The International Cell at Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, NOIDA, organized the first-ever International Conclave on Sept 24 & 25, 2021 on the topic: “Industry 4.0: Towards Future Industrial Opportunities & Disruptions.” This international event provided unique and enriched global experience to all participants on Global Industry practices and opportunities in Industry 4.0. through interactive sessions by international practitioners of repute. The conclave played a great role in honing the skills of participants to excel in the international environment shaping their career for future global opportunities.
The inauguration of the conclave was marked through lighting of the lamp by the guest Ms.Virginia Mijes Martin, President, Blockchain Catalonian Association, Barcelona, Spain; our honorable Director, Dr. K.P. Venugopala Rao; Deputy Director, Dr. Nidhi Phutela, Faculty-in-charge-International Cell, Dr.Priya Grover and Faculty-in-charge, Student Affairs, Mr. Abhinav Pal. The event was inaugurated by Dr. K.P. Venugopala Rao, Director, SCMS NOIDA.
The theme for Day 1, September 24, 2021 is “Industry 4.0: The Digital Thread Transforming Global Trade.”
The topic of the first session on Day 1 was “Overview of Global Trade and Industry 4.0.” The illustrious keynote speaker of the session was Ms. Virginia Mijes Martin, President, Blockchain Catalonian Association, Barcelona, Spain. The speaker commenced her discussion by giving an overview of Industry 4.0 and how it has transformed around the globe. She mentioned how Industry 4.0 becomes Trade 4.0 in a global scenario. She also discussed how online platforms play a crucial role in providing information and establishing a connection between sports and importers, manufacturers, and consumers. She cited the example of steel industry explaining how Industry 4.0 has helped in its rapid improvement and revolution. Industry 4.0 is the application of data balance and digital technologies through search, artificial intelligence, drones, and the Internet of Things. The keynote session culminated with insightful answers to the questions asked by the curious students of various specializations. The students' enthusiasm was palpable, and they were excited to attend this session and ask their queries. It proved to be quite skillful.
The next topic for Day 1 was “Future of Industry 4.0 Globally” and the esteemed expert speaker was Dr. Ashraf A. Mahate, Chief Economist, Dubai Industries & Exports, U.A.E. Dr. Ashraf A. Mahate began his session with a brief overview of the Industrial Revolution, which originated in Birmingham in 1760, and then took the students through each of the subsequent Industrial Revolutions and their defining characteristics. Following that, he addressed how information dissemination is very rapid and swift in the modern era, which is why a very fast pace can be observed in the innovations which are happening. He shared that it has only been possible because of the Internet of things, that we can use our mobile phones to manage our curtains, lighting, and even washing machines. He then walked the students through the concept of "Synergy," which signifies that when numerous individual components are incorporated together, the total value delivered is much greater than the parts. The session then came to an end with Dr. Ashraf A. Mahate answering some of the questions that were put forth by the students.
For a fruitful and thorough knowledge about the theme of Day 1, a panel discussion was held on the topic “Will Industry 4.0 radically transform the future?” The panel included five guest speakers. Our first esteemed panelist, who also acted as the moderator of the panel was Ms.Sonya P Banerjee, VP of Innovation & GTM in Amplo Global Inc., India. She started the discussion by giving a brief introduction of Industry 4.0 to the audience and proceeded with a discussion on the progression and adoption of Industry 4.0. The next panelist to kick start the discussion on this topic was Dr. Suraj Nair, Founder, and Chief Technology Officer SPEEDCARGO TECHNOLOGIES PTE LTD, Singapore. He walked us through all the industries, starting from Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0. The third panelist who added on to this was Dr. Rohit Dhawan, APAC Regional Lead for Analytics Strategy Amazon Web Services, Singapore. He elaborated on important topics like cloud computing analytics, digitization, and the effect of Industry 4.0 on various industries such as transportation, agriculture, etc. Our next esteemed panelist was from UAE, Prof. Arijit Sikdar who is an Associate Professor (International Business and Strategy) and Associate Dean (Education) at the University of Wollongong, Dubai. He expressed his views on the efficient use of data and technology in the education industry and elucidated his views with diverse perspectives and examples such as checking the originality in student’s submissions and the usage of personalized feedback in the education system, which in turn increases the production efficiency of the faculty. The next Panelist, Mr. Imran Saeed, the Global Head of CPG and Vice President of Course5 Intelligence expressed his perspective regarding the discussion in terms of the Sales Industry and dilated on the topic of Pre-defined forecast of Sales. He also exemplified the discussion by taking an example of Amazon where, after buying a product from Amazon, it starts recording and analyzing our behavior of buying that product and henceforth starts prescribing our needs even before we directly demand it. After the discussion, Ms. Sonya P Banerjee summarized the discussion and emphasized key points of the discussion for the audience, followed by a student question-answer session.
For refreshing the participants and recalling the insights of Day 1, A student activity, “Treasure Hunt” was organized as the last activity for the day. The treasure hunt was a game based on the theme of Innovation and global trade. The game was made on google slides and forms. The map of Europe was sent to all the registered participants and they had to find the places according to clues. This made them reach a google form, where a question on innovation was to be answered and gain the second clue. The process repeated for 4 more clues. This was a time-based activity of 10 minutes and the top 3 fastest players won the game. The activity was a mix of technology and insights of the Conclave and had overwhelming responses. It turned out to be truly knowledgeable.
