In the age of artificial intelligence, India's manufacturing sector does not want to fall behind other sectors, so it is undergoing a major transformation in business operations.

Customer preferences, new distribution models, geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruption, and ESG regulations have created new opportunities for the manufacturing sector to redesign and innovate existing business models. Various government initiatives such as the production-linked incentive schemes (PLI) and 'Make in India' have also contributed to the development of a favourable domestic market environment for the manufacturing sector.

According to a PwC report, Indian companies are increasingly adopting analytics and AI, with a current implementation rate of 54%.

In a survey, titled Reimagining Digital Factories of Tomorrow, the PwC India underscored that manufacturing companies currently prefer to adopt one standardised digital solution across plants.

Domestic firms majorly focus more on people, policies, and mindset while global companies prefer building up systems for driving any transformation, the survey said.

However, 38% of the Indian companies that participated in the survey revealed that they do not have any plans to adopt digital technology for their businesses.

Notably, a majority of Indian manufacturing firms are following the global trend of implementing advanced technology solutions such as additive manufacturing, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR)/ virtual reality (VR), and smart devices.