BY MITALEE KURDEKAR WITH DIVERSE AUTOMATION & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS ON DISPLAY, ELECRAMA 2016 SAW A GREAT TURNOUT
THE POWER AND ENERGY SECTOR HAS BEEN witnessing a lot of activity recently, as was amply demonstrated at Elecrama 2016. The 12th edition was possibly the biggest of those held so far, with the organisers, Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), announcing that Indian manufacturers managed to rake in business orders of
around $400 million (a figure which was nearly doubled since last time) from international buyers at the trade show’s Reverse Buyer Seller Meet (RBSM).
All the major Indian electricals companies were well represented at the exhibition, which was held at BIEC in Bengaluru from February 13th-17th, 2016, and attracted more than 100,000 visitors, with 1,000+ exhibitors
including small and large scale manufacturers from the private sector as well as government sector players. Companies showcased their strengths, including latest inventions and technologies, while technical conferences and industry summits held alongside gave a sense of what was on the minds of top leaders.
At the inauguration, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, said that Elecrama would be “the front runner in mapping the growth of the Power Sector in the country”, underlining the importance of the event for this vital sector.
“Elecrama has evinced huge interest from across the globe. The government and various ministries have accorded their support, which emphasises the prime role that Elecrama plays in the electrical industry and reinforces the prominence of IEEMA as an association,” stated Babu Babel, president, IEEMA.
“ELECRAMA IS A FLAGSHIP EVENT FOR THE entire electronic industry. Everyone awaits it as we can showcase our products and become closer to the customer, see their needs, focus on those areas and correct ourselves when the opportunity arrives.
Between Elecrama 2014 and now, we have made very significant improvements. Traditionally, our major bottle neck was that we don’t have a manufacturing footprint in India, although we have many products. But importing these products and selling them here is very difficult. Realising this, the company has added to our facility in Pondicherry, and we have completely
in-sourced at least five new product lines,” says Syed Sajjadh Ali, managing director, electrical sector, India, Eaton Power Quality. Their booth at the trade show displayed these new products, which include the three-phase UPS, single phase UPS and significant power-based distribution products. “In that context, this event is very important to us, as we are also
launching a super product in the three phase product, which is also high in efficiency – 99% – and, I would say, one of the best in class,” he adds.
Omron Automation India, on the other hand, highlighted the importance of Internet of Things (IoT), which will help them develop smarter machines, based on the concept of ‘i 3’: ‘Integrated, Intelligent and Interactive, through Elecrama. “Our objective is quite simple; we’ve got to strengthen our position as an automation leader in the industry and that’s why
you can see all the latest products that we have, in the booth. We have sensors, PLCs, safety solutions, the vision system and robots on display. So we are basically telling customers that we are here to offer them a one-stop solution,” said Sameer Gandhi, MD, Omron Automation India. He added that robotics would definitely be a game changer for his company. It is
no wonder then that the star attraction at their booth was, of course, FORPHEUS – the Table Tennis Robot. The robot was designed along the lines of Omron’s core technology of ‘Sensing & Control + Think’, and is a practical manifestation of the concept of ‘harmony between humans and machines’.
One of the busiest booths at the event belonged to Schneider Electric. The energy management giant had displayed varied solutions and products from different business units, with continuous launches, presentations and demonstrations throughout the duration of the event. Sonali Kaushik, VP, industry BU & global solutions, stated, “So our major theme this time is the
industrial Internet of Things (IoT). And we all know it is not a buzz word anymore, it’s a reality. And Schneider has been working on it for some time, by building the technology to make everybody smart in the first phase, thereafter finding ways to connect those smart people like smart components, smart machines etc., and finally figuring out how to gather that amount of data and advance it to give it back to the customers. So we are evolving from the plant automation to enterprise. That is the whole purpose of the exhibition/ demonstration for us.” She also stressed that India has been and continues to be a big market for Schneider, in terms of smart manufacturing and automation. Commenting on the mid-level segment,
she said that just having medium products was not going to be enough; channel partners were a must in the upcoming Tier II and III cities.
Speaking of upcoming avenues, Anchor Electricals is closely watching the requirements and execution of smart cities and identifying areas where it can contribute. They used Elecrama as a platform to showcase their strengths. “We are highlighting our entire range of wiring devices, state-of-the-art Domina Plus Home Automation from Ave, Italy, and the new range
in wires & cables of Advance EFFR. Additionally, we are showcasing new products from Panasonic LED for industrial and landscape segments and commercial LEDs. We are displaying Panasonic ERV solutions, basing their premium on improving indoor air quality of Indian premises, and may look at expanding ourselves in this business in the near future,” proclaimed
Ashok Gangar, director, sales & marketing, Anchor Electricals.
