1. | |May 2016
1CIOReview
CIOREVIEW.COMMAY 31, 2016
CIOReviewT h e N a v i g a t o r f o r E n t e r p r i s e S o l u t i o n s
CIOReview
MANUFACTURING SPECIAL
CXO INSIGHTS
IN MY OPINION
Paul Boris,
CIO-Advanced
Manufacturing, GE
Keith Moore,
Senior Product Manager,
SparkCognition
The ERP and Cloud
Matchmaker
LeanSwift:
Johan Axelsson,
CEO

2. | |May 2016
27CIOReview
By Sanjay Karve, Global Head-Innovation and Transformation Group, Manufacturing Industry Solutions Unit,
Amit Bhowmik, Managing Partner, Process Manufacturing Industry, TCS
CXO
INSIGHTs
fter nearly two hundred
years in business,
the chemical
and process
manufacturing
industry is
facing the
fastest rate
of change
to date. Today, the industry is driven
by a customer-centric approach, in part
thanks to new technologies that position
manufacturers to gain competitive advantage.
Leaders in the industry are using mobile solutions
not only to enhance shop floor productivity and
safety, but also to influence demand and deliver new services
and product models. As technology in the industry advances, new
frameworks help solve problems through digital interventions for
scalable solutions and with faster returns.
While the industry is no stranger to change, this recent
transformation has been more pronounced than previous industry
revolutions. If we look back at history, from the year 1850
onward was an era of discovery, followed by an
era of commercialization and then a focus on
productivity, finally arriving at today’s era
of customer centricity, which began early
in the 21st century. Many of the tectonic
shifts in the industry have taken place
due to rapid commoditization, rising
raw material and energy costs, stringent
compliance requirements, the availability
of new production locations, and a
rapidly changing downstream industry.
As a recent example, the introduction of
ground-breaking products from a new genre of
chemicals, originating from nanotechnology and
life sciences, is the result of some of these challenges.
Today, chemical process manufacturers are devising short-term
and long-term strategies and transforming their business models to
respond better to these challenges.
BuildingtheCaseForNewAgeTechnologies
Following in the footsteps of others in the manufacturing industry
and the forward looking CPG industry, chemical and process
A Sanjay Karve
Digitization in
Manufacturing
Industry

3. | |May 2016
28CIOReview
industry players are also focusing on customer-centric business
models to gain competitive edge. In part, many industry players
are working to build closer relationships with customers in an
otherwise commoditized market. Customer demands also are on
the rise, driven by the emergence of new
technologies. Today, customers expect
easier ways of doing business, such as
system connectivity and a single point
of contact for transactional activities. In
response, chemical industry players need
to align their business models with the
new market demands. As an example, one
leading chemical player is focusing on
e-business with a dual strategic agenda to
create customer value and improve internal
efficiency. With respect to enhancing
customer value, the organization is focused
on personalization of business information
in real time and maintaining a transparent
supply chain network and transactions (both
historical and real time). To create internal efficiency, it needs to
concentrate on digitization of the Order-to-Cash (OTC) process,
reduction in transaction costs, and improvement of the effort-
intensive Plant and Terminal Operation (PTO) processes.
LeveragingDigitalTechnologiestoGainCompetitiveEdge
Today is a turning point for the industry to leap ahead with the digital
wave to align execution with plan. Leaders in the industry are using
mobile solutions not only to enhance plant floor productivity safety,
but also for an additional channel to influence demand and bring
servitization to their product models in a connected way.
As an example, startup and shutdown procedures often bring
prolonged periods of latency in this industry, leading to loss in
productivity. These losses can be minimized through a digitally
guided solution for the plant floor operator. Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS) helped one large chemical manufacturing customer
to leverage a mobile solution for digitizing such procedures.
Besides virtualization of startup and shutdown procedures, the
solution allowed for the complete workflow to be digitized and
delivered easily accessible equipment status updates. This enabled
safe handover and takeover with complete traceability of actions.
What’s more, it resulted in productivity improvement equivalent to
days of additional capacity.
Planned shutdown involves a multidiscipli-
nary team from plant operations, maintenance
engineers, inspection engineers, safety and
health personnel to shutdown planners who
painstakingly schedule ‘turnaround’ workflows
following a defined set of ‘Standard Operating
Procedure’ (SOP). For plant floor shutdown,
the plant floor operator has to physically iso-
late the plant section for handover, empty out
the process material, de-energize equipment
in the blocked-out section, ensure housekeep-
ing, issuance of work order and hand over plant
section for maintenance. This oversimplified
process follows the defined guidelines of SOP
with people to people, people to equipment and
people to process interfaces. Planned intervention to reduce latency
and lag directly impacts productivity.
To put this into context, a company with 100 manufacturing
sites, three plants on each site and an average of 15 days of
turnaround time each year, startup and shutdown procedures could
lead to 4,500 days of lost productivity. A two percent improvement
in productivity from this ‘Digital Guided Solution’ will lead to
productivity improvement equivalent to 90 days of (averaged)
additional capacity, sometimes called the ‘hidden plant’.
Further imagine leveraging geospatial zoning of mobile device
for improving plant floor safety. Health and safety audits done
at a periodic cadence help reduce incidents and protect against
corporate exposure. Geospatial zoning of mobile devices is a highly
productive means to deliver safe movement alerts and location-
specific workflow triggers. For example, as an auditor moves
from the non-drive to the drive end of the compressor, the system
triggers a workflow driven template for faster and error-free audit
compliance. This, coupled with predictive EHS analytics to alert
sites at risk, helps to proactively plan for audits. This approach was
an outcome of scientific data driven transformation as an effective
and efficient means to manage audits for companies with multiple
sites.
CompetingwiththeBest
Chemical and process manufacturing companies, those emerging
as winners, are using an innovative combination of digital
technologies to reimagine their businesses. These interventions,
still at different stages of maturation, are transforming plant and
personnel safety, productivity and customer experience, a whole
new world of opportunities transforming the industry to grow at a
lower cost.
Amit Bhowmik
Leaders in the industry are using
mobile solutions not only to
enhance shop floor productivity and
safety, but also to influence demand
and deliver new services and
product models