The Indian chemical industry is all set to undergo a massive revamp as far as adoption of digital integration and automation is concerned as per exclusive details shared by industry stalwarts during "Achieving Sustainability Via Digital Transformation" webinar organised by Indian Chemical News.

Revealing the company's plans for the year 2021, Samir Dhaga, President and CIO, PI Industries Limited said, “We are looking at the launch of a new initiative called Empower, an integrated platform for agro-chemical sales and distribution business. It kind of deals with activities related to market development from retailers to customers. We are also looking at fine tuning inventory management. It is a 3 year-long transformation project and we are already in the second year.”

PI Industries is also looking at the incorporation of new technologies. Talking about the same, Dhaga said, “Cutting edge technologies such as 3D molecular modelling help in cutting down the cycle time in discovery and allow us to quickly reach our R&D development goals. Whether it is R&D from scale-up or process transfer perspectives and also allows scientists to look at it from a sustainability angle. It allows the possibility of various combinations and permutations that are required to get the quality green molecule.”

Calling it a long journey ahead, Ravi Shankar Jalan, Managing Director, GHCL, revealed that his company’s first priority will be to adopt automation.

“Plant automation remains high on our agenda and some part of it will get completed during 2021. However, it will take 2-3 years for the completion of the entire plan. We also have an aggressive plan of making plants IoT-based and in the longer run, we are looking at ensuring that operations could be run remotely,” added Jalan.

Rallis India Limited is planning a series of automation and customer-centric initiatives during 2021. Naveen Sodhiya, Head - IT & Digital, Rallis India commented, “We really want to make sure that our customers are well served with technology solutions therefore, the farmer-centric initiatives remain a top priority. We are also looking inward in terms of overall plant automation, including smart factory set up and complete automation of brownfield factories with new edge technology solutions.”

The security and optimization remain high on the cards of Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corporation Limited during the upcoming year. Deepak Keni, EVP - Special Projects & Enablers explained, “We are trying to implement various technologies in the plants to ensure safety and security. This includes geo-fencing to prevent people from entering hazardous areas as well as drone technology.”

Talking from the integrated supply chain side, Keni said his company is also keen to reduce its footprint from fleet network optimization. 

“We are looking at ensuring that our total distribution cost is optimized besides also the fuel cost which is required to supply our end products to customers. We aim to use smart technologies and network and warehouse optimization to achieve an end to end integrated supply chain management,” added Keni.

“Integration of various systems working in silos remains high on our agenda in the next year,” mentioned Ritwik Rath, General Manager - IS Strategy, HPCL.

“We want to have an integrated view of various systems. Integrating them to give us a common insight is something we would like to focus on. We would like to integrate all aspects of supply chain management,” commented Rath.

Talking about the company’s plan to take the automation to the next level, Rath said, “While we have well-automated refineries, we want to take them to the level of refineries 4.0. We have terminals among whom we have converted a few into smart terminals. Processes and footprints are all connected which also takes us to delivery points such as retail outfits and other customer touchpoints. So, we want to leverage various solutions that are available such as IoT and robotics for automation. It will help us in the connectivity of all the systems.”

The key to the future lies with cloud service automation, outlined V Srinivas, President - IT, The Sanmar Group.

V Srinvas said, “During COVID-19, the need for business continuity has become criteria for any technology. Therefore, the adoption of the cloud has become a key today. Cloud has ensured that there is business continuity and also that enterprise has access to compatibility. For example, we have seen how AI/ML and cloud have standardized and matured in the process.”

“There is a challenge of industries working in silos and lack of interoperability and infrastructure. In such a scenario, no doubt the future lies with automation,” Srinivas concluded.