IPPMI: Festo India's Ranjan Singh Chadha charts path for smart, sustainable packaging
Festo's predictive maintenance solutions can reduce unplanned downtime by up to 20%, potentially saving mid-sized plants INR 5- to INR 10-lakh monthly in lost production.
21 Aug 2025 | 176 Views | By Noel D'Cunha
Ranjan Singh Chadha, national sales manager for automation at Festo India, delivered a compelling vision for the future of packaging automation while showcasing how smart technologies could drive efficiency while supporting sustainability goals in India's packaging sector.
The presentation highlighted Festo's EUR 3.5-billion global automation business and its commitment to investing 7% of turnover in R&D. Chadha emphasised that Festo's success stems from five core values: ambition, determination, dependability, vision, and mutual guidance. "We can acquire companies, but we cannot acquire culture," he noted, underscoring how these principles guide Festo's operations across 61 countries.
Chadha demonstrated how artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming packaging operations. Festo's predictive maintenance solutions can reduce unplanned downtime by up to 20%, potentially saving mid-sized plants INR 5- to INR 10-lakh monthly in lost production. The company's online handling guide software cuts design time by 30%, enabling faster prototyping of packaging machinery.
Sustainability emerged as a key theme, with Chadha revealing how Festo's energy-efficient technologies help address the 20% to 30% power typically wasted in pneumatic systems. The NJC module, which shuts off pneumatic power during idle periods, can save plants INR 2- to INR 3-lakh annually in energy costs. These innovations support India's net-zero 2070 target while delivering immediate cost benefits.
The automation expert stressed the importance of workforce development, detailing Festo's 1.5-year training programme that prepares 100-200 workers annually for Industry 4.0 roles. "Automation and education go together," Chadha observed, noting how skilled operators can boost overall equipment effectiveness by 5% to 10%.
Chadha advised manufacturers to focus on the total cost of ownership rather than just upfront costs, showcasing Festo's sizing tools that help optimise component selection.