The theme for Day 2, September 25, 2021 was “A framework for navigating Trade 4.0”.
The topic for the first session of Day 2 was “Driving Innovation Through Industry 4.0” & Mr. Rahul Lodhe, Senior Director Engineering, SAP Artificial Intelligence, India, was the speaker who enlightened the students with his enriched knowledge and experience. First, he began by showing a video about the gradual shift from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0. He beautifully outlined to us how corporations harness new technology and focus to stay ahead of the curve, while also offering us some insight into the Potential and Status of Industry 4.0. Finally, he explained digital twins (a virtual representation of a physical object or activity that serves as its real-time digital equivalent) and how they are benefiting various organizations. He then went on to illustrate how industry 4.0 evolved from a theoretical discussion to a critical strategic differentiation. Mr. Rahul Lodhe wrapped up his presentation by highlighting Industry 4.0's Mission and Goals. The students were curious to ask questions to which he responded with extreme sincerity showcasing his knowledge and experience. It was undoubtedly a very knowledgeable session.
The next topic for Day 2 was “Emerging Global Opportunities in Industry 4.0” & the expert speaker for the session was Ms. Liliana Caimacan, Head of Innovation, Tata Consumer Products & Professor of Marketing and Innovation at Hult International Business School, UK. During the session, Ms Liliana talked about the importance of optimization of operational efficiency and how it can contribute to the future growth of an organization. She discussed the power curve of economic profit in today’s world and how to transition from a stagnant position to accelerated growth. She segmented the transition process into two parts where the one part was the Big Moves and the other was Future Proofreading Portfolio. She also discussed different sides of global opportunities coming up with Industry 4.0. She primarily focused on how the business can use these changes to their advantage, where they can take this challenge as an opportunity. The session indeed was insightful where the students got to know a lot about emerging opportunities with Industry 4.0 and got their queries resolved. The engagement of the students in the session and the discussions were enthralling and did help everyone enhance their learnings.
For a fruitful and thorough knowledge about the theme of Day 2, a panel discussion was held on the topic “Global Business in Industry 4.0- A Twisted Fable of Growth & Innovation”. The panel included four guest speakers. The first panelist & moderator was Mr. Vijay Gunti, Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation Expert, India. He started the discussion by bringing upon his views on the topic of the panel discussion. He emphasized on the point that how adoption of industry 4.0 is dependent on innovation and technology. He also talked about the growth aspect of the companies using innovation. The second panelist was Dr. Raj Kumar Ganeson, CEO, UCSI Consulting Group, Malaysia. He highlighted the portfolio management perspective & explained how innovation should become a culture in a company, that’s the right approach. The third panelist was Mr. Sharad Goel, Director of Strategy and Operations at Walmart Global Tech, India. He talked about how IT and Operational technology companies are always ahead in the race, while companies who are still not using technology still have a long way to pave. He gave insights about the Walmart example, where the brand responded to the pandemic more smartly, introducing curbside pickup. The fourth and last panelist was Mr. Sanjay Tiwari, Branding, Communications & Integrated Marketing Advisor; Entrepreneur, Author & Teacher, India. He talked about the marketing perspective with Industry 4.0’s growth. He described how in the changed scenario, it’s not just about manufacturing smart, but also an overall smart lifestyle, smart decision making, smart living. After the discussion, Mr. Vijay Gunti, the moderator, summed up the discussion for the audience followed by a student question and answers round.
For refreshing the participants and recalling the insights of Day 2, A student activity, “Panel Discussion” was organized as the last activity for the day. The theme of the Panel Discussion was, “Future Global Opportunities & Competencies in Industry 4.0”. The moderator for this session was Dr. Kriti Priya Gupta a Professor in the area of Quantitative Techniques and Analytics at Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), NOIDA. The student panelists were Akshita Arora, Aryan Khanna, Armaanjit Singh and Rishabh Manuja from batch 2020-2023. The first panelist highlighted the various opportunities created by industry 4.0. He pointed out that Industry 4.0 boosts profits through more customization, lowering labour expenses and complexity costs, aiding in reducing capital utilized by allowing greater asset flexibility and utilization. The next panelist discussed various challenges faced by organizations while adapting industry 4.0. Data protection and security would be a concern for industry 4.0. Main concern being the protection of personal and organizational data due to the rise of new scandals in the consumer market. The danger and vulnerability of cyber attacks are high in the revolution due to which every organization will need to adopt a strict end-to-end security approach. The next panelist highlighted the various skills such as soft skills that one person can acquire in accordance with industry 4.0. He also threw light on how these skills owned by us as human beings are in great demand. Hence, we should constantly focus upon building and improving soft skills like communication, time management, adaptability, network-building and listening. The final panelist highlighted that the pathway from protection to exposition is full of challenges as well as opportunities. Depending on the number of technological choices available to managers of the organization, a technological approach to innovation can be used. Business enterprises should consider investing in new and innovative technology as part of a long-term approach that has a wider horizon.
The international conclave imparted realistic global business knowledge to the participants via accomplished international practitioners followed by a series of activities and discussions to increase learner participation. This huge event facilitated the holistic development of all the participants and it turned out to be a great success!
