Covid-19 may lead to more automation in automobile manufacturing – EY Report
Published on : Monday 11-05-2020
The EY report said auto firms must adopt digital manufacturing technologies to uplift operational efficiencies in all aspects.
May 2020 – Thanks to the challenges related to labour, health and safety issues, the Indian automotive sector may further accelerate the use of digital technologies in manufacturing, says a recent report from consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY). The Covid-19 pandemic that shows no signs of abating at the moment will have a long lasting impact on societies in general, industry in particular, involving people to people contact. This will in turn lead to adoption of new working norms and guidelines that companies must follow to ensure safety at the workplace, says the report titled ‘Now, Next and Beyond: Auto Factories of the Future’. “In a post COVID-19 world, we expect social distancing norms to continue. Apart from demand-side variability, non-availability in the auto sector will continue to face challenges. Concerns over labour, health and safety management on the shop floor,” says Vinay Raghunath, EY India Partner and Automotive Sector Leader. “A digital shop-floor will become the new norm with specific interventions on planning and execution,” he adds.
Elaborating on how automotive shop-floors will evolve and adopt digital technologies post Covid-19, the report said automobile companies will now have to rebuild and reinvent a new ecosystem to accommodate the new normal that is likely to emerge.
The report further said, “Due to growing apprehensions during the lockdown, workmen are refraining from attending work. Some shop floors have been left deserted. Further, due to large scale migration of labour across India, availability and redeployment of contract labour post lockdown is a major concern.”
The EY report said auto firms must adopt digital manufacturing technologies to uplift operational efficiencies in all aspects with the current constraints of manpower and resources in the automotive industry. The report, however, said although digital adoption on manufacturing shop-floors in India is at a nascent stage, unlike other industries, the automotive shop-floor still leads in the adoption of emerging technologies in India.