‘Honeywell tech trims routine factory work’
NEW DELHI : Honeywell is automating mines, refineries and power plants worldwide with artificial intelligence and machine learning similar to how advanced technology aids modern autonomous cars, a top executive at the global technology conglomerate said. The American multinational company, which has operated in India for eight decades, counts top conglomerates such as Reliance and Adani groups among its clients. It provides industrial automation solutions for power, oil and gas, steel and mining and sectors.
“What we’re trying to build is a higher degree of automation, akin to autonomous cars, inside refinery plants," said Ashish Gaikwad, managing director of Honeywell Automation India Ltd. “This can ensure that operators do not do mundane things, but take more commercially savvy decisions. AI and ML algorithms can do all mundane tasks and even take basic decisions, which can help with a lesser human workforce willing to work in plants.
Reliance Industries, for instance, has standardized the use of Honeywell’s digital twins to train thousands of operators at its Jamnagar refinery, " Gaikwad said in an interview. Honeywell Automation India clocked ₹3,575 crore operating revenue and ₹438 crore net profit in FY23, up 17.9% and 29.2% from the previous year. The conglomerate also has a private entity, Honeywell India, which operates its non-automation subsidiaries.
India, however, accounts for less than 1.5% of the company’s global revenue. In industrial automation, Honeywell competes with ABB, General Electric, Rockwell Automation and Siemens, among others. Honeywell companies in India together employ more than 5,000 engineers, said Gavin Towler, chief technology officer of Honeywell Performance Materials & Technologies
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