The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recognised drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ manufacturing facility in Bachupally, Hyderabad, as part of its Global Lighthouse Network.
GLN is a community of over 100 manufacturers demonstrating leadership in applying Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0 or 4IR) technologies to drive impact in productivity, workforce engagement, sustainability and supply chain resilience, Dr. Reddy’s said on Tuesday.
An initiative of WEF with McKinsey & Company, GLN process involves independent panel of experts designating factories and value chains, the firm said on the recognition for its largest manufacturing plant.
“Successful inclusion of our 25-year-old site in Hyderabad as a ‘Digital Lighthouse’ factory is a milestone in productivity improvement journey. We have seen significant financial and operational impact... in the process of scaling and replicating this to rest of our manufacturing network,” said Sanjay Sharma, Global Head of Manufacturing at Dr. Reddy’s.
The journey towards GLN, of the facility, began four years ago with digitisation of infrastructure and processes. Two years ago “we initiated Project ‘OpsNext’ and deployed six of the eight Industry 4.0 technologies, 40 business impact linked use cases and heavy investment in people capabilities. Advanced Analytics, Digital Twins, Robotic Process Automation, Augmented/Virtual/Mixed Reality, Digital Performance Management and Industrial Internet of Things are the technologies deployed.
“We have seen significant business results – 43% manufacturing cost improvement, 30% reduction in production lead time, 41% energy consumption reduction and a significant dip in quality deviations,” Mr.Sharma said without sharing specifics. Productivity improvement and digitalisation efforts remain key to staying competitive, meeting business imperatives and meeting ambitious ESG goals, he said in a release.
The pharma major said it aspires to have the most efficient operations globally, reach over 1.5 billion patients by 2030 and work towards 25% of product launches to be first-to-market by 2027.
With rising inflation and material shortages increasing pressure on manufacturers, Lighthouses show scaling deployment and adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies across multiple factories and business functions is key to accelerate achievement of strategic imperatives such as business growth, resilience and greener operations, said Francisco Betti, Head of Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains, WEF.
