We are aligned with global strategy of Fuji Electric for all major markets

September 1, 2021 7:33 pm

We are working towards a larger objective to enhance the capabilities of Indian manufacturing firms.

Tell us about the range of products and instruments that company enjoys and also which products command the major market share?

Fuji Electric is a Global energy & Automation solution provider, headquartered in Japan with a turnover of US 8.3 billion dollars in 2020. Since our inception in 1923, we have spread our operations to more than 100 countries globally. Today Fuji Electric has 121 sales offices across the world with 25+ Manufacturing Facilities worldwide to cater to the energy and automation requirements of its customers.

We have a wide and deep product portfolio with over 4 lakh products ranging from small Semiconductors to larger Power Plants to meet the needs of our customers, However, in India, we offer solutions for Power Backup, Engineered UPS, Power Quality, AC Drives, Solar & Energy Storage, Power Semiconductors, Electrical Distribution & Control, Motion Control, Instrumentation and Process Automation. With a long heritage of delivering innovative solutions for energy-saving and energy conservation, we at Fuji Electric India are committed to adding value for our customers through environmentally friendly products that maximize energy efficiency highlighting our Brand promise of Innovating Energy Technology. Being a leading provider of Energy and Automation solutions, we enjoy good market share in India for UPS, Power Quality, AC drives, Factory Automation, Instrumentation products and solutions.

What are the major industry verticals you are catering to concerning product and market turnover?

Our solutions for energy and automation are relevant across industries; however, we have a strong presence in the light engineering industry, auto, auto ancillaries and process industries like plastics, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and core industries like Cement, Power plants, Oil & Gas. We are also a leading supplier of UPS solutions to Healthcare, Commercial Buildings, Banking and Retails segments. In recent times, we have created good references in infrastructure projects like airports, metros, smart cities across India, and are now expanding in IT / ITes and Data centre segments.

What instruments are available for electrical distribution and industrial control, detailing their usage and market share?

Fuji Electric has strong expertise in electrical distribution and industrial control and we manufacture high-performance and advanced power distribution & control devices, such as Contactors, Overload Relays, Moulded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCB), MCB, Air Circuit breakers, Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers, Pushbuttons & Pilot lights, and Manual Motor staters for applications including factory automation, manufacturing applications, and building automation.

We maintain strict quality guidelines, which mean that our components will last longer in the equipment they are used in. This leads to a lower total cost of ownership for machine OEMs and less maintenance and repair when using Fuji Electric contactors, circuit breakers, and control switches.

Data centre space is rising to deal with voluminous data. In this respect the company recently launched the UPS system. What attributes does it command besides energy saving in comparison to other competitive systems in the market?

Data centre is a key target growth segment for Fuji Electric in India. India Data centre segment is expected to grow rapidly with the addition of over 100MW of IT Load every year over the next five years and this will drive the Data centre UPS business in India. Fuji Electric India will be launching the leading Fuji Electric Data centre UPS of Japan manufactured in India this year. This Data centre UPS is the most energy efficient UPS in the market and uses proprietary Fuji Electric IGBT to improve energy efficiency. This high energy efficiency allows Data centre operators to reduce their operating costs. In addition, the Fuji Electric Datacentre UPS is highly reliable with field proven reliability. Further, the UPS is designed to be easily serviceable with a low Mean Time to Repair (MTTR). This ensures high reliability & availability for the Data centre operator. Fuji Electric India also maintains local spare parts and has trained service engineers to provide support for the Data centre UPS in all major Data centre Metro locations across India. In addition to UPS, Fuji Electric also provides other solutions to Data centre customers like Power Distribution Units (PDUs) with in-built Branch circuit monitoring, active harmonic filters, energy efficient variable frequency drives for chillers, pumps and air handling units and thermal energy monitoring instruments.

What are your expansion plans or product innovations in the next three years?

We are aligned with the global strategy of Fuji Electric for all major markets which is to develop local capabilities and manpower resources ‘In country – For country’, our 2.0 roadmap for India is focused on enhancing our India manufacturing, R&D, and manpower capabilities ‘In India – for India’.

Currently, we are expanding our factory operations in both Chennai and Pune by adding over 100,000 sq. Ft. of additional

manufacturing space for increasing the production of UPS, AC Drives, and Instrumentation products in India. We also have enhanced our R&D manpower and capabilities for UPS, Solar, and Energy Storage Systems in Pune and AC Drives and Instruments in Chennai. Also, our key operations personnel are trained in our Japan factories to implement the Fuji Electric Quality System and Fuji Electric Production System in India.

With an aim to improve production efficiency, does the industry see 5.0 as one of the effective automations optimising processes?

We are working towards a larger objective to enhance the capabilities of Indian manufacturing firms and to make them self-sufficient (as part of Govt. initiative) with good quality and at a lower cost. We have been working on developing and deploying many of our technologies in our facilities such as a custom dashboard for real-time visualisation of quality, availability, energy, and other data required to optimally manage the factory and process.

Yet, on the other side of the spectrum, many of the industries in India have not fully deployed Automation and IoT to gain the benefits of Industry 5.0. This will remain our core focus area in the years to come. We aim to deploy an ecosystem that would help industries Increase automation, deploy IoT devices in facilities to share and exchange data, use data to improve productivity, optimise energy usage and achieve high-quality manufacturing.

What have been the latest innovations by the company in the automation segments?

Fuji Electric is in the process of fortifying the R&D capabilities in India to custom formulate automation solutions for the various Indian industries as part of a broader commitment to the Indian market. Identifying and addressing challenges faced by the customers in India is one of the key focus areas for Fuji Electric India. We specialise in leveraging our unique portfolio of Automation solutions powered by Japanese technology to offer cutting-edge and complete automation solutions that enable industries across diverse domains. Our robust portfolio is ably complemented by reliable service support. Across our Automation portfolio, we are launching products that are IoT enabled, more energy efficient and tailored to the application including for machine automation, factory automation and process automation.

What has been the Fuji Electric commitment in making the manufacturing industry safer?

Providing a safe, risk-free, and the convenient workplace has always been our priority, our Energy and Automation solutions are designed to eliminate the safety concern for manufacturers. In recent years, on-the-job injuries have been gradually falling, thanks to factory automation and robots taking over repetitive tasks and eliminating the need for employees to work in extremely hazardous environments. Our Products such as Drives, Motion Control solutions, PLCs, HMI, Electrical Distribution & controls products are designed to make manufacturing safe while improving efficiency.

Post pandemic, we are observing that manufacturers are counting more on automation when it comes to making hazardous workplaces safer. As the world braces itself for a future that’s been completely changed by the current crisis, the manufacturing industry’s reliance on automation will only run deeper, and it’s easy to see why.

How AI going to impact Automation in India?

The future of industries is automated manufacturing and assembly plants. Development in machine learning techniques, advances in sensors, and the growth of computing power has helped businesses improve quality and be cost-effective at the same time. We will gradually see increasing use of AI incorporated in automation solutions for industries to auto tune, learn and adapt to improve productivity, energy efficiency and safety of Indian Industries.