manufacturing special october - 2015 · the issue also features the cover story on focus softnet,...

| | September 20151

October - 2015

PavanK. Malladi, CIO and Head Information and

Communications Technology Sales, Ericsson India

In My Opinion

`100

Vipul Anand, Group CIO, JSPL

CIO Insights

Manufacturing Special

Focus Softnet:

An IT Solutions Provider toDepend On

| | April 20151

TransSys Solutions:

Transformation Begins Here

TransSys Solutions:

Transformation Begins Here

April-2015

Most Promising

Prabu Balasubramanyan, Executive Director

`100

Irfan SAQ,Regional CEO

| | September 20154 | | September 20155

Today’s manufacturing enterprise, whether it produces consumer goods or arms & ammunitions, often has to cope with a range of conflicting demands. From increasing competition, new innovations, complex supply chains,

increased interdependency between the suppliers, manufacturing partners, customers and OEMs, and lack of information, transparency and visibility, there are many reasons forcing organizations to be on their toes and implement systems that bring unison in their operations. Through it all, a manufacturing enterprise must consistently aim to achieve the five R's- produce the right product, with the right quality, in the right quantity, at the right price, and at the right time.

Correct and timely information is the key to meeting the aforementioned goals, and IT solutions such as database management systems, ERP systems, and computer-aided simulation, design or manufacturing have become indispensable to most manufacturing enterprises these days. According to recently released TechSci Research report, "India Factory Automation Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020", factory automation market in India is projected to register growth at a CAGR of around 12 percent during 2015 - 2020. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research says, "Factory automation market in India is exhibiting significant growth due to growing demand from automotive hubs across the country. Further, the Make in India initiative is also expected to play an important role in boosting the adoption of factory automation solutions in the country. With major investments expected in the manufacturing sector in India in the upcoming years, the demand for factory automation solutions in the country is also anticipated to rise over the next five years."

At ERP Insights, we too realize the need for manufacturing organizations to translate their challenges into fruitful opportunities through effective use of IT, and thus bring to you the list of ‘20 Most Promising Manufacturing Software and Solutions Providers 2015’. The issue also features the cover story on Focus Softnet, which has evolved and grown into an established multinational company with 27 offices, 800+ employees and more than 200 business partners spread across 17 countries.

Pankaj KundwaniManaging [email protected]

IT Will Strengthen ‘Make In India’ Vol 1 Issue 6 • October 2015

Publisher & Editor Alok Chaturvedi

Managing Editor Pankaj Kundwani

Editorial TeamArunakshree Das

Deepshikha Singh Nandini Mukherjee

Group Art Director Ashok Kumar

Visualisers Ranjith C

Praveen C P

Advertisement VP-Sales & Marketing Ratan Nayak

GM-Sales & Marketing Devaiah S Joyya

T : 080-43112156

[email protected] [email protected]

No. 124, 2nd Floor, Surya Chambers, Old Airport

Road, Murugheshpalya, Bangalore-560017

To subscribe:

Visit www.theerpinsights.com/magazine-in or send email to: [email protected]

Circulation Manager Magendran Perumal

Cover price is Rs 100 per issue.

Printed by Raghu K and published by Alok Chaturvedi on behalf of Silicon Media Technologies Pvt Ltd. No. 124, 2nd Floor, Surya Chambers, Old Airport Road, Murugheshpalya, Bangalore-560017 and Printed at Precision Fototype Service, # 13, Sathyanarayana Temple Street, Halsuru, Bangalore 560008

Copyright © 2015 Silicon Media Technologies Pvt Ltd, All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photography or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the magazine and accordingly, no liability is assumed by the publisher.


CONTENTS

IN MY OPINION

CEO INSIGHTS

CIO INSIGHTS

CXO INSIGHTS

IoT and Servitizationin Manufacturing – A Quick Guide to Key Technology Enablers

Leveraging technologyto Cater to Multi-

location Work Space

The Sensitive Issue of Data in the Reverse Supply Chain

The New World of the Technology Field

PavanK. Malladi,CIO and Head Information and Communications Technology Sales, Ericsson India

Vipul Anand, Group CIO, JSPL

Sanjay Kanodia,Founder & CEO, Pervacio

Sanjeev Dahiwadkar,CEO & President, IndiSoft

08

20

Estimating the Impact of Next Generation ERP in Logistics Management

Anjani Kumar,CIO, Safexpress

34

Usage of Information Technology to Increase Enterprise Productivity

and Enhance ValueJohny Paramian,

Executive VP & Group CIO, GMR Group

29

38

45 Pg 08-09ERP BUZZWORLD

Software and Solutions Providers 2015

Manufacturing

Powering ConnectedCar Innovations with Cloud

Is Big Data delivering Big Value … Yet?

Sanjay Ravi,Sr. Director-Worldwide Manufacturing, Microsoft

DharmeshThakker, General Partner,Battery Ventures

26

42

24 Chhabra Infosolutions

27 Concord Technologies

28 G4 Solutions & Applications

31 Helium Consulting

32 Hi-Tech eSoft

36 eAlerta

40 Sneash Software

44 Tanaashi Group

Focus SoftnetAn IT Solutions Provider

to Depend On

COVER STORY

14

Featured Solution Providers



IoT and Servitizationin Manufacturing – A Quick Guide to Key Technology EnablersBy PavanK. Malladi, CIO and Head Information and Communications Technology Sales, Ericsson India

Ericsson is the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. With more than 110,000 professionals, and customers in 180 countries, the company combines global scale with technology and services leadership. With its services especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud, Ericsson is enabling the communications industry to do better business.

W hen a Swedish manufacturer of bearings introduced “sensors” in its

bearings which would record machine rotations to provide a unique service to its customers on predicting machine life and productivity via this information, the entire world recorded these phenomena as “Servitization”. Servitization today is used as a word to describe introduction of intelligent services on top of a product to extend the customer relationship that the seller of the product has. Not only does it introduce life cycle services as an additional revenue spinner, but also provides a mechanism to continue the customer relationship beyond sales and repairs it to another level. However, most if not all of the cases require the use of sensors to collect data, analytics to be applied on that data and a service to be created on top of that data to create such services.

The triple bottom line of people, profit and planet has never

been more important than it is today. Some of the key benefits seen especially related to the manufacturing process:• Better Signaling of Demand and Supply Chain Efficiency: IoT can enable better signaling of service level of the product at any time thereby increasing both the demand signals accuracy as well as supply chain efficiency by tracking shipped items for the purpose of returns, warranties and predictive support of failing items.• Accelerated Innovation and Proactive Product Support: By providing continuous and real time data to manufacturers, IoT can enable continuous innovation via product usage tracking and behavior analytics. • Sustainability and Safety: IoT-enabled sustainable operations can provide real-time visibility to energy and resource consumption and resource or material movement.

While the benefits can be expanded deeply with further imagination, the key to achieving

this, the technology to enable IoT requires complex understanding of both Information (from an analytics view point), Communication (from connecting the devices to service innovation systems) and Sensor electronics (from building the sensors to work with the products).

Firstly, let’s clear the air on what is the difference between Machine2Machine Communication and the IoT. The paradigm of sensors and analytics being applied across smaller devices interconnected across small areas by controlled networks is what we would know as Machine to Machine communication (M2M). However, if it’s across a large set of devices interconnected across vast geographical areas; the default mechanism of communication chosen will almost need to communicate in a world-wide network: The Internet. When we contemplate following this path into the future, we find that nearly all everyday things will become smart nodes within a global

network. This phenomenon is called the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT); a trend that will almost certainly find its way into industrial production.

Let’s now look at three things Sensor Electronics, Analytics, and Communication technology, to figure out why IoT is now possible than a few years back.

Sensors- Electronics and Software Leading the Way in IoT: A distinguishing feature of the new technological environment is the transition to mechatronic systems. Electronics will be a fundamental component of future products, while hardware will be increasingly standardized. The major features determining the functionalities will be created by the software. In this way, traditional machine elements are transformed to mechatronic systems. For interconnection, the key mechanism in all the new objects will enable wireless connection, to allow mobility and will have its own unique IP Address in the IoT scheme of things. Such machines are now even being called “Cyber-Physical-Systems”. One of the other distinguishing features is the “context-sensitivity” of these machines. Machines can now be extremely context sensitive due to their connection to the ambient environment surrounding them. Machines can respond via motion sensing around

them thereby providing safety. This leads to more deeper mechanisms of control and efficiency often now referred to as “Autonomous Optimization” used as a design principle in designing such systems.

IoT Analytics Is About Small Not Big Data:Analytics and IoT concepts are much talked about, but not always understood or distinguished between in a stringent manner. Big data is a term describing large amounts of data, collected from a variety of sources, analyzed with the purpose of building business advantages. While IoT can add new types of sources to the mix, it does not just make up another incremental development step for big data. Just like the internet is more than a library of data to be used for analytic

purposes, IoT is more than a new range of sources to add to the complexity. RFID provides identification, sensors provide sensory information, and embedded systems read things, digitizing all new sorts of information to be combined and analyzed.

Another important aspect of IoT that separates it from big data is the actuation purpose of many IoT applications. In IoT applications, the small data is more relevant than the big. The more important concept therefore is collecting small information, processing it, analyzing it in context and then immediately actualizing it that produces value in IoT. Thus, small, not big data communicated in real time by machines act autonomously by communicating between sensing and actuating equipment is key, and then recording the transactions for statistical quality control perspective or operations research is the need for IoT in Manufacturing.

