• Rockwell Automation hosts Smart Manufacturing Automotive Summit in Pune, highlighting automation, AI, and IIoT as catalysts for India's automotive growth.
• Leaders from Mahindra, OEMs, and tech providers discussed strategies, focusing on digital transformation, supply chain resilience, and EV transition.
• Rockwell emphasizes India’s potential in global auto innovation, urging smart manufacturing adoption to meet evolving market and regulatory demands.

Rockwell Automation, Inc., a worldwide industrial automation and digital transformation leader, emphasized the importance of smart manufacturing as a driver of sustainable growth in India's automotive industry. This was communicated through the Smart Manufacturing Automotive Summit in Pune, which brought together top leaders in the automotive manufacturing industry to discuss the changing role of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and data-driven decision-making in driving industrial performance and competitiveness.

Dilip Sawhney, Rockwell Automation India's Managing Director, stressed that the auto industry is a bedrock of India's manufacturing economy and a key to national economic growth. He pointed out that changes in global production, the transition to electric vehicles, and demographic change present India with a strategic opportunity to raise its role in the world's automotive ecosystem, to drive technology and innovation.

Rucha Nanavati, Mahindra Group's Chief Digital Transformation Officer, emphasized the profounder implications of digital transformation. She said that real transformation does not stop at tools and technologies but on altering work processes for the next decade. She emphasized the importance of accepting uncertainty and complexity with a proactive mindset to maintain momentum.

Mr Sawhney went on to explain that rising market demands, supply chain challenges, regulatory compliance requirements, changing customer expectations, and labor shortages prompt the automotive sector to adopt more intelligent, resilient manufacturing strategies.

The summit gathered original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Tier 1 suppliers, transformation leaders, and technology providers. Attendees participated in discussions, presentations, and demonstrations that highlighted effective approaches to infusing smart manufacturing practices throughout production, engineering, logistics, and quality management.

Rockwell Automation is a world-leading industrial automation solutions and digital technology provider. Committed to improving productivity and sustainability, the company has operations in over 100 countries and employs around 27,000 people as of fiscal year end 2024. The company is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and continues to innovate through the combination of human imagination and technological capability.