Thomas Dose, Managing Director, BMW Plant, Chennai, speaking at the Global Manufacturing Cluster Vision 2047 organised by CODISSIA in Coimbatore on Friday.
| Photo Credit: PERIASAMY M
Process and effectiveness are key to the success of any manufacturing activity, said Thomas Dose, Managing Director of BMW Plant Chennai, in Coimbatore on Friday.Inaugurating an event on “Intelligent Manufacturing : the Future Success through Smart Factories”, held at the Global Manufacturing Cluster Vision 2047 conference organised as a part of Intec 2026, Mr. Dose said that what comes to the mind of people when they think of German engineering are precision and efficiency. However, process and effectiveness are also important. For this, businesses should create high performing teams. “How people work is key to success,” he said.Everyone in an organisation should be focused on quality of the product, the time schedules, and cost per unit. They should be able to identify these targets, understand why and how to achieve them, he said.Kanaoka, president of Jinki - Ittai (Man-Machine Synergy Effectors, Inc), said that while digital technology has evolved and companies are looking at ways to eliminate human roles, artificial intelligence cannot make autonomous decisions. “So, human strength should be synchronised with robotic technology.”Jinki - Ittai has partnered with major infrastructure companies in Japan and produced robots that are used in high risk work places such as maintenance of railway tracks. There are such applications in the foundries in India where human operated robots can be used, he said.According to E.K. Ponnuswamy, chairman of Intec 2026, intelligent manufacturing is a competitive reality today. Artificial intelligence, automation, industry 4.0 and sustainability are rapidly becoming tools of competitive manufacturing even in Coimbatore. The manufacturing industry in Coimbatore should get into the next industrial story of the country, he said.President of the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association M. Karthikeyan said smart factories and automation are essential for Indian MSMEs to remain competitive and supply to global markets. Published - June 05, 2026 08:33 pm IST