IoT solutions provide data that is

much more heterogeneous than

other, “traditional”, all-digital

data sources

In My OPInIOn


Communication in IoT: Cellular with Capillary Networking is the SolutionIf you analyze the needs for IoT – both in technical and business terms –cellular technologies working in licensed spectrum are well suited to the application. Cellular offers advanced functionality when it comes to quality of service and security. 3GPP technology already has mechanisms to assign priority access to certain classes of device (such as smoke detectors) to make sure data gets through even in emergency situations when there may be network congestion. Security is an integral part of 3GPP cellular standards, and includes secure authentication and encryption of traffic. The key needs are satisfied as below:Mobility: From fast moving vehicles, through slow moving humans (or delivery drones!), all the way to stationary garage door controllers that need no mobility at all. All these types of devices can be connected via Cellular Networks.Bandwidth: Human-centric media devices such as TVs consume and generate a lot of data at great speed,

while sensors might only transmit a few kilobytes per day, a cellular network can dynamically adjust the bandwidth requirement.Latency: Cars communicating with each other on the highway need extremely low latency links, but also humans having a voice call, or playing a cloud-hosted game, cellular is the answer here.Reliability: Connectivity for a medical sensor supervising a patient

at home can literally be a matter of life and death, but less critical connection failures are increasingly frustrating and disrupting as well. Reliability is a key feature in a cellular network.Availability: Similar, but subtly different from reliability: e.g. a sensor that is batching its transmissions of measurements may only need to be connected a few minutes per week, while surveillance systems require constant connections. Both may require a very reliable connection but don’t have the same requirements on it being available all the time. A cellular network can be accessed at will without elaborate provisioning required for a more fixed network.

However, the only drawback with a cellular network is the high power requirement which is not necessarily a feature of the low power source devices.

This problem is therefore solved by “Capillary Networks” which essentially is a phrase drawn out of biology, since it is most commonly used to describe the smallest and thinnest parts of the network of blood vessels in animals. The term here is used in IoT to describe complementing radio technologies, often short-range and low-power, which connect to the macro cellular network through more traditional technologies.

In effect, there are several access networks: wireless sensor networks to measure the physical world, the cellular networks (including 3G/4G) to handle mobility, mesh networks to support new applications and services. When we aggregate all these networks, we form a capillary network. Therefore, capillary networks are a key to building an effective communication network to clearly complete the IoT cycle.

Capillary networks are a key to building an effective communication network to clearly complete the IoT cycle


ERP Buzz WorldE

Microsoft Reinvents Productivity with Upcoming Release of Customer Engagement Solution

India Factory Automation Market to Grow at Around 12% by 2020, Concludes TechSci Research

M icrosoft Corp. (NASDAQ "MSFT") recently unveiled its new capabilities which it will deliver later this calendar year with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

2016, the latest release of its customer engagement solution. The new enhancements are designed to increase productivity for organizations by providing a simple and seamless experience across their Dynamics CRM application and their productivity applications like email, Excel, OneDrive for Business for easier task management, an enhanced mobile experience for the worker on the go, and enriched data and analytics, all of which will be available later this calendar year.

According to the Journal of Experimental Psychology, every time a user switches programs or applications, there is a 40 percent reduction in productivity. Microsoft has taken this issue head-on in the new release with a design principle that allows organizations to manage their customer-facing activities in a single experience, with no need to export or switch, drastically reducing the time to completion and saving time by automating fundamental tasks. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 release introduces Delve functionality into the application. Powered by Office Graph, Delve helps users increase productivity by surfacing key content — enabling salespeople to discover information that may help them with their opportunity or account, such as popular sales presentations and proposals.

Mobility is core to productivity, and the next version of Dynamics CRM will provide full offline capabilities for sales and service professionals on phones and tablets and across all major mobile platforms (Android, iOS and Windows). Customer service is a critical element and the next version of Dynamics CRM delivers an end-to-end solution for customer service across self-service, assisted service and field service to close the customer relationship loop.

Proven success in sales productivityLast year, Microsoft launched sales productivity promotional offers to make it easy for organizations to reap the benefits of productivity and intelligence in a single offering through Dynamics CRM Online, Power BI and Office 365. The company will offer these comprehensive services via the Dynamics CRM Online Professional Add On to Office 365 beginning in October.

"We want to be a better company, a stronger company, and, of course, a larger company," said David Goff, sales & marketing manager at O'Neal Steel. "Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Office 365 are helping us maintain our focus on service as our business grows. When our customers need something, they know the person to call; and when they call that salesperson, they know they're going to get accurate and timely information."

According to recently released TechSci Research report, "India Factory Automation Market

Forecast & Opportunities, 2020", factory automation market in India is projected to register growth at a CAGR of around 12% during 2015 - 2020. Growth in the market is anticipated on account of growing deployment of various factory automation systems in automotive, chemicals, and other manufacturing units, along with various government initiatives aimed at increasing domestic manufacturing.

Factory automation market in India has been growing at a considerable pace over the last few years, owing to the growing need for a reliable and cost effective method of production, which results in minimization of waste.

In addition to making the process more controlled and streamlined, automation solutions also provide better productivity compared to manual labor. On account of these benefits, the deployment of factory automation solutions in various factories is projected to increase during the forecast period.

"Factory automation market in India is exhibiting significant growth due to growing demand from automotive hubs across the country. Further, the Make in India initiative is also expected to play an important role in boosting the adoption of factory automation solutions in the country. With major investments expected in the manufacturing sector in India in the upcoming years, the demand for factory automation solutions in the country is also anticipated to rise over the next five years," said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director

with TechSci Research, a global management consulting firm.

"India Factory Automation Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020" has evaluated the future growth potential of factory automation in India, and provided statistics and information on market structure, size, and shares. The report includes factory automation, market projections and demand forecasting. This report is intended to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in India factory automation market.

Government initiatives aimed at increasing domestic manufacturing, along with the need to increase process efficiency to drive factory automation market in India

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 features enhancements in productivity, intelligence, mobility and customer service


Focus SoftnetAn IT Solutions Provider to Depend On

The three primary objectives

for any business are profit, growth and survival, and

organizations achieving these goals are fortunate to see their

efforts paying off. However, as the graph escalates and numbers proliferate, growth brings bigger

challenges. When organizations expand their horizons, they find it intricate to establish proper flow of information, integrate various business functions, streamline business operations, optimize resources, and above all increase the Return on Investments (RoI). Having a disintegrated system can adversely affect the overall business growth, and thus, going for an ERP solution is not just an option but a necessity. Considering the wide ranging challenges businesses encounter, enterprise solutions like ERP, SCM or CRM are high on demand. On the other hand, due to lack of able consultants and expertise in this space, the number of failed implementations outnumbers the successful ones. Coming as an exception, the 1992 founded Focus Softnet is surely one of those who serve customers beyond selling engagements, to truly enable their businesses amidst growing business complexities and competitive pressures. The company not only aims to fanatically meet customers’ demands, but also outperforms their expectations through its robust ERP frameworks.

COVER STORY

By Pankaj Kundwani



Key Management About Irfan SAQ

Irfan SAQ, Regional CEO – Indian Subcontinent

Mir Hasnain Ali Khan – Co-Founder and

Chairman

Mir Ahmed Ali Khan – Co-Founder and

President

Ali Hyder – Group CEO

Mir Fiaz Ali Khan – Group CFO

Focus' Value Proposition

• Focus provides highly customizable and user friendly solutions• One-Stop-Shop end-to-end ERP services developed in its own Lab • 24x7 online and site support• Delivery of regional solution features through API developments by local teams to ensure that customers' needs are understood and delivered on time.

Focus Softnet has evolved and grown into an established multinational company with 27 offices, 800+ employees and more than 200 business partners spread across 17 countries

About Irfan SAQ, Regional CEO – Indian SubcontinentIrfan’s impressive command over technical and functional aspects of the IT ERP domain established his role as technical head in 1996 when he joined Focus Softnet. He was responsible for providing technical support globally, ensuring highest customer satisfaction ratings at all times. His meteoric rise within the organization led him to assume his role as the Regional Chief Executive Officer – Indian Subcontinent, where he is responsible for the entire operations of Focus Softnet within the subcontinent.

With International headquarters in Dubai and Corporate Head Office in Hyderabad, Focus Softnet has evolved and grown into an established multinational company with 27 offices, 800+ employees and more than 200 business partners spread across 17 countries. The company has been constantly innovating and developing solutions like ERP, CRM and Mobile applications, also offering industry specific solutions for Education, Warehousing, Retail, Manufacturing, Restaurants, Healthcare, Facilities Management, Hospitality and Real Estate amongst others.

A One-Stop-Shop for End-to-End ERP ServicesInitially known for its accounting software, Focus Softnet introduced its first ERP in 2002, which included MIS and other modules. Since then, the company has significantly invested in R&D and building a competent team to ensure that the products they develop are feature-rich and are based on state-of-the-art technologies.

Over the past 24 years, Focus Softnet has emerged as a one-stop-shop for end-to-end ERP services. It vests its forte in tailoring and customizing solutions thereby eliminating the risk of failure of ERP implementations. Its flagship ERP solution – ‘Focus i’ has made its name as a cost effective solution that combines highly customizable ERP with Business Intelligence tools. The solution is not only scalable, flexible and easily customizable but also easy to use. It enables users to run statistical models, analyze data, extract and generate business intelligence reports. The software also features a customizable dashboard interface and complete data dictionary benefitting the user to execute hassle-free transactions.

Syed Irfan Quadri, the Regional CEO for Indian Subcontinent, elaborates, “Our ERP solution - ‘Focus’, is a perfect fit for companies looking for quick deployment of entire suite without adding recurring cost of highly skilled IT resources, yet would not like to compromise on the functionality and features.”

Offering Solutions That Grow Along with Your OrganizationThe hallmark of Focus’ growth story is its zeal and ability to keep itself ahead in the race of technology so as to provide its customers the best. The organization has always been on the innovative side of technology by adopting the latest technologies. Right from its inception where it came up with GUI in DOS platform to the first ERP in the region to bring dashboard on Blackberry device 5 years ago, Focus has been the first mover in

embracing newest technologies and enabling clients’ businesses.Over the years, Focus Softnet has successfully helped over

1 Million users globally to streamline their business operations and increase their return on investments. It has traversed with many organizations throughout their journeys by being an effective technology enabler and a growth partner. For instance, about a decade ago, when Gulf Craft Inc, a leading UAE based manufacturing company designing and building super yachts, was graduating from building small boats to designing and manufacturing bigger and more sophisticated luxury vessels, it was in the need for business applications and systems that could help in accommodating these growth plans.

Hence, Gulf Craft evaluated solutions from different vendors and decided to go with Focus, as the team at Focus understood their requirements and created customized modules to address those requirements. Soon, Gulf craft started using Focus 5.1 and eventually upgraded to Focus RT in 2007, and later to Focus i. Focus softnet was also able to integrate third party software such as the biometric software and the bar coding software with Focus i, which helped Gulf Craft get data on its inventories and production in real time. With this integration, the company was able to bring man hours into the costing module as well as bring real time store management where even the smallest inventory item used in production could be tracked in real time.

