Fully Automated Factory Lab Opens at Sahyadri Park
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched India’s first lights-out factory lab at its Sahyadri Park campus in Pune, marking a major step in the company’s push toward AI-led manufacturing and industrial autonomy.
A lights-out factory is designed to operate with minimal human interventionusing autonomous systems to run and optimise production processes. TCS says the new facility will allow manufacturers to test these technologies in a controlled environment before deploying them in real factories.
Robotic Battery Pack Assembly Line
At the centre of the Pune facility is a fully robotic battery pack assembly line with multiple stages of production.
The live setup allows manufacturers to prototype, validate and scale AI-first production systems while identifying potential problems before committing to large-scale deployment.
This approach could help companies reduce the risks and costs associated with introducing advanced automation directly into operational factories.
AI, Robotics and Digital Twins Work Together
The lab combines several technologies rather than relying on robotics alone.
These include digital twins, industrial AI, factory control systems, Vision AI, robotics and real-time operational intelligence.
Digital twins allow manufacturers to create virtual representations of production environments and test different scenarios before making changes to physical equipment. Meanwhile, AI and sensors can analyse shop-floor data and help optimise operations in real time.
From Predictive Maintenance to Quality Checks
TCS says the facility will support several industrial applications, including predictive maintenance, automated quality inspection, real-time process optimisation, human-machine collaboration and autonomous factory operations.
The combination could allow factories to identify equipment problems earlier, detect manufacturing defects automatically and adjust production processes based on real-time conditions.
The lab also incorporates sensor-to-cloud industrial intelligence, connecting shop-floor signals with edge and cloud platforms.
Helping Manufacturers Test Before Deployment
One of the main purposes of the facility is to address a common challenge in industrial transformation: moving from individual automation projects to integrated AI-powered operations.
Manufacturers can use the lab to assess Industry 4.0 technologies and determine how suitable they are for particular production environments before making expensive investments.
TCS describes this as part of its Human + AI Service Autonomy Modelin which enterprises can gradually move from digitally enabled operations toward increasingly autonomous production systems.
TCS Expands Physical AI Push
The Pune facility builds on TCS’s broader work in industrial autonomy and physical AI.
Earlier in 2026, the company launched an Industrial Autonomy & Engineering Lab powered by NVIDIA in Bengaluru, focused on physical AI applications for industrial and mobility sectors.
The Pune lab adds a practical manufacturing environment where these technologies can be demonstrated on a functioning production line.
Manufacturing Moves Towards AI-First Operations
The development comes as manufacturers increasingly look beyond traditional automation towards systems that can perceive conditions, make decisions and adapt production processes.
TCS’s new facility is intended to provide a bridge between AI experimentation and real-world industrial deployment, giving companies a way to test autonomous manufacturing concepts before implementing them at scale.
Summary: TCS has launched India’s first lights-out factory lab at its Sahyadri Park campus in Pune. The facility features a fully robotic battery pack assembly line and combines AI, robotics, digital twins, Vision AI and real-time industrial intelligence. It will help manufacturers test predictive maintenance, automated quality inspection and autonomous production systems before deploying them in real factories.