7 minute read
Hiroyuki Aota, President & CEO, Global Panasonic Smart Factory Solutions, Panasonic
Cover Feature | PANASONIC
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Panasonic, among the world’s oldest electronics brand, and a diversified technology company, has integrated its welding business and SMT (Surface Mount Technology) equipment business to consolidate its software and hardware capabilities and become an end-to-end integrated Smart Manufacturing Solutions company. The smart factory solutions proposition will enable Panasonic to deliver broader, high value-added, smart solutions and services along with worldclass hardware to the manufacturing industry. The company targets to achieve Rs 1000 Cr in revenue from its smart factory business in India in the next three years, with solutions and digital manufacturing expected to contribute 15% to the total smart factory business revenue.
The company aims to build India as its innovation hub for the globe, and create a strong ecosystem of component and automated manufacturing in the country. It recently announced its plans to ramp up its smart factory solutions business in India. Hiroyuki Aota - President & CEO, Global Panasonic Smart Factory Solutions, Panasonic interacted with DMI on a host of significant topics. Presenting, excerpts from the interview.
Can you share with us the vision and the strategy behind Panasonic’s decision to integrate its welding business and SMT equipment business into the company’s Smart Manufacturing Solutions set of offerings? Is it a global or an Indian initiative? As a brand, we are extensively focusing on delivering complete solutions to our customers and we are pushing this aggressively across all our businesses. We have integrated our welding business and SMT (Surface Mount Technology) equipment business recently to consolidate our software and hardware capabilities and become an end-to-end integrated Smart Manufacturing Solutions company. Solutions under our smart factory business will enable us to deliver broader, high value-added, smart solutions and services along with world-class hardware to the manufacturing industry. We are extremely committed to build an automated manufacturing and component ecosystem in the country and further propel innovation and smart manufacturing in India.
This is a global initiative, as we want to be able to provide these solutions across the globe and help our customers build digital factories.
Along with welding and SMT solutions, Panasonic offers advanced solutions such as ILNB, automated process tracker, digital reporting system and more, as part of its smart factory solutions. How can the Indian customers, looking to avail of Panasonic’s smart factory solutions, take advantage of not only the solutions on offer, but also of Panasonic’s rich legacy of over 100 years of technology innovation and leadership?
India is at the helm of digital transformation and with our rich heritage of providing cutting edge technology solutions, we believe we have a huge opportunity in the country. We are now focused on becoming a complete end-toend solutions provider and this will help our customers take advantage of not only our leading smart factory solutions, but our technology prowess across categories and industries.
Panasonic offers Smart Factory Solutions to manufacturers globally, with dedicated teams present in major economies such as the US and China. Can you share with us some examples or success stories of how Panasonic’s smart manufacturing solutions have helped companies –big and small – in these countries improve productivity, find savings, and accelerate growth?
One of the primary challenges for any manufacturer is to identify bottlenecks in the increasingly complicated manufacturing process, which results into significant business losses. This is where our smart factory solutions can help. Our solutions will not only help manufacturers identify these bottlenecks, but also be able to collect manufacturing and assembly-related data and provide feedback to customers in an automated manner.
For example, through iLNB, all equipment set up in a production line can be controlled by one system. Information collection, display of information such as machine production data or machine condition can be seen on a remote control centre. The solution can communicate with the entire line of machinery and can automate up to 70-80% of manual processes, thereby improving productivity.
Our solutions can be used in multiple applications across sectors such as 2& 4 wheelers, Mobile, Smart Meters and Energy Meters from Smart Cities and appliances and there are multiple success stories across the globe to validate the samey.
Key Highlight: The solution can communicate with the entire line of machinery and can automate up to 70-80% of manual processes, thereby improving productivity.
Cover Feature | PANASONIC
Key Highlight: Government of India’s Make in India program has not only given an impetus to domestic players, but also attracted a lot of foreign investments. that explain the optimism? Have you also factored in growth drivers like the Indian govt’s Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) that seeks to boost domestic electronics and appliances manufacturing, and India’s fast-growing consumption and demand for consumer electronics products? India’s manufacturing industry has witnessed significant growth owing to multiple government policies and overall push to boost manufacturing in the country. Government of India’s Make in India program has not only given an impetus to domestic players, but also attracted a lot of foreign investments. India today stands at a global platform as a hub for manufacturing and this will only grow from here onwards.
GoI’s Phased Manufacturing Programme and other related initiatives have also provided a huge opportunity in mobile manufacturing and the ICT manufacturing industry at large. Similarly, the automotive industry today is adopting technology at a rapid pace, giving rise to increased sale of sensors and electronics. This growth brings immense opportunity for us and we want to aggressively tap into this opportunity. Hence, we are very positive about the 1000 CR target in revenue that we have set in the next three years.
India’s SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) constitute a large part of the electrons and appliances manufacturing ecosystem. Also, India’s SMEs are much smaller in size compared by global standards. How do you propose to increase the adoption rate of smart factory solutions in SMEs considering the high cost of these solutions?
SMEs in the country have been growing at a steady pace and with the rapid adoption of technology, SMEs today are surely central to the electronics and appliance manufacturing ecosystem. However, saying that, SMEs in the manufacturing sector have been comparatively slower in adopting digital technologies compared to larger companies and this has primarily been due to lack of end to end digital factory solutions.
Panasonic’s smart factory solutions will give a huge impetus to the SME sector in India as manufacturers can have a clear transparent view into the processes and bottlenecks now. From a cost point of view, such solutions are deployed for a long period of time and the total cost of ownership vis-à-vis the return on investment is what SMEs should look at rather than the upfront cost. Overall, our solutions will help Indian manufacturers reduce downtime significantly, increase factory efficiency and productivity, resulting into business profitability.
Say, there is an Indian electronics devices small enterprise (SE) of the size of Rs 50 crore (USD 7 million) in annual turnover that wants to upgrade its manufacturing facility by deploying Panasonic’s Smart Factory Solutions; can the enterprise approach Panasonic India’s team to understand and avail of the right solutions for its needs? Do you have an advice and support mechanism in place that could guide and help a small enterprise? If yes, could you share with us the right process for the same?
We are looking to establish technical centres across the country, which will be used as a strategic base for customers to learn skills that are required to build a digital factoryand also for enterprises to understand and avail the right solutions. Apart from this, we arealso planning to establish experience centres across the country, which will be used as a strategic base for customers in order to learn and improvise their skills that are required for building a digital factory and for enterprises to understand and avail the right solutions.
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