As India inches towards the 5 trillion-dollar economy vision, the country’s manufacturing sector is slated to play a pivotal role in making it an economic powerhouse. Today, any conversation on economic progress needs to be backed by proof points on how countries are putting measures in place to lower their carbon and energy footprint.

As the digital ecosystem continues to evolve, there is a massive potential for the manufacturing sector to adopt industry 4.0 technologies and shift towards a sustainable mode of operation. Digital solutions will enable manufacturing entities to modernize their physical operations through automation, remote services and smart manufacturing among others.

Indian industries have been consuming 500 billion cubic meters of freshwater annually as per the Central Pollution Control Board of India. To curb this, adoption of intelligent pumping infrastructure and smart technologies will help overcome the challenges posed by obsolete pumping and wastewater management systems that are inefficient and consume a lot of energy.

Rise of smart pumping infrastructure
Data has become the bedrock of fundamental change across several industries. With the adoption of smart technology, organizations are collecting data to transform their manufacturing processes and become more sustainable and energy efficient.

Smart pumps incorporated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT), provides automation and reliability. Digital pumps can communicate with one another, creating a robust system. The system can thereby regulate flow and amount of resources through analyzing data in real time. Digital infrastructure can also predict malfunctions and alter their functioning accordingly to completely nullify the breakdown or minimize the damage. This provides reduced downtime for the system, in turn, enhancing productivity. This feature also provides a longer lifecycle for the systems.

Big data, IoT, AI and sensors are some of these intelligent technologies that are being utilised to monitor water demand, supply and net consumption. The data which is being collected through these technologies are also lending further insights to policy makers on the nexus between water and energy. Conservation of water and energy is not only essential for a sustainable future but also crucial to meet India’s net zero commitment.

For good example, here is the Grundfos iSOLUTIONS - a technology that is based on the inclusion of AI and IoT. It enables real-time monitoring, remote control, fault prediction and system optimization to help achieve a higher level of performance. For instance, to maintain sustainability and product efficiency, Rakshit Pharma, a leading API manufacturer based in Vishakhapatnam, utilised Grundfos iSOLUTIONS and went a long way in reducing complexity of its water systems by using E-pumps. The result being that energy efficiency and dependability of the pumping systems saw a significant uptick.

Building a smarter and greener manufacturing ecosystem
Today, a company’s growth opportunities are also mapped as per their investments towards ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals. These non-financial factors are crucial parameters that enable companies to follow government protocols on clean energy, resource utilisation among a host of other factors.

To match ESG goals, it is of paramount importance to build a smarter and greener manufacturing ecosystem. Implementation of energy efficient systems and digital solutions will help industries achieve the highest amount of carbon savings along with increased efficiency, reduced downtime and cost savings, all while positively impacting the climate.

Proper planning on energy efficiency efforts will help organizations pass on the benefit to end consumers as well. The lesser the cost of manufacturing by leveraging renewable energy and energy efficient solutions, the more is the pricing benefits that can be passed on to the consumers. Additionally, this will also help organizations conserve our finite resources. With digitalization, sustainability and energy efficiency coming together, the way forward is to focus on intelligent solutions.

About the author:
Shankar Rajaram is the Area Sales Director - Industry (INDO Region) of Grundfos.