Gulf Craft credits Focus for enabling them to automate their financial and operational processes and helping them make better decisions by organizing, analyzing and generating reports out of the ERP data. Today, this company has grown to one of the leading boat builders worldwide, building more than 400 vessels annually.

Similarly, Focus Softnet has served many esteemed clienteles that include names like Hercules Sport International, Sri Chaitanya Techno School, ITC Ltd. (Agri Business Division), Bahrain Air, Gulf University, Pai International, Gulf Craft and National Bonds.

Understanding the Pulse of Clients’ BusinessesFocus Softnet takes great pride in being adaptive to the varying needs of customers operating at differing levels and industries. Underlined with agility, flexibility and scalability, Focus’ solutions are divided into three main categories- Entry Level, Mid-Line and Top-Line. As Irfan explains, “Our entry level solution is ideally suited for companies that need stand-alone vanilla accounting solutions, to companies that would like to graduate into the ERP world where having only an accounting system is no longer enough. Our Mid-line product is ideally suited to SME companies with more evolved processes, and multiple locations wherein the corporate culture provides for business governance through technology. Our current top

of the line system meets the expectations of larger SMEs and corporate clients alike, wherein the dependence of governance for the organization to function is close to 100 percent. Our agile and scalable systems cater to the entire spectrum of customers and our track record has demonstrated the incredible agility of our skilled team of professionals as well.”

Delivering Global Solutions with a Local FlavorFocus Softnet uses the latest technologies to develop its products and customizes them by offering region specific features that significantly reduces the implementation time. The company’s latest versions of products boasts of state-of-art features such as Focus 8 Next Generation


Solutions & Services

• Mid-Range ERP• High End ERP• Customer Relationship Management• Mobile Apps

Enterprises:

• Academic Solutions• Warehousing Solutions• Retail Management System• Manufacturing Resource Planning• Restaurant Management Systems• Health Management Solution• Facilities Management• Hospitality Management System• Real Estate Leasing and Sales Solution

Industry Solutions:

• Content Management and e-Commerce• Business Process Consulting• Solution Integration• HR Services

Services offered:

ERP, integrated Mobile Apps, integrated cloud CRM, multi-server synchronization, highly customizable MRP to Retail POS and many more modules.

Pointing out how Focus outperforms other competitors, Irfan states, “Our global spread across 17 countries uniquely equips us with ‘Local’ expertise, thereby providing customers with solutions relevant to them locally and globally. We ensure that their needs are understood and delivered each time without much of the requirements getting ‘lost-in-translation’.”

Stumbling Blocks Made Stepping StonesFocus Softnet credits its success to its motivated team that has the capability of turning all the odds in their clients’ favor. Irfan proudly reveals how the management has been able to keep the attrition rate far below the industry average, as more than 60 percent of the company’s employees have been with the organization for over 10 years. He says, “We, as an organization believe in being

lean without many hierarchical structures. Everybody across the company is just a phone call or an email away. We believe in attracting and retaining the best talents in development, tech

support and marketing and offer them the right atmosphere where they learn from everyday challenges. Also, we never fail to recognize and appreciate productive efforts by our employees and reward them time to time.”

Evoking a sense of ownership in the employees, Focus is one of the few companies that have offered equity ownership to deserving employees, who in turn feel motivated to better their own achievements. At the same time, the team at Focus Softnet does not believe in working akin to money making machine and takes out time to engage in activities pertaining to corporate social responsibility. The founders of Focus Softnet have also been supporting several charitable organizations in India and abroad. They continue to inspire and lead the team at Focus to achieve new milestones every single day.

The Road AheadFocus has grown at a rate of 15 percent annually for the last 10 years. Out of the total revenue recorded in the last financial year, the company claims to have generated close to 15 percent from manufacturing industry segment and around 20 percent from its services.

Having the required financial strength and a competent team on board, Focus Softnet aspires to be the Number 1 ERP solutions company in the geographies it operates in. It wishes to be known for providing high quality solutions that are scalable and robust to help clients overcome any business challenge. Irfan, being the leading man to handle company’s operations in Indian subcontinent, summarizes company’s focal point as “Delivering Strong Value Propositions & Providing Excellent Service Experiences.” He further explicates, “Delivering highly comprehensive and user-level customizable solutions to a basic user with so much ease of use that they don’t need to depend on highly qualified techies for performing their day to day job, is one of our greatest endeavours. Also, we strive to provide technologically advanced solutions to our customers that can auto-upgrade, so that our customers are never outdated in terms of the technology they use.”

Additionally, Focus Softnet would be moving from perpetual to 100 percent cloud based licensing model in next 3-5 years. This would ensure company’s expansion across the globe is less challenging and that it is able to reach out to customers in the remotest corners of the world.


Leveraging technologyto Cater to Multi-location Work Space

Founded in 1952 and based in New Delhi, JSPL is a leading company in steel, power, mining, oil and gas and infrastructure in India who uses its own coal and iron-ore mines for production. The company also has expanded its business on a global front in Africa and Indonesia.

By Vipul Anand, Group CIO, JSPL

Effective utilization of Information technologies is a necessity to cater to a large multi-location work space. For this, each location must

be equipped with state-of-the-art IT facilities such as newest tools in IT Infrastructure, IT Communication and IT Applications. Along with these facilities, a strong in-house team of technical experts is mandatory that has rich experience and innovation in creating and adopting latest technologies.

Staying connected with internal & external stakeholders is of paramount importance. Businesses must think and act differently to succeed in this new digital ecosystem. Adopting a new technology is simple but effectively utilizing the same is tricky. So, we all need to keep learning, un-learning and re-learning technology solutions and applications, and benchmark our technological expertise.

Countering Business Challenges with ITOur IT strategy has been to ensure a robust and agile IT platform for all business needs. Thus, to augment relationships with all OEMs, strengthening the in-house IT teams across locations for a unified IT operation, reducing the overall IT expenses and improving utilization of IT assets must be some of the constant endeavors. In order to keep IT teams motivated and updated with latest trends and solutions, training sessions for leveling up their skills is of principal significance.

JSPL uses business processes which are automated with best of application tools for planning, purchase, and production, which helps to bring strong and robust process based working across business locations and with improved efficiencies of operations.

We have integrated ERP systems for logistics, tracking of stocks and customer services. Our warehouses have integrated systems enabled to keep a check on our stocks and consumptions. GPS enabled logistics helps us to track shipments in-route. Our presence can also be felt on E-commerce websites and social media channels, which helps us in providing detailed information of our products to our customers. For example, we have introduced user friendly portals for queries and information about our retail products.

For establishing a full-fledged comprehensive IT platform across various locations, systems need to be duly integrated to internal and external entities like SAP systems. We have efficient internal teams for dealing with challenges like implementing ERP system for computing needs of our business with online dashboards. We have, recently, adopted mobility solutions onto our ERP platform which has offered comfort to our end users who want to stay connected to our systems while on the move.

We have adopted Cloud computing platform, including latest application software like SAP products, Broner–PSI Manufacturing

Excellence Solutions for instance. High Speed MPLS network across locations like Tele Presence facility and advanced use of digital, social media and mobility are some of the areas of opportunities that we have already invested in.

We are further working towards inducting SAP HANA and GRC which will bring in lot of strength, innovation, controls and cost benefits to our IT setup. In an ever challenging business environment, IT plays a major role to support businesses to enhance productivity, reduce cost and ensure better control over assets.

Innovate to Achieve Higher Agility, Speed and EfficiencyTo keep users connected, and support operations and planning, there has to be proper access to current data. For this cause, along with IT solutions such as ERP and SAP platforms, Shared Accounting Centre can be equipped with best of the technologies to cater to the central business compute for the entire group.

Partnering with best of OEMs (Original equipment manufacturers) helps us to get the best products, prices and support services to augment digital ecosystem. For networking purposes, products from CISCO, Avaya and for MPLS and ILL, network from key service providers like Airtel, BSNL, and others may be used with high end data security.

Revolutionary IT Trends for Digitizing EnterprisesWe are living in a digital era where we

need to stretch our boundaries. Some of the strategic technology trends that will have a profound impact on an enterprise in the coming years are: • Induction of latest variants of ERP • IT compliances and controls of IT utilization • Advanced smart-phone technology with connected screens in workplaces for computing everywhere• Mobility & Analytics solutions for large pool of data• Internet of Things along with user-oriented computing

Understand Business Ecosystem, Assess Sensitivities, Address Concerns Businesses today have created a hyper-connected world where companies and its stakeholders have capabilities to act and interact with each other digitally across the globe. Hence, our roles in the IT space are pertinent to the growth of our organizations. Apart from ensuring seamless 24X7 IT, as technology professionals, we need to understand our business ecosystem well, assess business sensitivities, address the business needs and pain points, provide time bound IT technology solutions and leverage IT solutions efficiently to augment business productivity.

