India's leading tyre brand, JK Tyre & Industries, is betting big on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for transforming its existing manufacturing plants (nine in India and three in Mexico) into connected and smart plants.
The transformation is already under way and JK Tyre has already started investing in its Chennai plant to have it fully automated and digitally-enabled by the end of 2020.
While IIoT can have numerous potential benefits, JK Tyre's main purpose of employing IIoT is to achieve cost vs output balance through the creation of IoT enabled networks. This means that the tyre maker is essentially looking to identify issues at the earliest or even before they occur. It could be early identification of potential breakdowns, optimisation of supply or even reduction of costs through closer observation of the production network.
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The technology will also allow the company to have access to improved analytics and decision-making through relevant, real-time data. Additionally, IIoT can also improve efficiencies of scale in areas such as inventory, production, logistics, etc.
Speaking about the technology, Sharad Agarwal, Head-IT at JK Tyre, said “With IIoT, we are gradually moving away from legacy systems to new-age technologies. IT is no longer a support function, instead, it has become a way of driving a big change in the organisation towards digital. Besides making our production units technologically advanced on the product side we are creating buzz around smart tyres, which is a combination of tyre sensors and an app. The app presents real-time tyre pressure, temperature and gives an idea about the user’s average fuel consumption, and even provides an insurance reminder. This device can convert any used tyre into the smart tyre. Currently, we are in the process of making this device commercially available at JK retail stores as well as electronics stores like Croma.”
Another area where JK Tyre has made a lot of progress is in the construction of a connected and extensive network of their dealers and sales personnel through a digital platform by which they can place and track order status. A CRM solution has been implemented, which helps the sales team to sell effectively and have a constructive discussion with the dealers.
In the age of digitisation, it is important that manufacturers capitalise on the benefits of technology and reinvent everything they do. By leveraging digital technologies, this reinvention for maximising efficiency can be more innovative, fast, scalable, and agile—giving the manufacturers a much needed competitive edge in the present.
Mr. Agarwal also pointed out that before the company starts to invest in new technologies, their priorities still remain low-risk cost structures, and continuous product innovation. With continuing technological advances like robotics, automation, big data and the IoT, he suggested that there has been noticeable change due to these new technologies in the way the company operates.
Legacy technology is another factor holding JK Tyre back. The average factory today is 25 years old, with machinery that’s approaching nine years old. Before any plans of integrating the IoT can begin at these plants, they must first upgrade the equipment to enable digital readiness, driven by immediate goals of reducing costs and returns. The company is addressing interoperability issues that occur across legacy platforms with right skills sets and technology.
