The country needs to improve its global share by being more cost competitive in market
KUKA Robotics India Pvt. Ltd. is a fully owned subsidiary of KUKA Roboter, Germany. It is one of the pioneers in the field of Industrial Robotics. The industrial robots are now being used in various Indian industries for different applications like welding, handling, processing etc. KUKA has its presence in almost all major automobile manufacturing countries. Vikas Swami talks about the areas that need to be improved in order to see India as global manufacturing hub.
Be cost competitiveBeing already present in the league of global manufacturers in many product lines including automotive, India is making its mark. However, now the country needs to improve its global share by being more cost competitive in market. This could be possible by investing in new technology, thus reducing rejections and getting quality products at faster pace.
Potential catalystsThere are some factors that can prove as catalysts in India’s growth in manufacturing sector. Major factors are Better infrastructure and industry friendly industrial policies. Better roads and ports will ease pressure on companies who are willing to do business pan India or wish to be in the field of export-import.
Further, lesser travel time will reduce requirement of multistate production and better ports will motivate global OEM to consider India as their global production and distribution centre.
Difficulties In India, industrial policies are changing fast and also from state to state which makes it tough to formulate a long-term strategy. Demand of skilled workers is difficult to meet in remote locations where new plants are being set up. The poor infrastructure close to these plants remains the major reason behind.
Some industries in manufacturing sector are found to have difficult time in deciding if they go for automation or manual operations, as to justify automation they need higher volumes of course.
When the ball is in govt’s courtThe new project proposals need to be cleared faster. At the same time civil society and industry opinion should be taken into consideration while making new industrial policies related to industry growth and its effect on environment. At present, industries have limited options to set up plants due to infrastructure bottleneck and thus some prime locations in few states are getting over-crowded.
One important issue of uniform tax structure across the country is also being discussed for long, which should be addressed as soon as possible. This will give even level-playing field to industry in India and will push India up in the list of countries with ease of doing business.
KUKA India’s focusKUKA India’s focus is evenly divided into automotive as well as non-automotive sector. Needless to say that to become successful in these areas, people with sound knowledge of industrial robotics will be required. These qualified engineers when move into industry, they make it easy for industry to adopt automation.
That’s why KUKA has a focussed approach and is tying up with technical colleges and universities across India so that things could improve at the grass root level.
Vikas Swami, Vice President, KUKA Robotics India Pvt. Ltd.
