Addverb – Trending in the Automation Industry
Addverb Technologies provide Industrial Automation Solutions, Design Consulting, Manufacturing Consulting and System Integration for Automated Material Handling Systems, and leverage technologies within your supply chain to tap full potential.They strive to improve operations on sustainable basis that provide you competitive advantage by strengthening your entire supply chain. Their deep technical insight and rugged process provide your supply chain a new dimension.
Durofy: How would you describe Addverb in one sentence?
We are passionate for technology and we intent to channelize this passion to Invent for the Nation
Durofy:- How did the idea of starting Addverb come about?
All the founders Mr. Sangeet Kumar, Mr. Prateek Jain, Mr. Amit Kumar, Mr. Neeraj Sharma & Mr. Satish Shukla have worked at Asian Paints, GAIL, ITC, and Sidel in the past. We have seen how technology has led to a disruption in manufacturing. This is an inflexion point for industries and experts have called this technological disruption as “Industry 4.0”. Since we all had a passion for technology and had seen it first hand at different organizations, we wanted to enable the Indian manufacturing to embrace this change.
Durofy: What are the services provided by Addverb?
Warehouse Automation: We provide complete end-to-end warehouse solutions to logistic companies and manufacturing facilities. Our offerings include Warehouse picking products such as Pick-By-Light (Addbin), Pick-By-Voice (AddVoice), and software applications such as Warehouse Management System, Truck Management System and Pallet Conveyors.
Industrial Robotics: We provide industrial robotics solutions for manufacturing to all kinds of industries
Industrial IoT: We leverage MEMS(MicroElectroMechanical Systems), embedded technology and IoT platforms to build solutions enhancing productivity and transparency in manufacturing and warehousing operations. In this we work very closely with the client to understand their needs and develop a solution for them. Some of our offerings include Overall Equipment Effectiveness Software (AddPro), Yard Management System, Smart Move( Forklift Management System), ETP Management System, Fire Hydrant Management System.
Durofy: What were the biggest challenges faced in your industry?
The speed at which technology is disrupting supply chain is extraordinary. The way we have seen this field evolve in last two years is amazing. It has not evolved so much in last 20 years as it has in last couple of years. This disruption becomes quite overwhelming for industries that are used to operate in a certain way. In India, the manufacturing sector has not really embraced technology and has not automated their operations. They have continued with the traditional way of manufacturing, operating at a level X, while the world of manufacturing moved over to Level Y in the last decade. With the technology becoming more affordable, Indian industries now have the opportunity to skip Level Y and directly move to Level Z (Industry 4.0) thus unlocking huge potential in the supply chain and we help them in realizing this huge opportunity and enable them to reach that level. Also, as the technological disruption has been very quick, it becomes necessary for us to keep on innovating and updating ourselves as well. The need of the hour is not only to be agile to technological changes yourself but also help industries to embrace them as well
Durofy: Tell us more about the team behind Addverb?
Addverb was born out of a desire to ensure that India does not miss out on the Industry 4.0 wave. We intend to take Indian manufacturing and warehouse operations on a global level and make India the hub of innovation in this field. Our vision is to enable Make In India by making India the benchmark for Industry 4.0. We have extensive experience of setting up factories after factories with the latest technology. We are a group of passionate individuals who have come together to create a Great Place To Work to foster innovation and provide leading solutions in Supply Chain.
Durofy: What’s in store for 2017 for the industry and Addverb?
With the government focused on Make In India and domestic consumption poised for a growth, it is a very exciting time to be in the manufacturing sector. Even DIPP has recently released a research paper to promote Industry 4.0. According to PwC digitization in industrial sector is set to grow by 65% in next five years, this provides huge opportunity. Also, the IoT market is set to touch around 10 Billion dollars by 2020, industrial IoT has not been exploited to its potential. Also, GST on the other hand shall force the companies to rethink their supply chain and change the way they manage their warehouses. This is a market that is poised for explosive growth with all the correct levers working for it. We feel we are at the right place at the right time and in last 9 months we have interacted with more than 100 companies and have seen a lot of excitement for IoT & Robotics. Addverb has extensive offerings to meet these demands and we have incorporated our industry experience in our products to give the best in class products and solutions to our clients. Hence, we see ourselves rightly positioned to realize this opportunity.
Durofy: What are your thoughts on the “Industry 4.0” trend?
We are at the cusp of another industrial revolution which the experts are calling as “Industry 4.0”. It consists of cyberphysical systems incorporating Internet Of Things, Augmented Reality, Big Data, 3-D Printing, Simulation & Robotics. These technologies shall convert the “Static Factories & Warehouses” into “Dynamic” & “Smart” factories driving up productivity and efficiency. The connected devices will throw up huge data points for industries to analyze and also technology shall enable the machines to take the decisions themselves, IoT will drive up efficiencies in the system by almost 300-400%. Though these numbers might look staggering right now but that is the level of disruption we are talking about. For instance let us take an example of Order Picking in a warehouse. Traditional Paper based picking ensures around 100 picks per hour and involves huge variability while a “Pick By Light” increases the picks to almost 500 picks per hour. This translates into fast deliveries and improved accuracies. It would be wrong to assume that Industry 4.0 is limited to supply chain; it is going to touch the life of every individual across the globe by making houses, cities, agriculture, healthcare smart. India has been known for Scales in manufacturing, we have one of the largest factories in a host of products, but Industry 4.0 shall enable us to do mass customization of products. Not only this Industry 4.0 shall reduce the time to manufacture and take the product to the market. Every product shall be customized according to the taste of the consumer, all the products right from a tooth brush to washing machine shall interact and enhance the experience of the customer. The product shall continue to remain in the same form but shall have a software interface that will allow this interaction. In other words, Industry 4.0 shall allow us to create a Digital DNA of every product indicating its usage patterns, life, efficiency etc. Every product based on its usage shall have a unique digital DNA. In order to make this possible, the factories shall need to have different kind of machines, different layout, complex communication protocols and mechanisms. Different components of a manufacturing operation like Man, Machine, Environment and customer will generate data points that will enable decentralized manufacturing. Five senses of human beings have always been a gift that we have cherished. Today, sensors have started replicating these senses and incorporate them in products and process. The day is not far when the shoes that we wear might be smarter than us thanks to Industry 4.0
Durofy: Who are some of the clients you’re working with?
We have worked with Megha Springs (SG Group), A-1 Fence, Shubhram Hospital Solutions, Asian Paints, Breakbounce (Golden Seams), Marico
Durofy: What were some memorable moments in Addverb’s journey?
There have been very exciting moments in this journey. When we got our first project, it was an exciting time for us and we were all pumped up to deliver. Unfortunately our shipment got delayed due to cyclone Vardah, we had not foreseen this and this was an unexpected negative surprise. However, we got on the table and planned other things during this time to ensure the project got completed on time. Though all products are important to us, our first product Pick-To-Light (Addbin) holds a special place as it was the first product that we built. The entire journey of making that product was quite exciting.
Durofy: What would be your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?
It is very necessary to believe in your vision. Especially at a time when the startups are getting a lot of negative publicity, it becomes all the more important to believe in your vision and values. One of the most important factors in making any startup successful is having the right team not only in terms of founders but the initial set of employees as well. They need to share the same vision and passion to make the startup successful.
