Menu
Print Edition of the Magazine, Available from JANUARY 2024 onwards, Contact us to subscribe.
During these trying times when the industry is heavily affected with economical issues came up the pandemic called Covid 19 and disrupted the industry completely. We at Industrial Automation Magazine have taken an initiative to bring the industry together and share their viewpoints so that others reading can take measures accordingly to have minimal damage.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented.
Rajesh Nath, a graduate Mechanical Engineer followed by International Business Program
from IIM Kolkata, has 30 years of experience in Indo-German trade working with several
reputed German and Indian companies in various sectors. Since 1999 he has been working
with the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), which he is heading as Managing
Director, India. He has played a pivotal role in promoting and strengthening the business
and economic ties between India and Germany. In 2017 Rajesh Nath was conferred the
‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, Germany’s highest civilian honour awarded to individuals for
their services to Germany. It is Germany’s only honour that is awarded to both Germans and
foreigners in all fields of endeavour. It is the highest tribute paid to individuals for
achievements in economic, social, political or intellectual realm.
Nobody would have thought two months back that the whole world would come to a
standstill. Corona Virus has impacted global health, international travel, global supply chain
and above all the global economy
In near and medium term, business would take a severe hit. The financial market in India has
seen an unprecedented fall. How long will it take to recover, is anybody’s guess. A forecast
says there will be about half a per cent decline of growth on the global economy due to the
Corona Virus. The forecast of the growth of GDP globally was 2.8% and under the present
circumstances it is expected to dip to 2.3%, but the larger impact will be on India as it
estimates the GDP impact of COVID-19 to be to the extent of -1.1%.
The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) conducted a flash survey amongst 2000
German companies. The flash survey shows that all branches of mechanical engineering in
Germany are affected by the effects of the pandemic. There is uncertainty in many companies
as to whether they will be able to make up the production losses this year. Around 70 per cent
of the companies surveyed are expecting sales losses in 2020, almost half of them (45 per
cent) with sales declines of more than 10 per cent. As a result, a good 40 per cent of the
mechanical engineering companies surveyed have already made capacity adjustments, mainly
via the working time account, but also through short-time working. At the same time, about
half of the companies are considering cutting back on investment plans for 2020.
The economy as a whole, relies in large part on small and medium sized businesses that have
limited excess capacity and lack the resources to fully prepare themselves and their
employees for disasters. In addition, many sectors – including the manufacturing sector,
retail, pharmaceutical, grocery, and distribution industries rely on just-in-time deliveries that
have been impacted by reductions in personnel during the pandemic. Cross border flow of
supplies and the commute of people has been halted during this crisis. Also the healthcare
and medical facilities need to be ramped up. We need to have a contingency plan of action to
handle such pandemics.
It is believed that IR cameras can potentially be used to detect subjects with fever. The
accuracy of the infrared system can, however, be affected by human, environmental, and
equipment variables. It is also limited by the fact that the thermal imager measures the skin
temperature and not the core body temperature. As known, the body determines a
temperature as its so-called "set point" at any one time during the body temperature
regulation. Fever happens if the hypothalamus detects pyrogens and then raises the set point.
The time course of a typical fever can be divided into three stages. When the fever initiates,
the body attempts to raise its temperature but vasoconstriction occurs to prevent heat loss
through the skin. With this reason, some individuals at this stage of fever (at the rising slope
and immediately after fever begins or falling slope after the fever breaks) will not be detected
by the scanner if it is not designed to detect subject at the plateau of the fever (with her/his
high core temperature) in particular. For this application, it is critical for thermal imagers to
be able to identify febrile from normal subjects accurately.
In the present scenario, Work from Home is the only solution possible. However, Work from
Home has certain constrains. It is perhaps easier for IT, ITeS and certain service and related
sectors to follow this. For Manufacturing sector however this would not be practical. What I
foresee is change in methods of communication within organisations from regular meetings,
project meetings, etc., now moving towards Distance Conferencing like – Video
Conferencing, WhatsApp Conferencing, Hangout Calls, Team Share Conferences and similar
options.
To safeguard against such uncertainties, pandemics, contingencies, there is a possibility that
even SME sector would look at enhancing automation in their facilities. Remote Monitoring
and Condition Monitoring would certainly be beneficial in such conditions, especially for the
small and mid-size enterprises.
This pandemic has revealed new applications for AI and Robotics. Both in hospitals and in
public, remote communication means that patients avoid transmitting the disease and health
workers save time on simple tasks. This has cleared the way for robots and other automated
technologies to help out. Now, robots are being used to disinfect rooms, connect with isolated
people, take vital information, and deliver medications. Hence here we will witness
revolutionary changes with application of automation and robotics in the future.
The term VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) has hit us hard when we
look at this crisis. But not only products, services and processes need to change, the
companies have to change more fundamentally. They need different business models,
different company structures, different leadership and different ways of interacting with each
other. Today’s business leaders need the ability to see through the chaos to have a clear
vision for their organisations. They must define the direction of their organisation: its
mission, values, and strategy. For example the supply chain would need to look afresh to
handle and sustain such crisis. Hence besides the government which has to rethink on
healthcare sector, work on improving infrastructure the companies have equal responsibility
of gearing us to such crisis for the future.
#April 2020 Covid Special
To say the world is passing through trying times is to state the obvious. Also evident is the fact that for too long the world has been ignoring the warning signs of environmental degradation fuelled by human excesses and greed. But this is no time for ifs and buts, nor recrimination. Instead, the crisis should be used as an opportunity to make the required course correction to make the world a safer place for all living beings, and the ecological balance, restored.
Industrial Automation invited a cross section of industry leaders to offer their views and possible course of action as a way forward from this situation, even as governments across the world and the people are trying to make sense from the still evolving scenario.
To read the full cover story Please click here
© 2019 IED Communications Ltd | All right reserved. www.industrialautomationindia.in
 }})