Staying connected with internal & external stakeholders is of paramount importance and businesses must think and act differently to succeed in the digital ecosystem

Vipul Anand

CIO InSIGhTS


company management Description

ACG Infotech Ltd New Delhi acgil.com

Adit Microsys Private Limited Ahmedabad aditmicrosys.com

Chhabra Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd. (CIPL) New Delhi chhabrasoft.com

Concord Technologies Pune concordtech.co.in

DesignTech Systems Ltd. Pune designtechsys.com

Focus SoftnetHyderabadfocussoftnet.com

Dr. Arun Kumar Gupta, CEO

Biren Shah, Managing Director

Ankur Chhabra, CEO & Founder

Shrihari Naik, Founder

Vikas Khanvelkar, Managing Director

Irfan SAQ, Regional CEO – Indian Subcontinent

A provider of Manufacturing ERP, Construction ERP, Hospital Management Systems, Supply Chain Management, CRM

A provider of Mobile App development, Web Development, Designing services, SaaS, Enterprise Solutions, RIA Applications

A provider of manufacturing solutions, FMCG industry solutions, web development solutions, RFID solutions

A provider of control automation engineering and IT services and solutions in the manufacturing and building controls domain

A provider of SIEMENS industry software, ALTAIR engineering, Stratasys, CYPE, SLM, ESI

A provider of ERP, CRM and Mobile applications, and industry specific solutions for Education, Warehousing, Retail, Manufacturing, Restaurants, Healthcare, Facilities Management, Hospitality and Real Estate among others

company management Description

G4 Solutions Hyderabad g4solutions.net

Geometric Limited Mumbai geometricglobal.com

GrandTrust InfoTech Private Limited Chennai thegti.com

Helium Consulting Private Limited Pune heliumconsulting.com

Hi-Tech e Soft Gurgaon hitechesoft.com

Kalycito Infotech Private Limited Coimbatore kalycito.com, ealerta.com

KPIT Pune kpit.com

Modtech Machines Ahmedabad modtechworld.com

Ramco Systems Chennai ramco.com

Sage Software Mumbai sagesoftware.co.in

Scientech Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Indore scientechsoft.com

Sneash Software Pune sneash.in

Tanaashi Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Noida tanaashi.com

Wissen Baum Engineering Solution LLP Pune wissenbaumllp.com

Srinivas Kumar, Founder & CEO

Manu M. Parpia MD & CEO

Scaria Podikunju, Founder Director

Indranath Majumdar,Founder and CEO

Rajeev Narayanan,Vice President

Bhagath Singh Karunakaran,CEO & MD

Ravi Pandit, Co-founder, Chairman & Group CEO

Manthan Oza,Head Business Development

P. R. Venketrama Raja, Vice Chairman, MD & CEO

Kumar Siddhartha, MD

Ambrish Kela, Managing Director

Pradip Burhade, CEO

Ayush Agarwal, CEO

Rishiraj Sormare, Director

A provider of Motion Analysis, CAE, Design Automation, CAD Automation, Design Work Flow and 2d to 3D Conversions

A provider of PLM Services and Solutions, Product Development, CAD/ CAM/ CAE Solutions, Software Engineering, Engineering services, Product Engineering, Manufacturing Solutions, Embedded Systems, Enterprise Interoperability, Model Based Enterprise

A provider of GERP+, GASSET+ Manufacturing solutions, GBUDGET+, GCOMS for Aviation and QMAGIK for Services

A provider of Manufacturing Management and Optimization, Advanced Process Control, Simulation and Process Modeling and Manufacturing Execution Systems

A provider of Engineering Solutions ranging from Product Design Services, Manufacturing Services and Software Services

A provider of services in two Business Verticals: R&D Services in Embedded Systems & Industrial Networking, and SaaS subscription services based on eAlerta IoT Platform

A provider of Enterprise Resource Planning, Product Lifecycle Management, Value Chain Planning & Execution, Enterprise Performance Management, Business Intelligence Services

Provides Turn Key Automation solutions to specific applications in to various industries

A provider of EPC focused ERP, Analytics, Planning & Optimization, In-memory based Computing, Manufacturing, Wearable Application Software

A provider of Sage 300, Sage X3, Sage CRM and Pocket HCM

A provider of Secura Manufacturing ERP, Splash School ERP, Splash College ERP and Cloud ERP Solution

A provider of Lean and Green Manufacturing operational excellence which helps businesses with strategic planning, continuous improvement and innovation

A provider of ERP & SCM, Warehouse Management (WMS) Software, Document Management Software (DMS), and Customized Web & Mobile Development Solutions

A provider of Industrial Design, Product Design, CAE Validation and Manufacturing Solution


Manufacturing

A s the scale of operations goes up, manufacturers intend to depend on more and more processes, operations, activities, functions and systems to advance their businesses. Manufacturing software and solutions play the role of an enabler to integrate various departments, streamline processes like product development, supply chain management, field supply management, standardize the reporting needs, and

ensure uniform flow of information across the organization. Manufacturers today, need to squarely address the competitive challenges by thinking out-of-the-box to integrate

IT for optimizing manufacturing processes. By automating business processes, companies can streamline their day-to-day operations and hence employees could focus more on business issues, therefore increasing productivity and reducing operating and overhead costs.

Also, Virtualization, Cloud applications and Internet of Things (IoT) are transforming manufacturing sectors and taking industrial automation to higher levels. Now that computers and technology have also penetrated into the industry, automation of processes has become a competitive advantage in the manufacturing field.

With over hundreds of manufacturing software and solutions providers in the market, it is becoming a challenge for manufacturers to select the right software and solution for improving their business efficiency and solving the growth critical challenges of the company. Addressing these crucial needs of manufacturing companies, CIOs and IT decision makers, ERP Insights brings to you the list of “20 Most Promising Manufacturing Software and Solutions Providers” who have been successfully helping their clients being on the peak of their potentials.


Every business effort is directed to respond to customers’ demands promptly, get products to

the market faster, increase overall profitability, and consistently outperform the competition. The unique requirements of different businesses are unlikely to be addressed with a ‘one size fits all approach’. To achieve business agility, it is essential to have a sophisticated and intelligent software infrastructure designed especially for application integration, which is customizable as well as provides end-to-end solutions from pilot phase to commercialization. Addressing these challenges, Chhabra Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd. (CIPL) offers innovative business software solutions to help organizations and corporations harness the true power

of IT, through development of tailor made business applications for various business verticals in line with the customers’ business needs.

As a New Delhi based company, CIPL vests its focus in making

factories smarter, more efficient, profitable, and sustainable. Tailored to industry’s best practices, CIPL offers solutions such as OnlineSLE, an Industry 4.0 tool to measure operational efficiency and control; Production Reporting, a real time reporting of manufacturing processes; CAMS, an Industry 4.0 tool to achieve increased productivity, reducing downtime and extending equipment life, and QMS that generates actionable dashboards across the enterprise for process excellence and quality management. The company holds expertise in all major business areas such as Supply Chain, Finance Reporting, and IT. “At CIPL, we ensure that the clients are benefitted from each of our solutions that are designed centering the requirements of the end users. We are not just distributors, we are the designers

of our own innovative products and maintain complete control over products including quality, efficiency and support,” says Ankur Chhabra, Director, CIPL.

With a manufacturing experience of more than 200 man years and cross-functional knowledge to address a range of industrial challenges, CIPL has helped many leading organizations leverage IT to optimize their production processes and integrate operational requirements with enterprise level decision making. Keeping in mind that a forced solution never works for business users, CIPL first justifies the need of solution for a business and fills the gaps with required interface with other enterprise solutions/processes, innovating wherever necessary and match the same with current business environment.

Discussing about the future of CIPL, Ankur says, “We have completed one of the largest implementations of field automation in CPG manufacturing across the country. We have also designed solutions for transportation and logistics domain having more than $1B spend for a large multinational company. All our implementations have been very successful and scalable. In future we are planning to improve on logistics solutions, process automation solutions and analytical capabilities to be numero uno service provider in APAC region.”

Chhabra Infosolutions: Making Factories Smarter, Efficient and Profitable

CIPL takes great pride in providing superior products and support at all levels – before, during and after sales

Ankur Chhabra, CEO & Founder


Manufacturing CxO InSIGhTS

The connected-car expe-rience is the future of the automotive indus-try. It’s changing the relationship between

automakers and their customers and offering new revenue streams for manufacturers. Information Han-dling Services estimates that by 2018, worldwide sales of In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems that help power the intelligent car will approach 80 million units annually, an increase of 50 million from to-day’s level.

Traditionally, automakers knew who bought the car, but had no connectivity on the back end after the purchase, so there was no way to offer personalized services. Today, automakers are attempting to use

the power of cloud computing, data analytics and intelligent devices to deliver personalized consumer experiences from anywhere.

However, many “Connected-Car” services are made up of dozens of hardware, software and services technologies, provided by a variety of technology partners. This makes it difficult for automakers to deliver a truly connected and intelligent car to their markets because these disparate technologies have to work together, and comply with industry standards and regulations.

Some tech companies sense this opportunity to popularize their own branded software and own the whole in-car digital experience from navigation to voice search and communications, media and

safety. This puts automakers in a tough situation as they need to innovate and attract technology-savvy customers, but often don’t have the proper IT infrastructure to support top-quality connected-car experiences.

Ideally, automakers will be able to use a data platform that is scalable, works with a variety of hardware, software and service vendors, and allows them to protect their brand and customer data.

Complete Technology Platform for the Automotive Industry Microsoft is helping to fill that void. We are devoted to helping automo-tive companies use their brand and data to create new service-centered business models that give them on-

Sanjay Ravi, Sr. Director-Worldwide Manufacturing, Microsoft

Powering Connected Car Innovations with Cloud


Sanjay Ravi

Today, automakers are attempting to use the power of cloud computing, data analytics and intelligent devices to deliver personalized consumer experiences from anywhere As a manufacturing plant

runs across acres, larger lead times in gathering data from multiple silo

systems within a plant leads to delayed response to process deviations and decision making. This results in quality issues, order scraps, reworks and so on. Realizing the challenges organizations face in meeting their operational and business objectives, Concord Technologies assists manufacturing organizations with integration of shop floor with business systems to provide end to end production visualization of real time and historical data for fast, accurate and productive decisions. “A centralized storage of data from disparate and disintegrated shop floor systems which offers immense potential in making the operations efficient becomes the need of the hour,” asserts the Founder of Concord Technologies, Shrihari Naik. The outcome of the integration is linked to the quality of the data being collected and the manner in which it is converted into meaningful actions that benefit the operations and the business as a whole.

Concord Technologies, a Pune based company, provides domain specific end-to-end control automation, remote monitoring and IT solutions in the manufacturing, infrastructure and building control domain. With a view to help customers achieve operational excellence, they deliver services and solutions that consistently meet customer expectations on quality, cost and schedule.

Witnessing a staggering growth of a staff turnover from 8 in 2006 to 70 in 2015, Concord Technologies has a proven track record of delivering services and solutions using industry best practices through a competent team of engineers and experts. The company renders a wide array of services across spheres of field instrumentation, control automation systems, remote monitoring systems, data integration and safety solutions.

Apart from a competent engineering team, Concord houses management team that is highly experienced in executing and managing projects across various domains. Their clientele includes reputed Indian and overseas customers, major control automation OEMs, system integrators and OEMs.

