Indian Transportation Network Company (TNC), Ola, announced on Wednesday, that it has joined forces with Siemens to build India’s most advanced electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu. Last month, the popular ride-hailing platform signed a deal with the Tamil Nadu government worth Rs. 2,400 crore to set up its first factory in the state.
The manufacturing hub in the southern state will be the world’s largest scooter manufacturing facility, with an initial annual capacity of 2 million units and the factory, upon completion, will create almost 10,000 jobs, the company claimed. The facility is pegged to serve as the global manufacturing hub of Ola, catering to its customers in India as well as key markets across Europe, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and ANZ.
Built on Industry 4.0 principles and around 5,000 robots deployed across various functions, the factory will be the most advanced manufacturing facility in the country. Under the partnership, “Ola will have access to Siemens’ integrated Digital Twin design and manufacturing solutions to digitalize and validate product and production ahead of actual operations,” the company said, according to Live Mint.
“The factory will be artificial intelligence-powered with Ola’s proprietary AI engine and tech stack deeply integrated into every aspect of the manufacturing process, continuously self-learning and optimizing every aspect of the manufacturing process,” it further mentioned. With Ola’s implementation of cyber-physical and advanced IoE systems, the partnership with Siemens will provide unprecedented control, automation, and quality to the entire operations.
From raw materials to its movement inside the factory, its storage, and the finished scooter rolling off the production lines to be loaded onto trucks, this entire material handling procedure at Ola’s factory will be done with maximum efficiency be fully automated. “These advanced technology systems will seamlessly blend with Ola’s workforce to provide the perfect synergy of humans and machines working in tandem to build the most efficient production system and deliver the highest quality products for Ola’s customers,” the company added.
Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and group CEO, Ola, commented on the partnership, “This will be our global hub and will set a benchmark in quality, scale, and efficiency, demonstrating India’s capability to build world-class cutting edge products. We look forward to bringing this factory online in the coming months and putting our products in the hands of customers.”
Starting with Ola’s electric scooter, the factory will produce Ola’s upcoming range of two-wheeler products. The electric scooter features many firsts including a seamless design, unique removable banana battery, and intelligent software that elevates the entire consumer experience of owning a scooter, the company said. The Ola scooter has already made its mark by winning several prestigious designs and innovation awards worldwide, including the Marketing Innovation Award at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the German Design Award.
“In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, Ola’s factory is an important step in making an AtmaNirbhar Bharat,” the company earlier said. “It will catalyze the reduction of India’s import dependence in a key future sector like electric vehicles, boost local manufacturing, create jobs as well as improve the technical expertise in the country,” Ola earlier stated.
“We are proud to contribute to Ola’s vision of creating a factory of the future using our automation and digitalization expertise to ensuring the highest levels of productivity and quality while enabling an agile and flexible production process,” Sunil Mathur, MD & CEO, Siemens India, said.
