Automation, artificial intelligence to be central in the post-Covid world

Traditional factory floor practices are being reconfigured as manufacturing companies increasingly adopt automation and artificial intelligence throughout value chains in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. "We are in an environment that is getting more and more volatile every day," said Siemens India MD Sunil Mathur, panelist at The Economic Times Back to Business Dialogues on the theme of Automating Business, Accelerating Growth. "At the same time, customers are becoming even more demanding. The challenge that most manufacturing companies are facing is how to balance these two." If procurement and retail are managed digitally, AI can analyse the data for better demand prediction.