With an objective to offer solutions that are innovative and futuristic that ultimately complies with customer requirements, Shrihari Naik remarks, “Based on our vendor neutral approach we have to constantly keep ourselves updated of the latest market trends, requirements and technologies so that we can offer better solutions and services to our customers.”

Envisioning on the future road map, Shrihari states, “We see manufacturing driven by the IoT (Internet of Things) approach. The industry is adapting and using IoT to automate their production processes and reap the benefits of

data driven technologies on their investments in time and capital. So

we are focused on facilitating our customers with technologies

that help achieve their operational and business goals.”

Concord Technologies: Achieving Operational and Business Goals Made Easy

Data Integration - Solutions and Services Provided

• Integration of shop floor (PLC / DCS / SCADA / Databases

/ IT Applications and others) with business systems (ERP)

• Advanced analytics based on real time and historical data

• Customized user friendly reporting portals and dashboards

• Support and Maintenance

Shrihari Naik,Founder


Manufacturing

going relationships with custom-ers. We are powering connected car innovations from the cloud platform, to data analytics capabil-ities, to the software that lights up all of the consumer experiences. It won’t be long before your car is connected to the Internet, to other cars, to your mobile phone, and to your home. Your car will become a companion and an assistant to your digital life and we’re working with automakers to make this happen.

Our cloud platform in particular is helping automakers reduce the unsustainable costs of constant research and development required to support multiple platforms. Our global scale, consumer devices management infrastructure, and deep expertise across critical areas such as application development and data management and analysis will help automakers capture the loyalty and imagination of tomorrow’s consumer.

Nearly all the established brands in the auto industry are looking for ways to deploy connected-car experiences and services. However, Qoros Automotive which, launched in 2007 as a new Chinese automaker,

exemplifies Microsoft’s vision for its role in the automotive industry. Thinking of the modern metropolitan driver who is always connected to the digital world, Qoros also set out to design the ultimate “connected car” — one that was connected to the Internet

and enabled driving services to be accessed from smartphone, tablet, or potentially any connected devices.

When Qoros began to design the digital heart and soul of its car, the vehicle telematics system to manage all the data generated by and delivered to the car. Qoros anticipated an open and f lexible platform that allows full integration with new services and information, plus, the platform needs to have scalability to fit for Qoros’ global expansion plan.

Qoros decided to deploy its vehicle telematics system in the cloud on Microsoft Azure, a cloud environment that provides virtual compute, networking, storage and other resources for developing and hosting applications in Microsoft’s datacenters.

The modular and scalable nature of Azure makes it the perfect for delivering communications, entertainment and location-based services anywhere in the world. With Azure, Qoros can keep QorosQloud, its suite of connected services, updated and compatible with the

latest consumer devices and in-vehicle services. With Azure, new services and features are regularly added as part of an ongoing upgrade program that constantly enhances the capabilities and user experience of QorosQloud in and away from the car.

Microsoft is power-ing the connected cars of the future while helping automakers establish new business models by main-taining their customers’ data and protecting their

brand.


Manufacturing industry has been evolving rapidly for the last three decades with giant strides, especially in the area

of machining. One can really understand the importance of manufacturing sector by merely looking at the growth of China over the last few decades. Every product we can think of seems to be coming from China. Understanding the relevance of the same, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rightly launched the ‘Make in India’ campaign.

G4 Solutions & Applications Pvt. Ltd., a Hyderabad based company, understood the critical role that will be played by the manufacturing sector in the next decade, and targeted the manufacturing services, with special focus on machining services and CNC machines.

Enlightening on the manufacturing services landscape, Srinivas Kumar, Founder & CEO, G4 Solutions, explains, how the company has set up a separate team to address the manufacturing services requirements of its clients in India and abroad. The team is led by the Technical Director, Vijay Bhaskar, an expert having over 30 years of experience in the manufacturing and services industries. The key to success, according to Bhaskar, in making manufacturing clients

happy, lies in understanding manufacturing processes, machines, materials & tools and coming up with the right process plan to achieve quality at optimal cost.

The experience of the team in the NX CAM software helps in providing effective services on other CAM platforms like DELCAM. The ability to handle various types of CNC machines offers an added advantage to its clients. The team at G4 Solutions does not believe in running with the crowd and is determined to create its own niche.

One of the focus areas for the company is the development of postprocessors for the CNC machines to interface with NX CAM software. CNC machine design is changing by leaps and bounds. Different configurations of these machines such as Turn-Mills, Multi-Spindle Turn-Mills (with 5/7/9 Axes) are being developed for simultaneous machining with multiple tools, to reduce the overall product machining time. To develop Postprocessors for these machines is a challenge for anyone in the world. However, G4 Solutions is proud to have been continuously developing such complex (5/7/9-Axes) NX postprocessors for an international client.

G4 Solutions has also developed software ‘G4 Tool Kit’, a program with ‘Design for Manufacture’ (DFM) tools, to validate the product designs from manufacturability aspect. It is planned to position ‘G4 Tool Kit’ as an affordable quality assurance tool across ‘Small & Medium’ manufacturing industries

The company also offers Casting Simulation services to ensure that the Die Designs can be finalized with minimum actual trials.

G4 Solutions, equipped with right technologies, tools & team with right attitudes, looks forward to make a meaningful contribution to ‘Make in India’ campaign.

G4 Solutions & Applications: High Quality Services for an Ever Changing Manufacturing Industry


Manufacturing

The shift in thinking of the leadership teams within organizations from ‘Cost Cutting’ to ‘Raising

Productivity’ and ‘Enhancing value’ has been gaining momentum over the years. Information Technology has a key role in raising productivity across layers of an organization and also in enhancing value of products and services. Today, Information Technology is the repository of processes and also information

pertaining to the various realms/functions within the enterprise. Typically, in most organizations, Information Technology is deployed and is made available. However, in several enterprises IT may not be fully leveraged in the manner it should be in business processes.

Some of the ways in which enterprises can use Information Technology resources and capabilities to improve productivity and enhance value are detailed below. These

possibilities are presented in the increasing order of newness of manifestation in enterprises:• E-enablement of Processes - This is the progressive adoption of technology across functions of an enterprise. It involves shifting of manual processes to system based automation. An example would be the automation of administrative processes such as airline ticket and hotel room-booking.• Riding on Workflow Automation - Automation of business work flows

Usage of Information Technology to Increase Enterprise Productivity and Enhance ValueBy Johny Paramian, Executive Vice President and Group CIO, GMR Group

GMR Group is one of the fastest growing enterprises in the country with a rich and diverse experience spanning three decades. As an infrastructural company established in 1978, the group also has a global presence with infrastructure operating assets and projects in several countries including Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, Singapore, the Maldives and the Philippines.

CIO InSIGhTS

Srinivas Kumar,Founder & CEO


in conjunction with effective metrics along with a mature governance mechanism ensure the speeding up of cycle times. Shorter cycle time means that more work is achieved using the same team size during the same measure of time. An example would be the implementation of approval processes in line with the Delegation of Powers. This ensures that there are no delays in obtaining approvals, particularly from those in the higher echelons of hierarchy within an organization.• Leverage the Power of Aggregation - Move repetitive and predictable work from in-house to outsourcing agencies (Business Process Outsourcing). In other words, ensure smart outsourcing across domains of the business using the Information Technology resources of the enterprise. This would raise productivity particularly when those external resources have the skill sets to perform those tasks better than the in-house resources. Needless to say that effective controls and security mechanisms are built in to ensure prevention and/or detection of fraud. An example would be the whole chain of processes from ‘procure to pay’. • Breaking the Traditional Time Barrier – Businesses need not be constrained by normal working times. For example, web and mobile app based retail (Flipkart, Amazon, etc) are all very familiar to us. Most

times the current generation only buys goods and services online. In fact, this is something that is almost taken for granted. There is a great thrust even from the government to provide various citizen related services online. Online banking has already been around for some time now. These are just a couple of real life examples to support this paradigm shift of several services that can be rendered over the IT backbone and accessed from anywhere using several form factors (Laptop, Tablet, Smartphone, etc). • Look at Things from the Viewpoint of the Individual - Enhance value of products and services by making it for an individual’s requirement. Customized service tailored to the specific wants of an individual is the new mantra. This enhances the value of the product or service several folds. Today, with the smart use of Internet of Things, several things can be achieved which in yester years was not even in the horizon of dreams. An example

could be the real time promotional offer streamed to a customer who is window gazing at a retail store in a mall. The information relating to the customers buying preferences along with the ability to track the customer is the key to this.

I have highlighted some of the possibilities in increasing productivity and enhancing value. Infinite options exist within enterprises. There are some fundamental issues to be

addressed before one can harness these options:• Business would need to articulate the challenges that need to be addressed.• Information Technology would need to be perceived as partners in arriving at solutions to the business challenges.• Implementation should be spearheaded by business leaders.• Change management should be part of the implementation process.• ‘Value creation’/‘Productivity Improvement’ should not be lost sight off.• Innovation should be part of the journey.

Information Technology has a key role in raising productivity across layers of an organization and also in enhancing value of products and services

Johny Paramian The process industries are evolving rapidly on the tech-nology front of achieving op-erations excellence in their

plants and supply chains. They have been proactive in adopting IT be it as early adopters of operations research techniques, deploying some of the most sophisticated control algorithms, or developing asset models that use top of the line mathematics combined with engineering knowledge. Though there has been an upsurge in the IT spending by these organizations, they have large-ly failed to realize the full potential of their manufacturing and IT assets.

Sensing the game, Helium Consulting Private Limited, a Pune based company is creating a unique offering blending Optimization, Software and deep industry knowledge in the process industry. Indranath Majumdar, Founder and CEO, Helium Consulting, says, “To enable customers in the process industries achieve operations excellence, it is essential to have a programmatic approach in deriving benefits from sophisticated software suites like MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems), APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling Systems), MPC (Multivariable Predictive Controls)

and Asset Management Models used both in simulation as well as online modes. And that’s exactly what we are providing.”

