Mumbai

Schneider Electric, the global leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has recently opened its first Smart Distribution Center (SDC) in India. The SDC, located in the commercial hub of Mumbai in Bhiwandi, uses company’s EcoStruxure architecture to provide real time access to information right across the supply chain.

This is the fifth SDC launch in 2019, following inaugurations in Australia, China, Brazil and France. SDC are fundamental to Schneider Electric’s Tailored Sustainable Connected (TSC) 4.0 supply chain digital transformation. Under this initiative, the company implements its EcoStruxure platform and architecture across its supply chain operations to deliver end-to-end integration to improve predictability and reliability for customers by providing visibility, early detection and mitigation of supply related incidents across the complete value chain.

The Mumbai SDC is the first showcase SDC that has been set up as a third-party logistics (3PL) site with global logistics giant, DHL. Anil Choudhry, Country President & MD, Schneider Electric, Greater India, informed, “With this SDC before we supply to the customer we are making it smart and digital but the applications which we are deploying here makes the whole supply chain end-to-end smart.”

“We are partnering with DHL, a specialist in the logistics industry, to make this whole experience more efficient from the logistics, technology and management perspectives. One third of the total space at the DHL facility in Bhiwandi has our solutions installed and is dedicated to Schneider Electric for making the facility smart,” added Choudhry.

Vikas Anand, Managing Director DHL Supply Chain India Pvt. Ltd., India, said, “Supporting Schneider Electric in delivering efficiencies to this site has helped make the experience for our joint end customers, seamless. In addition, the energy efficiency savings which the EcoStruxure solutions have brought to this site make it a template for green logistics operations in the region.”

Javed Ahmad, Senior VP, Global Supply Chain- India, Middle East & Africa and East Asia & Japan, said, “Our Smart Distribution Center Programme serves as a model for other logistics and warehousing players in India to build intelligent distribution networks and paves the way for the region’s logistics industry to become more sustainable and efficient. The Mumbai site demonstrates exactly how digital transformation can be successfully achieved when applied in the logistics environment. We are excited to open this facility as a showcase in the region.”

Early results from this digitisation initiative are showing expected energy savings of 10 to 12 per cent and an increase in logistics efficiency of 5 per cent at the site.

The deployment of EcoStruxure at the Mumbai SDC has helped achieve faster and better decision-making by DHL’s logistics teams to improve customer satisfaction and to deliver faster service. The EcoStruxure Plant solutions simplify shop-floor management and improve process efficiency, and EcoStruxure Power solutions help facilitate efficient energy management.

In addition, the end-to-end control tower helps the site to track its shipments and provides proactive information on global and local events that could potentially impact customer service.

The Schneider Electric’s solution also implements predictive analytics for reduced downtime and more efficient operations, and machine learning has increased asset control, availability and reliability. From these solutions the Smart Distribution Center is expecting to reduce costs and increase productivity, with ROI expected to be achieved on IIoT connected assets in six months.

The solutions help reduce energy consumption and improves power monitoring through real-time insights are delivered by EcoStruxure Resource Advisor, connected meters and Power Tag wireless energy sensors, which are showing potential energy savings of up to 30 per cent.