Honeywell India too exhibited their range of smart technologies, which aim at delivering ‘connected’ energy efficiency, safety and security solutions spanning residential, commercial, and industrial spaces. These products are said to offer enhanced productivity and performance for homes, offices, and industrial facilities – riding on the backbone of IT and mobile
connectivity. For instance, Honeywell’s connected industrial technology focuses on improving workforce skills and personal safety, enabling industrial workers to function in a safe and secure environment, while targeting a high level of productivity and performance. The product range comprises connected self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), gas detectors,
bio harness, and protective gloves for worker safety along with voice solutions, mobile computer, and mobile printing to enhance productivity.
THERE WERE TONS OF NEW AND IMPROVED versions of products, across the board. Schneider Electric had created a ‘smart home’ mock up for demonstrating to customers. “We have created a commercial wall to try and show a few new things,
which is something that maybe new in the industry and also something that we wanted to use to showcase our capabilities as an organisation,” stated B Thanik, director, strategy & business development,eco buildings, Schneider Electric India. Their solutions will benefit the customer from an operational efficiency point of view.
Eaton benefitted from its decision to localise products for the Indian market. “We have been very focused on our target customers and, for the past few days, our teams have been inviting customers, who have shown a lot of interest in certain products that we had before, but have now been localised,” emphasised Nitin Chalke, MD, India, Eaton Technologies.
After becoming a master distributer for German test and measurement equipment maker, Erfi, last May, Messung Automation put up a stall displaying products in that segment, alongside its building automation range with the Canadian firm Distech Controls. “We are launching both our range with Distech Controls as well as with Erfi at this exhibition. Elecrama is
one of the strongest exhibitions. You get a lot of good visitors like chief engineers of the railways and so on, who scout around with their teams. For example, because of the smart city campaign, all the corporations are moving around, and even though I am from Pune, I had the Pune Municipal Corporation team visit me here, at Elecrama,” pointed out Farook Merchant,
chairman & MD, Messung Group.
Havells showcased their recently launched home automation and controls systems. “We’ve come back to Elecrama after about 10 years. We felt that now was the right time, with opportunities building up, and moreover, with our brand being already established and having a customer recall in the B2C domain. In B2B, we are making good strides in the last two years, be it lighting, the cables industry or the switchgear industry. This is a good opportunity to showcase what we have been developing over these years in the B2B product domain and has still not being visible to the outside world. This was the key driver for
participating in Elecrama 2016,” admitted Sandeep Khurana, deputy VP, lighting, Havells India. The event has been good, he said, adding that they have had a good amount of footfalls, especially on the lighting side, with the focus being on Solar and LED.
BUT NOT EVERYONE FEELS THE SAME WAY. Gopal Kabra, MD, RR Kabel, put forth his honest assessment of the event, when he said, “The footfall has been strictly okay, because I believe that Bengaluru is not the right place for this event. In Bengaluru, the quality of visitors is lacking. The city is not internationally connected and, as a global company, we would like to have international visitors as well. Mainly the committee is focused on customers of ETB suppliers,
but most exhibitors are non-ETB suppliers. So the focus of Elecrama is not in the right direction. I feel that Elecrama should go back to Mumbai, but since we are in the top 10 electrical companies in India, we have to be there.”
There were many others who agreed that Bengaluru was the wrong choice of venue, as most electrical-related companies are based closer to Mumbai and Delhi. Vinod Masson, director, strategy, Transformers & Rectifiers (India), opined that although initially Elecrama started in force, it has lost the plot over the years. “Once in two years is probably becoming too
quick. Secondly, earlier it was in Mumbai, and now it is in Bengaluru, which does not attract the kind of customers we want for our products. Bengaluru is traditionally an IT hub, not a manufacturing hub,” he said.
Kailash Didwania, president, GreatWhite Global, agreed, saying that besides location, space was an issue too, as they had to put up their stall in a makeshift, fabricated hall. Yet, he also pointed out that overall, it was better than the previous edition. “Elecrama is even bigger this time. They have invited delegates from Germany, China, the Middle East, Africa and Nepal. Usually it is only the domestic customers, but this time we have received a lot of export enquiries, and
that is why Elecrama has been very good for us.”
As Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways, Government of India, rightly put it, “Elecrama has been one of the major events in this segment. I have seen the growth of Elecrama in these years and I am sure
that in the year 2030 it will become much bigger than expected.”