Equipped with knowledge of the process industry dynamics and a passion to bring optimization technologies to this industry, Helium recommends to its customers a programmatic approach that starts with due diligence phase. Instead of conducting long detailed projects, Helium recommends a 2-5 weeks study depending on the size of a manufacturing or supply chain setup to do a health check. This helps in highlighting the current as-

is technology available along with a common articulation of the MES goals, the gaps that exist and a clear path in two stages: (a) what can an organization achieve with its existing software inventory, and (b) what additional steps do an organization need to take to get where it aspires to be.

The sales model of Helium Consulting is focused on value rather than cost. Christopher, VP of Sales and BD, explains “We ensure that solutions we bring to the customer’s table can deliver direct value to their operational excellence programs.” Reasoned to this philosophy, the company has created a niche in consulting, software services

and managed services for various target markets such as refining, chemicals, pharma and other process segments. Encouraged by a great traction received in the Indian market, Helium is making inroads into the markets in the USA and Europe, and has recently opened an office in Philadelphia.

Riding high on optimism, Helium has recorded a year on year CAGR of 83 percent in last four years in spite of operating in a niche market in tough economic circumstances. “Unlike traditional IT giants or large consulting companies, we have managed to keep our offerings focused on niche areas. We train our teams with great focus on the industries we serve as well as technology areas, like Process Control, Manufacturing Executions Systems, Supply Chain Planning & Scheduling, Simulation and Analytics,” explicates Jijnasa Panigrahi, VP of Services and Consulting.

Having been incubated and bred in the eco-system of NCL Innovation Park- a CSIR-NCL initiative has only made the bonds with the customers in this sector stronger and the culture in the company focused on the Process Industry. As the company tries to fulfill the Operational Excellence aspirations of large and small companies, it is a tough challenge ahead. Indranath adds, “For us, customer delight surpasses any other metric. This could be the reason why many giants in the process industry seek our expertise to solve some of their hardest problems. The way I see it is how to do we now evolve a model to bring a sustained series of benefits to our customers- and not just a one off.”

Helium Consulting: Software Services and Solutions for Process Industries- Internet of Things (IoT) for Refining, Chemicals and Pharma


Manufacturing

Helium Consulting helps process industries achieve operations excellence in the plant and supply chain through a combination of consulting, software services and managed services


The challenges facing the contemporary aftermarket supply chain are accentuated due to; • Increased interdependency

between the suppliers, manufacturing partners, customers and OEMs• Frequent introduction of new products and multiple variants leading to operative complications in aligning to real-time end customer maintenance demands • Supply chain catering to multiple OEMs compromising supplier performance in terms of quality, reliability and spare parts availability• Lack of information, transparency and visibility leading to inability to clearly plan inventories affecting dealer sustenance and profitability

With a view to assist clients adopt effective solutions, the Gurgaon based Hi-Tech eSoft an ISO:9001 certified engineering services company, offers innovative software and design solutions to address the above.

Hi-Tech eSoft brings a unique blend of practical experience and domain competence in product design services such as design, analysis, styling and technical documentation, manufacturing services like ideation, prototyping, jigs and fixture design, tooling and equipment design and reverse engineering, along with software solutions in the area of aftermarket supply chain, bespoke engineering applications and software maintenance & support.

Over the years, Hi-Tech eSoft has served some of the esteemed customers such as Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Motor Corp, New Holland Tractor, Mahindra Swaraj, JCB India, Escorts, and Whirlpool India amongst many others.

Realising that the aftermarket operations can be a significant revenue generator as opposed to the traditional view of a ‘Support’ function, the company released two flagship solutions, e-Catalog© and Dealer Information System (DIS).

e-Catalog©To enable availability and utilization of engineering data, e-Catalog© aids spare parts businesses against major challenges of

revenues lost due to sales return, delay in order processing, sale forecasting, accurate vehicle (VIN), specific Bill of Materials(BOM), sales/stock trends & forecasting. e-Catalog© which also comes with modules for parts ordering & dealer inventory management, is a knowledge matrix, dynamically linked to enterprise systems for exchange of various information like BOM through an integrated environment.

Dealer Information System (DIS)The DIS is a modular solution that provides rich functionalities and ready to deploy workflows for spare parts service, warranty & sales management, customer relationship management and finance. DIS also grants online call management tools to help manage customer SLAs through optimized workflows while creating a rich knowledge base of failure and warranty information.

Developing Solutions Meeting Customer DemandsThe company houses experts from automotive, off highway and heavy engineering verticals accompanied by experienced business analysts who empower architects and senior developers to develop solutions which their customers demand. Rajeev Narayanan, Vice President at Hi-Tech eSoft says, “In a hyper competitive market, business environmental

and operational awareness is key to maximize every gain and control every drain. The principle tenets we adhere to are driven by our uncompromising attention to detail distilled through regular customer and dealer contact programs which help us understand both contemporary and emerging business process requirements. This reflects in the solutions we develop and deploy for our customers.”

In the years to come, Hi-tech eSoft intends to meet a 30 percent CAGR and is keen to consolidate its prominence in the aftermarket solution space and establish itself internationally. In addition to the existing domains of choice, the company is evaluating similar solutions in the medical and retail space as well.

Hi-Tech eSoft: An Enabler in the Aftermarket Supply Chain and Management

Hi-Tech eSoft’s principal competency remains in core engineering design & manufacturing and software solutions in the areas of aftermarket supply chain


Manufacturing

Rajeev Narayanan,Vice President


Estimating the Impact of Next Generation ERP in

Logistics ManagementBy Anjani Kumar, CIO, Safexpress

Founded in 1997, Safexpress is the largest network covering all the districts of India with a fleet of over 4500 GPS enabled vehicles traversing 6,00,000kms every day. Safexpress offers the fastest transit time across India, has over 610 offices and runs over 1000 routes and delivering over 80 million packages a year to over 5000 corporate across India.

ERP (Enterprise Resource planning) has been the core software application for most companies in last 15-20 years. Over the time, there has been lot of consolidation as well as transformation in how ERP applications work but unfortunately there has not been a new single

ERP package which could challenge the way ERP works today. Major question in many of our minds – Is the ERP app in-line with increased user expectation? Is the ERP app in sync with latest digital initiatives? Are ERP apps tightly integrated with either legacy apps or latest SMAC or IoT apps?

No prize for guessing the answer as ‘NO’. Many organizations struggled through integration of legacy app with the ERP apps. Some were able to sail

through it by customization. With the advent of Social media and Mobility, users are much more digitally educated and their expectation is much higher. They

expect that they should be able to work with ERP on mobile devices with fantastic user experience as they could with Facebook or

their banking app. Sometime back, I was in a hub and saw a manager going back and forth between hub floor and office for various information as he could get the information from ERP by going to his computer. I understood and with my MD’s concurrence, I created an app for them. Now they are able to do many things from warehouse floors and don’t need to go to office for most of the enquiries but I have got several questions from hub managers – “Why can’t we do everything from the tab what I can do on my ERP?” Many companies have tried to do it by just giving a bigger tab and have employees access the ERP through browser but unfortunately that doesn’t work. Due to size of display and

expectation on mobile device being higher, one needs to design much more user friendly screens for any app.

All the people who have used ERP have seen the screen captures and send it to others through email, messengers and other medium. Why can’t we do all the collaboration right through ERP application? Integration with enterprise collaboration suite is still lagging in modern day ERP.

We have seen different users making different decisions for the similar thing in ERP. When there is right data, why can’t ERPs add an analytics engine inside the app which actually gives a recommendation to the user on what should be done and exception can always be built as it is easier to handle exception in isolation than generic things in isolation. In

our case, hub managers have to take a decision on whether

to let connecting trucks leave from

Ambala to Chennai, while

some trucks are still bring-ing mate-rial from ad jo in ing

hubs which needs to

e v e n t u a l l y go to Chennai.

In ERP we have all the data and GPS gives us real

time feed about truck location, so, just with integration and

simple analytics engine, recommendation can be given to hub man-

ager through ERP and h e n c e

percolating uniform de-

cision process across the company. Of course, Hub managers have the freedom to use exception when there is necessity but that is visible to all stakeholders.

I talked about GPS integration above. IoT is catching up bigtime across the industry but most ERPs are not equipped to deal with such integration. Until devices are communicating to ERP, IoT will work in isolation and real benefit of implementing such initiatives can never be achieved.

These days any technology discussion isn’t complete without cloud and ERP apps are still implementing the same. Ideally ERP apps should have configurable modules for workload distribution between traditional data centers as well as cloud which will provide true

elasticity. Almost each business has their peak periods like logistics have Diwali, New Year and GOSF (Google Online Shopping Facility)

Just to summarize, we know that ERP apps are holding back the companies. But we also know that a big bang approach of an entire ERP system will take too long and would be so disruptive to the business functions. So, businesses have a

tough choice and they have to choose among features, user expectation and stability. ERP app providers will have to take steps to slowly enable these features either as configurable module or just add as a catalyst layer which will integrate ERP to SMAC & IoT apps. Of course it is not easy and will need lot of efforts from providers and inputs from industries. Almost each screen has to be designed for mobility devices and that should be a responsive design (adjust according to the size of the device). I hope that major providers like SAP and Oracle are working on these or who knows Uber and Airbnb (disrupter) of ERP is already in the creation.

Anjani Kumar

With the advent of Social media and Mobility, users are much more digitally educated and they want ERP on mobile devices with fantastic user experience

CIO InSIGhTS


In a manufacturing plant, keeping track of production and material movement is a meticulous task. As a solution, implementing MES

(Manufacturing Execution Systems) may not be affordable for SMEs. Even a large scale enterprise, after implementing MES, faces challenges in collecting data from various information islands, and in order tracking, packaging and supply chain management apart from general issues with respect to energy, quality and skill level. Addressing these loopholes, Kalycito, a Coimbatore based company facilitates manufacturing industries get real time insights on operational, maintenance and energy data through its product- ‘e-Alerta’. This product took shape through seed fund scheme of DST (Department of Science and Technology, under Government of India) to invest in R&D specific to Indian needs. Banking on this innovative product, Kalycito has recently won the prestigious D.L. Shah Quality Award from the Quality Council of India at the 10th National Quality Conclave 2015.

