In an online forum titled ‘How Industry 4.0 can Strengthen India’s Pharma Sector’ business leaders from Rockwell Automation demonstrated through talks and virtual factory walkthroughs, how manufacturers in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector were able to deal with the complexity and scale of the supply chain challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic through dynamic decision-making aided by Industry 4.0 technologies.

Organised to provide a public platform to demystify the critical role of Industry 4.0 in helping the industry provide a range of essential health and medical supplies during the pandemic, the session illustrated how manufacturers were able to streamline the production of everything from hygiene products and protective gear to medical equipment and vaccines over the last year. It highlighted how new-age digital technologies have played a critical role in global vaccine discovery, production, and distribution despite facing unprecedented challenges with demand and supply shocks and regulatory hurdles at every stage.

The session started with a talk on ‘How Industry 4.0 is enabling India to transform itself into the Pharmacy of the World’ by Dilip Sawhney, MD, Rockwell Automation India, where he set the tone by explaining how the Indian drug makers and healthcare brands are transforming their businesses to achieve higher productivity amid rising complexity and compliance requirements. This was further demonstrated by a virtual guided tour of the Digital Transformation Experience Centre (DTEC) to give the attendees a glimpse into the future of the industry.

The tour was followed by a comprehensive presentation by Arvind Rao, global business director, Information Software, titled ‘Digital Transformation in Life Sciences’ with case studies from across the world. During his session, Rao took the audience through the entire Industry 4.0 digital transformation journey from the ‘Static & Manual’ towards a ‘Self-organizing, Dynamic, & Demand Driven’ state across a range of solutions from operational technology, information technology, data and analytics, process, workforce, automation, to Security.

Rao further explained, “Many of the life sciences organisations we work with are searching for the business accelerant that will supercharge their performance. They believe digital transformation could be their answer but what’s more important than the specific technologies you’re considering are your objectives. The first step in digital transformation is achieving clarity on your business goal.”

Closing the programme, Sawhney added, “Over the last four decades, we have built strong relations across the healthcare, pharma & life sciences ecosystem in India with several successful cases. As a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation, we remain committed to helping our partners meet these emerging challenges and achieve their business goals.”