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.
Dr Arvind Tilak is Member, CII National IT Panel and Working Group on IoT; Chair, Data
Security Council of India, Pune Chapter; Core Team Member, IIC India Regional Team;
Founder Director, IoT School; Founder-Trustee, Cyber World Foundation; and Chairman,
Ascent Foundation. Arvind started his career in the Indian Army and served for 6 years
before seeking voluntary release. He was commissioned in Regiment of Artillery after
bagging Brigade of Guards medal in pre-commission training. He served in mechanised
artillery regiments for 4 years before being posted as Intelligence Office in an Artillery
Brigade close to Pakistani border. He was one of the youngest officers to serve as IO.
Currently Arvind is managing two companies – Ascent Intellimation Pvt Ltd and AIPL
Systems Pvt Ltd.
Arvind’s interests and activities cover a large canvass including IT product and services
business, international business and strategy consulting for Indian companies, information
security consulting, marketing and sales, mentoring business startups, etc. He has advised
Swiss investment promotion programs for India strategy for about 9 years. He is associated
with information security industry in India and currently chairs the Pune Chapter of Data
Security Council on India, a NASSCOM initiative.
Arvind is a regular speaker at conferences and events covering areas and topics like Business
strategy, IoT/IIoT, Information centric business strategies, Information security, etc.
Yes, Covid-19 definitely has caught the world and specially developed countries of Europe,USA and China on wrong foot. The virus is testing and going to test even more severely how the globalised and connected world will overcome this challenge. It is creating blocks in things like global travel, collaboration, cross border supply chains and especially cross border migration of talent and skills. Without these basic things in place there is no global village and there is no development as we define today.
Our faith in modern medicine and cures it can churn out is also being tested. Will all the modern medicine be defeated by a lowly yet stealthy virus or will we come out winner? And of course, at what cost?
Businesses globally and in India are in for a very long and hard fight. Sectors like tourism and airlines will take decades to come out of this impact. So also, many other service sector industries.
Talking specifically about manufacturing, these are looking at long spell of lowered demands for all goods and products. With lowered incomes and vast costs of medical care, personal purchase decisions will be postponed. Government sector demand will also be going downward for foreseeable future. Many projects will be kept on hold and will be postponed or worse, even cancelled.
Many businesses will be forced to close down on lowered demand, accumulated debt
repayments and others. As per my estimate (frankly without much solid research) between 30–50 % Micro and SMBs are likely to close down in next 3 – 12 months.
Individuals and families will have to put on hold all discretionary expenses and purchases and shore up savings which will be impacted substantially for a large section of population. Items like medical insurance and basic needs will take priority.
Many (actually practically all) banks will have to provision for bad debts and write offs.
Government will have to step in strongly and quickly to stop run on banks which would be disastrous for whole economy, Stock exchanges will bounce back but at what rate and when remains to be seen.
The only possible silver lining will be that governments at all levels will pump in money to boost demand and some projects in infrastructure may actually lead the way. Lot of free money is expected to flow to lower income groups to sustain them and this will shore up demand especially in rural areas of India.
There are lots of learnings from this and even previous spreads and threats. One BIG lesson is that no country or region is an island and if some things goes wrong in one corner all will suffer, of course at different levels and time lines. No one is immune.
Second BIG learning should be that no one should hide information that is potentially going to impact everyone. Such information may be dangerous and damaging to local or even national leaders, but they must open and share. Without this there will be no early warning and damage will be even more severe.
Finally, when the final tally comes out may be in six months, one conclusion will be there – marginally empowered countries, societies and citizens will suffer most. This may be due to pandemic directly or due to after effects of this on economy and earnings. What it means is that all government need to have wide and big “care” plan that takes care of these folks.
All said and done, let’s remember that no past incident will ever prepare us appropriately for future. We have seen this in past. So apart from learning from past, let’s build techniques and technologies to anticipate future. Only with this we can survive next such crisis.
And one big learning – lets respect nature and mother earth. If we continue to over exploit and loot resources, nature will come down heavily and in unexpected way to balance. This is a harsh reality.
There may be many technologies and gear that could be and should be used. This goes for scanners, personnel protective equipment, testing kits and all. Each one has important role in containing and managing such a high impact threat. I am no expert on these matters and will not like to give unsubstantiated comment.
I am not sure if businesses are getting used to work from home. Most are doing it because there is no option and this is sane thing to do. No discussions there.
Will this be a paradigm shift? I don’t think so and I am sure this cannot be generalised. Some sectors could actually use this model for good and save on transit and office costs. But many others will have to go back to traditional mode specially manufacturing and others. Work from home does impact productivity and efficiency.
However, the shift to online business and transactions will benefit some business like banking and online payment portals and online shopping portals. They will benefit by increase in online transaction which are at lower cost per transaction and will help increase their profitability. This crisis will also prove that many Government services could definitely move online and citizens will benefit from this shift.
However, let’s not forget that human beings are social animals and human to human contact is an important aspect of a transaction. These contacts help society stay healthy and connected. So let’s not overplay on line too much.
Automation has to be seen in a context. I am not aware that this boost, if any, will be for really business benefits or a reaction to a situation.
However, three things will definitely happen as per my reading:
1. Most business will want an option of “no touch” operations to whatever extent they can adopt. This may not cover entire chain but for sure, parts of it are ready for this. This will be true even for manufacturing where “lights out manufacturing” with robots and autonomous machines will be attempted.
2. Remote monitoring and operational control will be tested and strengthened to every extent possible. Need to Add need to become efficient to remain competitive will be a high priority consideration. Many sectors like autonomous cars and drones are already far ahead in this game. Other areas like driverless trains and metros will become reality soon.
3. For both things above to happen interoperability and connectivity will be the two main pillars and lots of work in this area will happen in the near future and hopefully, this will benefit everyone.
It is obvious that automation and robotics supported by robust and secure IIoT and digital platforms will play big role in this transition and evolution. Companies and enterprises which have started this journey will benefit tremendously and will have first mover advantage. They will enjoy competitive edge over their peers.
For me as an individual one BIG lesson is that nothing will be same all the time and each of us must be ready to face any situation as it develops. Also lessons from past will be useful but not adequate.
For us a company lesson is to “adapt” quickly and be agile. We can’t be complacent and compartmented. We all should be prepared to face the challenges collectively as groups, teams, communities and nations. If we fight for each other we have 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
 }})