“India is a home to a large number of SMEs who are restricted by the

affordability barriers. We strive to improve their operational efficiency, improving quality, reducing maintenance & energy costs that will help the country in a big way. We also believe that our product can be a contributory element in Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ initiative in a significant way,” says Bhagath Singh Karunakaran, CEO & Managing Director, Kalycito.

e-Alerta from Kalycito is a cost-effective, IoT platform for Indian SMEs, which is available at a price as

low as Rs. 2500 per month. With this product, manufacturing industries can eliminate manual log sheets with round the clock automatic data collection and instant alerts. In addition, clients can benefit from customizable SMS alerts, email reports, SaaS dashboards, consolidated reports and micro analysis graphs for specific customer needs within half a day from installation. As the implementation size grows, e-Alerta offers scalable approaches to consolidate live data from different parts of the factory into reports and also exchange data with other ERP systems.

With commendable experience on industrial Ethernet and IoT technologies, the 2007 founded Kalycito has an internal competence to build software right from firmware, operating system, big data and analytics technologies. It primarily serves SMEs across different sectors like remote monitoring, buildings, food processing, textile industries, metal working industries, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) & component manufacturing. The product today has been successfully utilized by restaurants to monitor their kitchens to large auto component manufacturers and so on.

Speaking of the growth witnessed over the years and the future roadmap, Bhagath explicates, “Today we have e-Alerta installations across seven countries and five states in India. We are in the process of appointing Value Added Reselling Partners in new geographies to expand our reach. In the coming year, we also look forward to investors who can help us fuel our growth.”

eAlerta: Helping SME with Real Time Insights to Achieve Operational Efficiency

eAlerta is a comprehensive tool for the price of a smart phone and data plan to help SMEs improve operational efficiency & quality, and reduce maintenance & energy costs


Manufacturing

siliconindia | | July 201547


The Sensitive Issue of Data in the Reverse Supply ChainSanjay Kanodia, Founder & CEO, Pervacio

The supply chain for smartdevices is huge and complex. With an estimated 7.7 billion mobile phones and tablets currently in use around the world,

and forecasts of 4.3 devices per person by 2020, a hidden threat to supply chain resilience and business continuity lies in the reverse supply chain. Billions of these devices are returned every year from businesses or personal users; perhaps reported as faulty or because they are at the end of their short lifecycle. And the data they contain is sensitive, personal and poses a security threat, not just to individuals and their identity, but also to companies and even exporting countries.

More Mobile Devices in the World than PeopleLast year it was estimated that the total number of mobile phones and tablets in use was between 7.2 and 7.7 billion. With annual sales of mobile devices forecasted to surpass 2.6 billion next year, for the first time ever, there will be more mobile devices in the world than people. By

the end of this decade over 87 per cent of the world’s population will be using mobile technology and each person will own an

average of 4.3 devices. Emerging categories such as the Internet of Things (IoT), smart homes, smart cars, smart meters and wearables will represent an additional 17.6 billion devices connected to the internet.

The logistical feat of supplying and managing this demand is becoming more challenging and a great deal of intelligence has been applied to streamlining forward logistics sectors. But given the unprecedented impact of the explosion of mobile technology, the reverse supply chain is becoming of critical importance. Millions of these devices are returned to retailers and manufacturers each year and they need to be fully cleansed and wiped of sensitive data to comply with country-specific security and privacy legislation.

The Vast Problem of Data Security in Product Returns The average user tends to keep a smart phone for just 18 months before upgrading it, and these phones then go on to have a second or even third life with other users, perhaps in developing countries. In addition, as many as one in five of all mobile devices sold are returned as faulty within the warranty period, even though only five per cent of these are found to be defective. And this trend is on the increase. Up to 20 per cent of all product returns are in good working order and need to be put back into the forward supply chain; that means as many as 500 million devices to be processed every year from no fault returns alone. In both scenarios, the robust and auditable wiping of data from these devices is critical, to avoid the devastating consequences of identity theft or of personal or corporate data being compromised.

Globally, compliance with data security and privacy regulations is driven by legislation that puts the responsibility firmly in the

Sanjay Kanodia

court of the company that has purchased or taken back the returning product. This may be a recycler, buy-back company, retailer or manufacturer. The consequences of a data breach can be damaging and even irreparable to the reputation of the company and its brand and shareholder value; with serious legal costs and ramifications, not to mention the loss of trust with the customer and potential loss of business.

Processing returns currently represents a huge and unsustainable cost; in the U.S., the annual cost of processing consumer electronics returns was estimated at nearly $17 billion in 2011, which is about six percent of manufacturers’ revenue. Given the exponential growth of smart devices, it will cost the industry billions to cleanse and destroy the data in this tsunami of returns. For example, it takes one operator an hour to manually wipe eight devices. On top of that are the costs of supervision, training, reprocessing errors, reworking failed devices, quality assurance (Q&A) testing amongst others. And it goes without saying that companies need an auditable trail of processes so that they have tangible proof of what has been done and that is has, in fact, been done.

Guaranteeing Unquestionable Data SecurityFortunately, smart data-wiping technology is now available to businesses to help them deliver a recycling or returns offering with an absolute data security guarantee, and extraordinary cost savings. Such technology can bring new levels of innovation, agility and flexibility into their returns processing operations, thereby adding considerable value into the reverse logistics supply chain.

Iron-Clad Security:Compliance with global data security legislation needs to be built-in to data wiping technology and independently validated. The best solutions provide data wipe certificates for each data wipe, offering tangible proof that is continuously validated by forensically certified

independent bodies. This inspires absolute confidence in the security of the data wipe solution throughout the entire supply chain.

Cost Reductions: The best data wiping technology allows for bulk processing of smart devices by a single operator. For example, Pervacio’s Data Wipe lets one operator process as many phones in one hour as it would take 15 operators to process manually. This reduces data processing costs considerably.

Speed and Agility: In such fast moving markets as mobile devices, with short product lifecycles, once a device is returned it is a race against time to get it back into the supply chain. The technology needs to work across multiple platforms and devices, seamlessly integrating into the architecture of existing ERP platforms and facilitating automated wipe processes from intuitive dashboards. This ensures flawless management of the whole end-to-end process of the data wipe, remotely and from one access point.

The Bottom Line that MattersA smart investment in the right data wiping technol-ogy for returns and recycling operations in the reverse supply chain will make the processing of returns in the

mobile and technology industry less costly, more profitable and, im-

portantly, guaranteed to be secure. The bottom line, of course, is new potential for innovation and investment, enhanced competitive ad-vantage, increased custom-er loyalty, greater business

resilience and strengthened brand reputation.

Up to 20 per cent of all product returns are in good working order and need to be put back into the forward supply chain

CEO InSIGhTS


The manufacturing industry in India is taking up a new shape with the ‘Make in India’ initiative

taken by the Prime Minister. Most manufacturing hubs, at present, are open to adopt latest, lean, and world class manufacturing methods. While large scale manufacturing industries are aggressively employing latest technologies and equipments, SMEs are still lagging behind in the race. They are struggling to adopt industry best practices and need an IT framework for implementation, monitoring and sustenance of best practices in manufacturing at all levels. A Pune based company, Sneash Software, sensed their concerns early on, and started offering solutions to bridge the IT divide between large manufacturers and SMEs.

Founded in 2003, Sneash Software provides IT solutions and support to large, medium and small manufacturing companies to achieve excellence in their lean manufacturing journey. It renders solutions for quality management system, plant maintenance system, heijunka based operation management systems, and continuous improvement initiative deployment.

Specialized in a single business vertical, Sneash makes an effort to provide solutions in the domain of operational excellence alone. With a special focus on SMEs to reduce investment on IT, the in-house professionals with decades of experience in manufacturing, endeavors to provide cloud

based solutions considering the constraints and needs of SMEs. “We at Sneash get into the shoes of our customers and align with their visions and immediate requirements. Every organization has their eco system, we provide best possible solution suited to their manufacturing eco system and reduce timeframe for achieving excellence in their operations”, says Pradip Burhade, CEO, Sneash Software.

Since the company’s foundation, Sneash Software has been providing on-premise solutions until recently when they added a cloud based platform which extends the world class solutions not only to large organizations but also to SMEs. With this cloud based offering, Sneash is now able to provide solutions to clients across all sections of manufacturing OEM, large and SME manufacturers.

The company continues to deliver superior value to their clients through comprehensive services and solutions. Some of their esteemed

clients whom they have supported include Bajaj Auto Ltd, Larsen & Toubro, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd. and the likes. Pradip assures, “Our solutions are helping our clients in implementing best practices in manufacturing and retain them on a long term basis.”

With an objective to provide solutions relevant to the latest trends and practices, the team at Sneash is fully geared up to tackle challenges faced by manufacturing companies. For this, it has included a solution that aligns with the practices of Heijunka Production System; the practices which are followed and implemented in manufacturing companies along with CII’s (Confederation of Indian Industries) Visionary SME program.

As the manufacturing culture and practices go global, Sneash Software, with its impeccable growth seeks to extend to international markets serving various organizations in the manufacturing domain.

Sneash Software: Operational Excellence Assured

Sneash Software provides IT solutions and support to large, medium and small manufacturing companies to achieve excellence in their lean manufacturing journey

Pradip Burhade, CEO


Manufacturing

JULY 201513


There has been tremendous buzz around “Big Data” fueled by the exploding volume, variety and

velocity of data from mobile devices and social networks on one hand, and the ability to crunch this data using high density compute on the other hand. The impact of analyzing the data firehose could be very rewarding in many verticals. McKinsey estimates that over $300 Billion in value can be extracted by the U.S. health care system using big data, more than double the total annual health care spending of Spain, and $600 Billion in consumer surplus can be potentially generated by using unstructured location data wisely. But, has big data delivered on the promise yet? Some early examples like Splunk and Palantir

in the IT log analytics and financial services industry have emerged but they are few and far in between compared to the promise. It has now been half a decade since the talks around big data emerged-it seems that the technology building blocks needed are finally maturing, but we still need to address the talent gap via self-service analytics and converge the analytics and transaction tier to fully realize the data-driven business value.

