Markets will only grow going forward

Shandar Alam,
Managing Director,
Eaton India.[/vc_column_text][ultimate_spacer height=”10″] What is Eaton doing in terms of innovation and development in India?

At Eaton, innovation is the foundation for economic prosperity and technological advancement. Globally, we have six innovation centres with 10,000 plus engineers only doing innovation and technology.  We are a $21.6 billion company, with 101,000 employees, and doing business in almost 175 countries. So, India forms a very strategic part of our overall Eaton global business. Over a period of time in India, we have really expanded our footprint in India multiple fold. We have a eight  manufacturing plants in India. Out of that one we recently inaugurated in November for aerospace. We have one large innovation centres with 1900 plus engineers in India, which is a big differentiator as far as this industry is concerned. In addition to that, we have a professional shared services. There we have a shared services with HR finance IT, supply chain sales and marketing. So, totally in India, we are 5,500 plus employees, and all the business verticals now has their presence and the manufacturing footprint. Hydraulics, vehicle business, electrical business and now aerospace  We are not here to play short term but it is our long term aspiration as far as this country is concerned. All our strategic actions are keeping our long term view for the whole industry.[/vc_column_text] Given the global and domestic slowdown in the construction equipment sector, how do you expect the market going ahead?

We expect that the market is going to only grow going forward. There can be a temporary challenges here and there, but we don’t get too much concerned about it, because we are not focusing on one particular centre. Our presence are in multiple segments, we work in construction, mining, agriculture, stationary platforms like power, steel, material handling. So we are a diversified company. And our vision is to improve the quality of life and environment through our power management technology services and solution. So we are a power management company. We help our customers manage power more efficiently, sustainably, safely and reliably. We help them manage power, mechanical power, hydraulic power, electrical power with that is what is our objective. With large innovation centres and the manufacturing footprint that we have, we are continuously looking at innovating new products and new technology to help customers build smarter machines, more productive machines more efficient machines. And the focus is primarily around three areas when we are developing a product — Safety and reliability, energy efficiency, Intelligent and Connected and at the same time be compact and light.[/vc_column_text] Which are the equipment that help you provide these solutions and were launched during Excon?

Eaton’s commitment to development of Robust, Reliable and Efficient machines will be the highlight at EXCON 2019. We are introducing four new Hydraulics products for the Indian Market – X70 closed circuit piston and plug in motor, Steering unit 5SQ, Eaton Spiral hose EC640 and Cast Iron piston motor 743XX. These new products introduced provide customers and end users with Robust, Reliable and Efficient power management for applications that demand higher pressure and operate under arduous conditions. As the hydraulics industry adapts to ever changing product and machine designs, Eaton continues to develop innovative ideas and introducing newer ways to our customers be more productive and efficient. Eaton’s X70 closed circuit piston and plug in motor, Steering unit 5SQ, Eaton Spiral hose EC640 and Cast Iron piston motor 743XX not only meet the emerging industry demands but also deliver progressive design solutions to address high pressure jobs and tough condition requirements at ease. Distinctly advanced in terms of performance, functionalities and capabilities, these new products are designed to address the emerging technology needs of a range of applications in industries such as Construction, Agriculture, Mining and others.

Along with 4 newly introduced products, this year, Eaton’s technology showcase includes a diverse range of products for construction segment, which includes all piston product portfolios, the various electro-hydraulic products such as the HFX range of electronic controllers and VFX display, along with state of the art CMA valves. In addition to our wide range of hydraulic products for backhoe loaders, skid steer loaders, compactors, scrapers, dozers, concrete mixers, boom pumps, wheel loaders, commercial vehicles, cranes, mining equipment, we will also showcase our solutions for excavator application, which include the main pump, swing motors, track drive motors as well as hydraulic remote controls. In addition, Eaton is also showcasing Robust, Reliable and Efficient power quality and power distribution products for varied industry segments.[/vc_column_text] How the Excon event has been till now compared to peers in terms of sales?

Unlike the OEM equipment manufacturers who book sales, we typically promote the products. So, there’s a lot of excitement about the new product that we have launched here at Excon. And there are multiple products that are there on the booth. We saw some footfalls coming In, we see a lot of engagement outside in the booth, the people really engaged on all the new innovative products that we are talking about. So, we are very bullish about all these products in the market. In the long run we believe that the long term India growth story is intact. We believe that the infrastructure development in this country is going to happen. So, we are pretty well poised to capture and engage with the OEMs to really capture the growth that India has to offer in the long term.

Which are the segments you are present and which are doing well?

We have got multiple segments such as electrical, aerospace, vehicle business, and hydraulics. In hydraulics, the construction and the infrastructure were not doing great in 2018. I would not say doing bad but not doing great, as expected at the beginning of the year. But for Eaton, we did pretty well in the other segments of like agriculture in the harvesting because a lot of mechanisation is happening on the agriculture side. Earlier it was only tractors. But you see a lot of harvesters coming in to Eaton.            

So we are a very big player on any of these systemic technology machines that comes in. Eaton, globally has hundred plus years of experience. And the knowledge that we bring, leveraging the global footprint really helps us to give the innovative, futuristic solutions to the customers. So we engage with the customers very early and all the new technology machine that you see coming in, you will see Eaton engaging with them.[/vc_column_text] This downturn is not just a India phenomenon, a lot of things are basically motivated by how China is doing. So, in that light, how soon you see the recovery happening?

As I said some segment might get impacted some may not I won’t say that the entire segment will not do well. And we being a diversified company as I said, , this is a short term challenges. But if you see our manufacturing and engineering centre, you will see we are very flexible and adaptable to the variability that we see in the demand. So we respond faster to the market changes and market challenges. Being in the industry for 100 plus years, we have seen many such type of upswing and downturns. So, we don’t get much bothered about the immediate short term challenges. There can be some volume swings, but we continue to invest in our capability, we continue to expand our businesses in India. Recently, we inaugurated a new plant in November for our Aerospace business in Bangalore.           

My reason for asking that question was like what can be the factors or things that will motivate or drive change?

So, here at Excon, govt has already talked about massive investment plans for infrastructure. There can be a lot of global things but for India you need to have a local consumptions to grow the domestic demand. So, if the investments and the constructions are going to happen as per the plan, then I don’t see any reason why we don’t see that growth value that he talked about.  When the infrastructure development happens then the growth is there to come. Now, when it comes tomorrow or three months later, that can be a question which is in everyone’s mind. But we don’t have an opinion on that. We are very focused around what we want to do for this market.           

What is the total investment you are doing in India.

I will not be able to throw the exact investment in terms of dollars we have done. what I can only say, since we came into India in 1999 timeframe and if you look at the growth that we have done in the last couple of years it is expanding. So, as we continue to expand in India, we continue to invest in capability building and we continue to expand our manufacturing footprint. India is a very, very important strategic part of our APAC region and a
global footprint. So our senior leadership group is committed to this country because we see a very high potential.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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