Una, December 20: An awareness session on smart manufacturing and the digital future was organized today (Saturday) in the Mehatpur industrial area. The program was held at the BSNL Telephone Exchange, Mehatpur Industrial Area, and was enthusiastically attended by MSME entrepreneurs from the area, representatives of the local industrial association, and various government departments.
This awareness session was organized by Central Electronics Limited (CEL) in collaboration with the government and the Department of Industries (Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra, Una). The main objective of the program was to familiarize small and medium-sized industries with Industry 4.0-based technologies and to explain how digital transformation can be adopted in a simple, practical, and cost-effective manner.
The chief guest of the program, Gyan Chand, said in his address that all concerned departments and agencies are committed to providing full support for the modernization of industries through schemes, technical guidance, and handholding. He said that the industrial units of Mehatpur need to move beyond paper-based and manual systems and adopt digital and data-driven methodologies so that they can further strengthen their competitive capacity at the state and national levels.

**Active Participation of the Industrial Association
The president of the local industrial association, C.S. Kapoor, and other office bearers appreciated this initiative and urged industries to ensure active participation in upcoming digitization and smart manufacturing programs.
On this occasion, Deepak Verma, the administrative officer of the Mehatpur industrial area, assured full local support for such awareness sessions, pilot projects, and ground-level implementation in the future.

**Technical Information and Practical Solutions
CEL experts informed the industries how modern digital technologies such as automation, IoT-based monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be integrated into the daily production processes of the units in Mehatpur.
They explained that small technical interventions can lead to reduced machine downtime, a decrease in rejection and defect rates, increased energy efficiency, and faster and more accurate decision-making based on real-time data. Industrial units in Mehatpur expressed keen interest in this initiative and highlighted the need for specific support in areas such as predictive maintenance, digital inventory management, and production monitoring dashboards. Several entrepreneurs also expressed their willingness to participate in pilot projects to demonstrate the benefits of smart manufacturing across the entire industrial cluster.
SAIL and its collaborating departments also proposed that in the next phase, detailed assessments, unit-wise consultations, and phased implementation plans would be developed, enabling the Mehatpur industrial area to emerge as a model for Industry 4.0-based development in Una district.