India's pharmaceutical sector, traditionally based largely on manual operations, is now adopting new automated operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) to remain competitive in a connected world. Only through continuous innovation and judicious adoption of new technologies will companies in this sector, domestic and global, succeed in surmounting today's challenges. These include:

"Visibility" can have many meanings when it comes to enterprise applications. The major supply chain software suppliers have already invested heavily in several forms of visibility. But, this is just a start, with these same suppliers committing themselves to new related investments. In particular, JDA, Oracle, and SAP are all building what they call "control tower" capabilities. All three companies recognize that a variety of B2B networks has data needed to enhance end-to-end visibility of the supply chain and all share a vision of becoming a "hub of hubs."

This report describes several influential standards and provides practical guidance to end users and other stakeholders on their importance when developing and executing an automation strategy.

Many countries around the world are embracing Industrial IoT/Industrie 4.0 and smart manufacturing initiatives. China is no exception. The Chinese government, in particular, recognizes the need to drive transformation faster to maintain and improve global manufacturing competitiveness and sustain economic growth.  ARC Advisory Group believes manufacturing will feature more than ever in the public spotlight in the coming years; supported by new, forward-looking public programs aimed at education, innovation, and adoption.

Automation suppliers saw their revenues drop by 4 percent during the first quarter of 2016. Depressed oil and commodity prices and the strong dollar continued to impact the performance of the automation market. Slowing economic growth in China (once a major growth engine for automation), also contributed to the depressed revenues and order taking reported by many suppliers. Process suppliers continue to suffer most from exposure to low oil prices, but many saw increased service business and other activity in downstream sectors.

Central control rooms have become the norm in most large-scale industrial plants and facilities across the heavy process industries. These control rooms enable a relatively small number of process operators, engineers, and other operational personnel to monitor multiple production processes from a central location. The goal is to help ensure safe, efficient, and environmentally compliant operation and production control.

The prime reason most industrial plants still have internal, on-site maintenance staffs is to reduce repair times and unplanned downtime, which negatively impact revenue, customer satisfaction, cost, and other key business metrics. In most plants today, contracting with the equipment manufacturer for maintenance usually results in unacceptably long periods of downtime for critical equipment while waiting for a technician to arrive – particularly with the typical two passes required for inspection and repair.

Automation professionals typically come from the chemical, industrial, electrical, or mechanical engineering disciplines. Regardless of their backgrounds, similar skills and competencies are required. However, these competencies are evolving in the face of changing technology and automation professionals may find it difficult to move from one industry to another because of different perceptions and the lack of common definitions and expectations.

Industry standards mandate safety lifecycle management. Most industrial organizations are aware of and comply with those standards. However, it may be difficult to demonstrate compliance if the necessary software applications and functionality are not available.

India's pharmaceutical industry has demonstrated remarkable growth via both organic and inorganic routes. The issues encountered at each step have proved to be turning points that have changed the mechanisms and prevalent trends of the sector. India's pharmaceutical market is estimated to be the third largest globally in terms of volume and thirteenth largest in terms of value. Presently, the market size of India's pharmaceutical sector is $20 billion and is likely to touch $55 billion by 2020.