gas; electric power including renewable energy; cement, metals and mining; and food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries along with suppliers of automation systems, enterprise solutions, and manufacturing IT solutions. The knowledge transfer will come from case study presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and peer-to-peer networking.
