Automation applications: a key to increasing productivity  

December 1, 2021 2:35 pm

“To drive innovation and localise manufacturing, we are strengthening our innovation and R&D centres in India and Korea.”

What prospects do you envision about cable industry market in the pandemic unlock phase?

While India was already at the forefront of a digital revolution, the pandemic has provided a major boost to the use of technology across sectors, which also implies scope for growth in the cable industry. The usage of technology has increased exponentially- for both connectivity as well as communication.  From an enterprise perspective, digitalisation has paved the way for developments in remote access and monitoring of processes, enabling the use of various analytic tools for monitoring and prediction. 

With Industry 4.0, many organizations have embarked on their digital transformation journeys, which leads to an increase in the number of interconnected devices to the network. We will soon witness factories that are 100 percent internally as well as externally connected. Network traffic and data transfer is an integral part of both horizontal (between machines) and vertical directions (machine to MES & ERP). All these advancements provide great potential for the cable industry.

Could you brief us about journey to being Managing Director of Lapp India presently?

It has been a very exciting journey so far and it gives me great pride to be the Managing Director of LAPP India, the second largest company of LAPP outside of Germany. This past year was one of the most difficult times that the world has witnessed, and it was demanding both personally and professionally.  Maneuvering the company through the pandemic – made it a challenging time to take on this new role, but thanks to the advancements in technology, staying connected was easy and the LAPP India team was adept at evolving according to circumstances, making my journey a smooth one so far. India is a market that has huge growth potential. In the years to come, I am excited to witness the great opportunities that will open up for the Indian economy, especially for the wire & cable sector.

What product brands are available for expanding LAPP’s market share in India and what is LAPP’s overall market share?

LAPP India is a pioneer in power and control cables manufacturing in India. Our brand ÖLFLEX®is synonymous with power and control cables. We are also a market leader in cable and connection solutions for end-to-endindustrial products across industries- F&B, oil and gas, automation, machine tools and industrial communication to name a few. We also manufacture data cables,cables for special applications like robotics, servo cables, industrial connectors, glands, conduits and accessories,etc. We are a single source provider for industrial communication solutions, which is an industry that has been expanding widely in terms of applications. The rate of digitalisation across sectors has increased, demanding seamless network connectivity for smooth operations. 

Our ÖLFLEX® CONNECT offering was introduced as part of our journey from a component supplier to a developer of complex systems in order to meet customer requirements. With ÖLFLEX® CONNECT, our clients don’t need to invest in their own assembly systems, canreduce storage and operating costs as well as save valuable time that would have otherwise been wasted in co-ordinating with multiple suppliers.

What strategy do you have for enhancing organizational and operational efficiency relevant to business processes?

We pride ourselves on being a customer centric and innovation-oriented company, which involves deep diving into the nature of our customers’ business and their applications. We take constant efforts to ensure that we regularly engage with customers and continue to maintain them as part of our active Customer Life Cycle. In the recent years, we have been focusing our energies on digitalisation of company processes to ensure improved customer service. We give priority to integrating our supply chain with vendors and investing in the development of these supply chains to ensure timely delivery to the customers. Sustainability is also a core focus area for us, as a part of which we ensure Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) certification for all our products.

What strategic initiative do you have for developing Asia markets besides developed markets?

We design, manufacture and supply industrial cables and cable accessories in more than 152 countries globally. We have significant presence across Asia markets and a strategic partnership for marketing TOSIBOX® in the Asia Pacific region. With TOSIBOX®, we help customers build and manage secure OT networks within minutes while providing tested and audited security as well as globally patented point-to-point connection.

We have direct brand presence in Japan, Korea, Australia, China and India.But customer access to our products is not just limited to the countries where those products are available. To cater to the demands of different markets, we also export/import products that we manufacture in different countries as per customer requirements. We develop long-term and mutually beneficial cooperative relationships with our suppliers, customers and strategic partners. This allows us to have extended presence in countries and engage with more customers.

Asia is being built as a hub for manufacturing and supplying products to rest of the world. Our E-Beam cables are being manufactured in Korea, ÖLFLEX® CONNECT design and manufacturing is being carried out in Singapore and in India, we manufacture cables for Middle East and Africa customers. As part of the constant efforts to drive innovation and localise manufacturing, we are also working towards strengthening our innovation and R&D centres in India and Korea.

What are your views and approach to solutions for Industrial automation processes and networking technology catching up fast currently in India? 

With industrial automation processes and networking technology advancing at a rapid pace across sectors, we have a wide range of products and solutions that cater to the specific needs of different industries. We are constantly innovating to develop new products and design approaches that are systemic and sustainable to tackle challenges that are brought about by these technological advancements. We believe that professional advice is of utmost importance for which we have experts that guide our customers and assist them in the implementation of tailored solutions created for them. We also offer our customers helpful tools for construction and problem-solving, such as the Automation & Network Guide compiled with a special focus on automation technology. This catalogue serves as a quick guide to suitable cable and connection solutions for all automation tasks.

Could you enumerate, for industrial automation applications what demands are expected from cable industry?

Automation applications is key to increasing productivity-increasing output while shortening delivery time. With the development of the ‘Smart Factory” concept, cable and connection technology must adequately adapt to support fully automated and networked processes. Increasing productivity is crucial for all industries and with the rise in digitalisation of processes, there is a demand for more data to be transmitted through cabling and connection systems. Ethernet is the dominating system in this field, owing to its popularity in information technology applications.

Data is the lifeblood of the digital Industrial Revolution, due to which fast and reliable data transmission becomes critical. The speed with which data is transferred between devices thus becomes the backbone of Industrial Communication. Apart from reliability and durability, the constant challenge for industrial data network cables remains to guarantee high data rates – even in harsh industrial environments – as the cables are often forced to bend an infinite number of times and are exposed to corrosive materials and high temperatures.

What you have to say about robotic cables field as industrial automation requires more of robotic solutions?

Robotic solutions have become an integral part of industrial automation, and its market possesses a huge growth potential. These solutions have greatly aided automated manufacturing enabling scalability and standardisation in processes. Today, robots are seen working in partnership with employees in almost all sectors, especially in cases of tasks that are too dangerous or pose a health risk to humans. They can be employed for complex functions that involve repeating actions with the same exact precision. Robotic solutions demand versatile cable systems as each robot features different motion sequences. Robotic applications have limited space available, so the cables need to be flexible, bendable and rotational solutions. They need to have the highest levels of flexibility, durability and stability to enable millions of fast movements in harsh industrial environments. 

What are your expansion plans for innovative solutions in next three years?

One of the core values of our organisation is innovation – we are driven by innovation and focused on building products that bring greater value to our customers. We provide end-to-end solutions for seamless network connectivity and aim to focus on plug and play solutions under our brand ÖLFLEX® CONNECT. In the next few years, we also expect significant innovation in the automation and renewable energy sector, opening up avenues of opportunities for the wire and cable sector. EV is another sector which is at a nascent stage in India but is poised for exponential growth in the coming years where cables and connectivity will play a critical role.