Chennai

Eyeing widespread significance of the rise of digitisation across manufacturing in India, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and TalentSprint, a leading EdTech company from the NSE Group, has collaborated to offer a PG level Advanced Certification Programme in Digital Manufacturing and Smart Manufacturing to bring expertise in Indian manufacturing.

Industry 4.0 is fuelling the emergence of smart factories globally, across diverse verticals such as FMCG, automotive, healthcare, aerospace and defence.  Adoption of connected and intelligent digital technologies is transforming traditional manufacturing shopfloors into smart factories, enhancing productivity, profitability, compliance and customer delight. According to Mordor Intelligence, the digital manufacturing market is growing at 19.48 per cent CAGR and will reach $ 767.82 billion by 2026, with fastest growth in APAC.

In India, COVID 19 has significantly catalysed shopfloor digitalisation. According to a recent Gateway House study conducted in partnership with EXIM Bank, digital transformation in manufacturing is the next leap for India’s tech leadership, and several govt. campaigns such as Make in India, Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat are all aimed to make it a success.

Widespread adoption of AI, IoT, Analytics, Robotics, AR, VR, Cyber Security, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing is creating a huge demand for technology savvy professionals who can lead digital transformation in the manufacturing sector. A Gartner survey shows that 57 per cent of manufacturing leaders feel their organisations lack skilled workers needed to support digitalisation plans.

This collaboration aims to build professional digital expertise for the manufacturing sector.

The five-month programme, coordinated by the Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing (CPDM) at IISc, is ideal for current and aspiring smart factory strategy and management professionals as well as those in IoT, automotive, aerospace, FMCG, pharma, energy, metallurgy industries which are high potential smart factory adopters. Participants will learn from a 15+ strong interdisciplinary faculty group comprising Product Design and Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering, Electronics Systems Engineering, Materials Engineering, Computer Science and Automation Departments at IISc. Live interactive masterclass lectures on TalentSprint’s patent-pending digital learning platform ipearl.ai, hands-on labs using state-of-the-art digital tools and live project implementation at IISc Smart Factory Labs are some of the highlights of the program.

Announcing the programme, Prof Amaresh Chakrabarti, Head of CPDM, IISc, said, “CPDM is renowned for excellence in teaching, research and industry interactions. We rank among the top design schools in the world specializing in training and development of hardware products and manufacturing systems, alongside centres in Stanford, Delft, Cambridge and CMU. Our M Des, M. Tech, and research programs have always attracted some of the best students from India and abroad. We are very pleased to announce the PG Level Advanced Certification Programme in Digital Manufacturing and Smart Factory which will now allow us to offer our research expertise to train industry professionals and power Industry 4.0 adoption in India. The programme will benefit from hands-on exposure and interactions with tools at IISc Smart Factory – a Common Engineering Facility Centre (CEFC) under the SAMARTH Udyog Bharat 4.0 Programme of the Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India.”

Santanu Paul, CEO and MD, TalentSprint said, “Technology disruption has created newer and smarter ways of doing business in today’s interconnected world. Traditional manufacturing needs to transform into digital enterprises to meet growing customer demands, beat competition and stay compliant. In India, the manufacturing sector is vital to the country’s digital transformation strategy and COVID 19 has accelerated its digitalization. The possible realignment of supply chains away from China offers a significant opportunity for India to modernise its manufacturing.  We are delighted about this program, our fifth with IISc, which will train professionals to become key drivers of Industry 4.0 and steer India towards self-reliance.”

Applications are open for the first cohort of the PG Level Advanced Certification Programme in Digital Manufacturing and Smart Factories, which starts in September 2021.