Industrial automation shift in to high gear

August 13, 2016 2:28 pm

Traditional Indian entrepreneurs are also demanding increased levels of automation including in the sugar industry, wood processing plants and building infrastructure segments etc.
The Indian situation with respect to the need for automation technology is ever growing due to the factors of continuous need for improvements in energy efficiency, productivity, safety, sustainability and last but not the least the demand for technology advancements. Ashish Manchanda, Managing Director, Finder India Pvt Ltd observes that innovation in information technology, increase in disposable income, rise in demand due to rise in population, increased labour costs and demand for more utility-based products and services among the society are some of the factors expected to drive the industrial automation growth in the future.
Process and factory automation expected to grow The two broad fields of automation industry are process automation and factory automation and both these segments have a continuous growth records as well as expected trends of growth. The automation technology stakeholders in both these segments are looking for solutions that can address the important concerns of bridging the gaps at the plant’s operation level as well as the MIS level, work out strategies for achieving relatively shorter ROIs and gain a competitive edge by seeking sustainable, expandable, non-proprietary automation solutions that are simpler to adopt and maintainable for long-term. A lot of such practices in the Indian industries come from the European and the US-based technology trends. However, it is now being seen that the traditional Indian entrepreneurs are also demanding increased levels of automation including in the sugar industry, wood processing plants and building infrastructure segments etc.

Fimder’s market positionWith the wide variety of products and solutions that Finder offers in the varied Indian industry segments, it is a challenge to ascertain the generic market share and the position. The company makes more than 12,500 different types of products that includes a huge range of relays and timers, energy saving devices, SMPS power supplies, power protection and monitoring devices, thermo-regulation solutions, innovative wiring interface solutions for electrical and automation needs etc. These products help the industry consultants, automation system manufacturers, machine builders, system integrators, control panel manufacturers, automation distributors and industrial end users among the various factory automation and process automation segments. The product range finds itself on a good position where the industry application needs higher reliability and longer electrical life i.e. power plants, oil and gas domain, wind energy, photovoltaic, automotive and robotics, material handling, cement and metallurgy etc.
Major offerings Ever since Finder India was established 3 years ago, it has striven intensively for taking continuous feedback from all the stakeholders in the Indian automation industry segments. It feels somewhat satisfied that based on the Indian automation technology users,  it has always come up with innovations that have the capability to not only meet the typical demands of the Indian conditions but also provide a futuristic solutions that offers the long term reliability among the much needed automation components’ domain. For example – its relays have been uniquely designed to provide much higher electrical life at temperatures upto 85 C which is a cut above. Also, the special protection, pre-alarm and diagnostic features in SMPS Power Supplies and Ultra Slim relays for automation panels have been welcomed by the Indian industry users in a very positive  manner.
New products The newest products introduced by Finder have been aimed at bridging the gaps or covering the blind spots in the existing technology prevailing in the market as well as focused on the futuristic trends of the “Smart Automation”. The latest innovations are the new generation of interposing relays for digital input and digital output interface for PLC or DCS applications. The digital output relays are now with a feature of pluggable fuse module with fuse blown indication. Also the contact multiplication relays with the modular protection concepts of EMI filters, surge suppressors, fuse, freewheeling diodes, polarity protection etc along with a reliable base or socket has been launched that do not need additional terminal blocks. Also the company is increasing its basket of solutions related to thermo-regulation solutions for the control cabinets by introducing industrial grade thermostats, fans with long life filters and space heaters in touch proof design for added safety. New “smart” range of energy saving products and timers from Finder now is able to provide users the ease and flexibility of programming such devices via Android phones. Moreover in the coming future the ‘Cloud’ will allow the users to rope in the benefit of transfer the desired program from the design board to the industry site directly.