CEAT Digitally Transforms with AWS IoT and Analytics

Amazon Web Services has announced that CEAT, one of India’s leading tyre manufacturers with sales in over 100 countries worldwide, is using AWS to drive smart manufacturing and invent intelligent tyres – tyres with sensors that can predict various data points such as load and wear. CEAT is digitizing factories to unlock manufacturing efficiencies, make data-driven decisions with SAP on AWS, and launch innovative digital services by leveraging the breadth and depth of AWS cloud capabilities such as Internet of Things (IoT), analytics and business intelligence, and machine learning. For example, by utilizing AWS services, CEAT was able to create a solution that automatically recommends which tyres dealers should order based on history and real-time supply, thereby improving customer experience.

CEAT’s on-premises infrastructure could not keep up with the demand for new digital services prior to migrating to AWS. CEAT implemented a modern SAP S/4HANA enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform on AWS as a first step toward increasing agility and accelerating innovation. CEAT then created real-time analytics dashboards using factory and enterprise data using Amazon QuickSight, an AWS service that helps CEAT employees easily understand data. Data analytics enable the company to develop innovative and high-quality tyres for safer journeys, including an intelligent tyre for commercial fleet operators. Intelligent tyres include built-in telemetry sensors that are linked to the cloud and record tyre data, such as pressure and temperature, in order to detect leaks and predict tyre failure. This knowledge minimizes vehicle downtime for fleet operators and helps to avoid road accidents.

CEAT connected production machines like curing presses to the cloud and built a data lake on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to digitize its manufacturing processes, which require 250 raw materials. This lake securely stores structured and unstructured data from across CEAT’s operations at scale, improving CEAT’s view of factory operations and assisting line managers in closely monitoring factory operations. CEAT, for example, uses Amazon SageMaker, an AWS service for rapidly building, training, and deploying machine learning models in the cloud and at the edge, to predict leaks in tyre-curing presses. This prediction reduces tyre waste by reducing factory line stoppages and improving tyre quality.

Using AWS, CEAT can now quickly develop innovative digital solutions for customers. CEAT employs Amazon Redshift, a cloud data warehouse, and Amazon SageMaker for an experimental solution. The solution uses a mobile device to automatically scan stock-keeping unit names and tyre serial numbers, registering warranties and claims through an image upload service. Customers benefit from this service because it simplifies and expedites the warranty and claim registration process. CEAT also used Amazon Redshift to test a service that suggests which tyres dealers should order based on past purchases and real-time supply, further improving the customer experience.