Schneider Electric: thrives to be OEMs preferred partner

May 15, 2013 9:31 am

Jatinder Hans, General Manager, OEM Sales and Competency Development, Schneider Electric India, talks about manufacturing sector and the need for automation
Please update us on the status of manufacturing sector in India and the need for automation.Manufacturers do automation for three to four main reasons which include improving productivity by achieving higher speed for packaging products. CPG manufacturers are always pressed for the need to have mass customisation literally within no time. For them, the KPI is faster time to market and to be ahead of competition. Automation helps them achieve this goal. Other way, automation helps by reducing downtime through quick diagnosis and problem resolution.
Automation also helps them optimise on mechanical equipment which is a direct saving. Energy saving is another major reason people go for automation. Information enabled automation systems helps customer be connected to their plants everywhere.
These days, many manufacturers are concerned with total cost of ownership rather than just the initial capital investment. Although on the surface, it seems that OEMs business drivers are different than end users’ business drivers. If people go deep, they will come to know that their goals are common, i.e. improving productivity and having lowest total cost of ownership in anything they invest. Where do you think the Indian manufacturing sector stands today in terms of leveraging cutting-edge automation technologies?Indian manufacturing is catching up fast with its Western and Japanese counterparts, and the acceptability of cutting-edge technologies is increasing. Do you think the penetration of automation technology is way below the mark, especially in the industrial manufacturing?This could have been true around 10 years back. With the spread of Internet and latest IT technology, the awareness has reached faster to manufacturers. They are aware that automation helps but how is not clear. Many still perceive that automation is a black box which can complicate their lives.
How do you propose to improve that?Penetration of automation can be improved by creating awareness of its benefits and educating the operators and engineers who would handle it and training customers’ engineers on the benefits it provide to them and how it makes their lives simpler and more valuable. It also can be approved by providing proof of concept to new users of Automation. We do this by bringing customers to our application centre where we have live products connected to real machine and we can simulate the benefits to customers. With this approach, the doubts of customers are clarified before they make purchase decisions.
What are the major barriers for acceptance of automation in India?Major barriers is that manufacturer still looks it as capital or initial investment and then gets bogged down by the price comparison between different vendors rather than comparing the values and getting into the aspect of how automation would help them have better returns on investment. If all manufactures look at total cost of ownership, acceptability of automation would be even greater.
Would you define your positioning and role within the Indian market?OEM customers want machines that are productive, reliable, flexible, easily integrated in the factory process and energy efficient. In order to be competitive in the market, OEM also needs to focus on improving the performance, minimising the execution time and enhance the overall efficiency of their machines. This calls for increased automation content in the machines.
We, at Schneider Electric, offer state-of-the-art solutions to help OEMs meet these challenges. Our positioning in the market for OEM is differentiated as product and solutions that help customer increase productivity with high-speed packaging solutions. Our high-end technology products meet PackML standards which help customers integrate manufacturing lines to measure and improve OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency). Our focused domain approach, expertise and proven solutions in packaging, hoisting, lifts, material handling, textile, HVAC and pumping differentiate Schneider Electric from the competitors. We thrive to be OEMs preferred partner of choice by providing differentiated values in our machines.
Above all, Schneider Electric’s major focus is to provide energy efficiency in the machine solutions. We help customers make most of their energy.