Technology Building Blocks are MaturingOracle, Teradata and others built an industry leading franchise over the last 20 years, generating over $50 Billion in annual revenues managing “structured” relational data like customer purchases, inventory, user profiles and such. However, the vast

troves of unstructured location data, log data from mobile app usage, conversations in social

networks-often 10-50X

the structured data volumes-need an architecturally different layer from the ground up. Google, Yahoo Facebook contributed key elements of their data management layer via open source projects Hadoop, Cassandra, MongoDB, Spark which have established the building blocks for data processing. Intel’s $740 Million investment in Cloudera last year was a major milestone in endorsing Hadoop as being enterprise ready.

Self-Service Analytics Key to Addressing the Massive Talent GapThere still exists a major talent gap in data scientists and data-savvy business analysts who can uncover the golden nuggets in vast troves of data. For instance, LinkedIn has over 300 Million professionals connected in an intricate graph, yet we are only scratching the surface with recruiting and ads based solutions. The ability to find indicators of U.S. economic growth or optimizing career paths

for aspiring student graduates exists in the LinkedIn data goldmine, but the data science talent gap could be an inhibitor. Data scientists also seem to be spending ½ to 2/3rds of their time in cleansing and preparing the data for analysis which is major drag on their time. Solutions that automate the data collection, cleansing and handling schema drift could save significant resources and empower data scientists to focus on finding the golden nuggets in data. Also, as we move from data at rest in Hadoop to handling streaming data, a new class of tools to cleanse and prepare the data streams could empower analysts to detect new insights in near real-time.

Convergence of Transactional and Analytical Stack Unlocks Significant Value A major shift in attitudes and perhaps org structures may be necessary for data practitioners to collaborate with business decision makers to exploit the full value of big data analytics. Organizations have been trained to run business workflows and transactions separately and periodically collect the data in a separate analytical tier to do customer segmentation, or discover claims fraud for instance. However, the promise of big data lies in the convergence of the transactional and analytical stack. For instance, one of our portfolio company Reflektion, founded by the ex-Google AdSense team, analyzes 125 Million users in real-time while processing their purchase transactions, to personalize their entire journey through the site in the same way as Google personalizes ads based on real-time click patterns. But that requires collaboration between the Marketing / ecommerce

teams, Business Analysts, and Data Scientists so that personalization can be applied during the short user attention span, not off-line and a week later. Similarly, data science is the new frontier in cyber-security whereby user activity streams are analyzed in real-time rather than detecting “signatures” later to detect anomalous behavior.

Digitization in Indian Market Represents a Massive Untapped Market for Big DataIn data science lingo, the higher the volume and frequency of user data, the deeper the machine learning (training models without

prior knowledge) and the richer the analytics. By that measure, 650 Million users on mobile phones by 2020, driving online commerce penetration from 4 percent to 25 percentand $220 Billion in online spend by 2030 (Goldman Sachs 2015 report) represents a goldmine of fresh data. Analyzing this data using a maturing tech stack, and emerging self-service tools will unleash a major opportunity for data scientists.

Ultimately, as the next billion online users in emerging economies like India engage in ecommerce, travel, payments, eHealth and

finance, big data analytics represent potentially groundbreaking services

in optimizing and personalizing the user journey throughout

their online experience. At Battery Ventures, we strive to find and support these emerging vertical data-driven apps as well as the horizontal self-service building blocks that power

the apps.

Is Big Data delivering Big Value … Yet?DharmeshThakker, General Partner, Battery Ventures

DharmeshThakker

There still exists a major talent gap in data scientists and data-savvy business analysts who can uncover the golden nuggets in vast troves of data

CxO InSIGhTS


The New World of the Technology FieldSanjeev Dahiwadkar, CEO & President, IndiSoft

Gone are the days when developing a technology was a simple SDLC cycle, consisting of gathering requirements, designing, coding, testing, and deploying. In the past two decades, development has

taken many turns, be it agile, waterfall, scrum, CPM, CCPM, or six sigma. While there is no set equation to pick which methodology is correct, looking at goals, core values, and risk associated are all keys in choosing the best fit methodology. Many believe that more methodologies will come forth as well. The historic idea of programming for monolithic machines in a controlled operating environment is now part of the dinosaurs’ era.

The development challenges of the twenty first century are much more complex than in the past. Now, we have many operating systems and many devices with different user expe-riences. More importantly, the Inter-net has added a great deal of com-plexity to any development process. There are rarely any projects that hap-pen today that work in isolation. Each and every pro-ject has some c o m p o n e n t , typically, of multi-device and operating systems.

At the high level, each development today has to deal with complexity of keeping a comprehensive user experience, whether it is on a traditional desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Additionally, where the “Internet of Things” (IOT) is involved, navigation becomes even more paramount. Current user presentation options include 20”+ desktop screens, 13” laptop screens, 7-10” tablet screens, 4-6” smartphone screens and now, one square

inch Apple Watch screens. Obviously, when looking at such vastly different landscapes, designing one

pre-set navigation is certainly a bad idea. Each individual screen must have functionality. Both developers and consumers alike must be prepared to deal with multiple presentations of the same product.

Security and Tech DevelopmentAn additional challenge for any technology developer is how to maintain a solid user experience without compromising on security.

This balancing act is a challenge in and of itself. In fact, the security aspect is even more complex

than the presentation aspect.Maintaining the privacy of sensitive

data adds its own layer of complexity. Each and every project now has the need to consume data generated by other systems, or has the need to feed data to other projects/products that may be not under their control. This need to exchange data adds an additional element of building

a data exchange. Whether it is based on the industry standard open architecture based data protocol and format or a Sanjeev Dahiwadkar

The changes in consumer demands, the nature of the products and the economies of production

have led to a fundamental shift in the way manufacturing companies run their businesses. The technological advancements have eliminated the barriers between the producers and consumers, thus putting manufacturers under pressure to increase their efficiency and automate manual processes. To remain relevant to the market needs, manufacturers today are looking for highly customized solutions like the one they have been using / had used in Foxpro, D2K or VB or inventory accounting packages as easy as Tally. The 1999 founded Tanaashi Technologies Pvt. Ltd. wasn’t too late to sense these evolving market needs and developed ‘Enterprise Trackor’, a complete Web based solution which monitors and controls all business processes of a manufacturing enterprise including IQC / OQC and Job Work.

Based in Noida, Tanaashi is glob-ally acknowledged for its brand product, ‘Enterprise Trackor’ abbreviated as ‘e-Trackor’. Being an ISO 9001:2008 certified and CMM level-3 compliant company, Tan-aashi strives to provide high quality solu-tions that enable customers cut down time-to-market in a cost-effective manner. As a SCM solution

for discrete manufacturers and trad-ers, e-Trackor helps in managing and controlling inventories with valu-ation at all levels of business pro-cesses. The solution covers various aspects of business enterprises such as Manufacturing ERP processes, Warehousing solutions and HR task management. It is currently offered on three delivery models; On-Prem-ise Model, On-Rental Model (SaaS) and On-Private Cloud Model.

“e-Trackor is not just a software product which generates information. It actively helps users remember and perform their tasks when they are due and also helps management to exercise

‘Management by Exception’ rather than wasting their energies on routine affairs,” says Ayush Agarwal, CEO, Tanaashi Technologies.

Banking on e-Trackor, Tanaashi has witnessed

about 30 percent growth in revenue year over year. Despite the eco-nomic slowdown, the company has been suc-cessfully able to add about 10-12 customers every year to its bas-

ket. Some of the clients it has served include names like Elegant Auto Seat Cover Manufacturers, Laxmi Publications, USK Forgings, Blos-

som Kochhar Beauty Products, APL Footwear and Makino Automotives amongst many others.

Tanaashi has emerged as one of the best providers who have set themselves apart in the industry by precisely summarizing the clients’ needs. With an aim to set a bench-mark in this industry for others to follow, Ayush wishes to see the com-pany stand by its customers during their growth period and do all that is required to support their growth strategies.

Tanaashi Group: Monitor and Control Your Manufacturing Business Processes with Ease

e-Trackor helps management to exercise ‘Management by Exception’ rather than wasting their energies on routine affairs

Solutions Offered

• ERP & SCM Solutions

• Warehouse Management (WMS) Software

• Document Management Software (DMS)

• Customized Web & Mobile Development

Ayush Agarwal, CEO

CEO InSIGhTSSoftware and Solutions Providers 2015

Manufacturing


single format, one protocol flat file approach, it still needs to be there.

Security by itself is an-other key consideration today that goes beyond traditional development. Now, a major-ity of projects need to be vali-dated so that there is no unat-tended gate left open which could be exploited by hackers. This ultimately ensures and identifies the possible points of vulnerability and encryption (for sensitive data han-dling areas) is in place and working all the time.

Tech TestingTesting on various devices, operating systems, browsers, smartphones, and tablets traditionally used to require somewhere in the range of 10-15 percent effort. Now, it has reached 100 percent effort, or sometimes even more effort than the programming. Unless development takes

into account the common denominator, users may have to be limited to certain browsers. For example, some websites state that they only perform on certain browsers or versions of browsers. Even further, some websites are even limited to certain operating systems, creating a problem for users. Ultimately, this could even result in a loss of business or a missed revenue opportunity.

To make matters worse, there are now optimized development tools specific to operating environments, which can work wonders if you are limiting to that platform. So, development has to make a choice as to develop for multiple platforms or stick to the common features that could work across all platforms (e.g. HTML 5, Java). Granted, Microsoft is now in the process of launching one approach development tools. In March

2015, the company launched Azure App Service, a cloud-based service to provide developers with one place to build mobile and web apps.

Recently, Microsoft also intro-duced Visual Studio 2015 and .NET 4.6 for developers. These new tools are designed to target those who are

interested in cross-platform devel-opment. It will allow development on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux,

ultimately solving a significant problem that many devel-opers run into.

As more technology evolves, the more difficult development will become. While there are many options on how to develop a new product or technology, deciding the correct way can be a challenge. Adding in the security aspect and consumer experience, there are many things a developer must keep in mind. The future of programming will certainly create new, and innovative opportunities for both developers and consumers.

The historic idea of programming for monolithic machines in a controlled operating environment is now part of the dinosaurs’ era

AD:13

| | June 20155siliconindia | | August 201352


RNI.REG.NO.KARENG04627

manufacturing special october - 2015 · the issue also features the cover story on focus softnet,...

Documents