India facilities of Dr Reddy's Labs, Mondelez among new entrants of WEF's Global Lighthouse Network

The World Economic Forum on Tuesday announced the addition of 11 factories and industrial sites, including that of Dr Reddy's and Mondelez in India, to its Global Lighthouse Network.

The Global Lighthouse Network is a community of over 100 manufacturers that are showing leadership in applying Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D-printing and big data analytics.

The WEF further said four lighthouse members with outstanding environmental footprint reductions have been given an additional designation of Sustainability Lighthouses.

These four include Unilever's Dapada facility in India.

The WEF said that amid warnings of a global recession, energy price hikes and disrupted supply chains, the lighthouse factories offer business leaders and policymakers examples of how the manufacturing sector can stay competitive and continue to create jobs.

''Manufacturing is the backbone of both social and economic development. With the right corporate strategies and industrial policies, it provides high-wage jobs, commercial innovation, and drives environmental sustainability – even in times of crisis,'' Francisco Betti, Head of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains at the WEF, said.

The new factories of the lighthouse network show how manufacturers can meet business goals while having a positive impact on economies, people's livelihoods and the environment, Betti added.

The 11 new lighthouses also include Indore unit of Cipla. The entrants from other countries include Agilent Technologies in Singapore, Danone in Opole (Poland), Flex in Sorocaba (Brazil) and five in China (CATL, Haier, Midea, Sany Heavy Industry and Western Digital).

For Dr Reddy's Hyderabad facility, the WEF said the 25-year-old site, facing business challenges from severe price erosion and rapidly evolving quality expectations, embarked on large-scale digitalisation to sustain and grow in the generics pharma market.

The site deployed more than 40 Fourth Industrial Revolution use cases by operating in garage mode and leveraging IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and democratised platform for advanced analytics.

As a result, it improved manufacturing cost by 43 per cent while proactively enhancing quality and reducing energy by 41 per cent.

Mondelez's Sri City facility deployed end-to-end digitalisation, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and advanced automations with an aim to outgrow the market through superior volume delivery, cost leadership and build further resilience and diversity in a volatile environment.

It managed to increase labour productivity by 89 per cent, reduce manufacturing costs by 38 per cent and sustain 50 per cent female workforce, thus making it a benchmark manufacturing site for Mondelez globally, the WEF added.