World Economic Forum recognises Dr Reddy’s Hyderabad factory as part of its Global Lighthouse Network

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recognised Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ manufacturing facility in Bachupally, Hyderabad, as part of the Global Lighthouse Network (GLN), according to a statement from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

With this recognition, the facility joins the GLN, a community of over 100 manufacturers that are showing leadership in applying Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0 or 4IR) technologies to drive impact in productivity, workforce engagement, sustainability and supply chain resilience. GLN is a WEF initiative in collaboration with McKinsey & Company. Factories and value chains that join GLN are designated by an independent panel of experts, said the statement.

It further mentioned that the journey began four years ago when Dr Reddy’s embarked on a programme to ‘digitise its core.’ This involved upgrade of infrastructure and digitisation of processes for robust and comprehensive data capture. Real-time data and insights laid the foundation for Project ‘OpsNext’ which was initiated two years ago to transform the plant into an Industry 4.0-driven ‘Lighthouse’ factory as defined by the WEF. The site saw the deployment of six of the eight technologies of 4IR – Advanced Analytics, Digital Twins, Robotic Process Automation, Augmented/Virtual/Mixed Reality, Digital Performance Management and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The OpsNext team identified over 40 business results-linked use cases impacting various aspects of productivity such as customer service, quality, energy consumption, sustainability, equipment efficiency and people productivity. The company also invested heavily in building people capabilities such as digital and analytics translators, data scientists and data engineers.

In response to business scenarios of price erosion, sustainable manufacturing practices, need for constant vigilance and maintenance of uncompromising standards of quality, the journey has already yielded significant results at the site – 43 per cent manufacturing cost improvement, 30 per cent reduction in production lead time, 41 per cent energy consumption reduction, and significant dip in quality deviations.

Sanjay Sharma, Global Head, Manufacturing, Dr Reddy’s, said in the statement, “The successful inclusion of our 25-year-old site in Hyderabad as a ‘Digital Lighthouse’ factory is a big milestone in our productivity improvement journey. We have seen significant financial and operational impact from the journey. We are in the process of scaling and replicating this to the rest of our manufacturing network. Dr Reddy’s aspires to be the most efficient pharma operations in the world. Our productivity improvement and digitalisation efforts are key to staying competitive, meeting business imperatives, and meeting our ambitious ESG goals. Building such ‘factories of the future’ is integral to innovation and to build healthcare of the future. One of the most important outcomes is that our top talent and young leaders want to be a part of this aspirational journey. This collaborative and cross-functional effort truly helps us fulfil our purpose of ‘Good Health Can’t Wait’.”

Francisco Betti, Head, Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains, WEF, also added, “Global disruptions have highlighted the fragility of current supply chains – as rising inflation and material shortages are increasing pressure on manufacturing organisations, Lighthouses show that scaling the deployment and adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies across multiple factories and business functions is key to accelerate the achievement of their strategic imperatives, such as business growth, resilience and greener operations.”