Honeywell Automation India Limited, a supplier of industrial process solutions technology, has extended credit lines for customers and is also localising products for the Indian market.

Ashish Gaikwad, Managing Director, Honeywell Automation India told BusinessLine that with the lockdown due to Covid-19, there is some stress in terms of payments receivables from clients. This has prompted the company to make some changes. “We are building flexibility in payments. Earlier we used to have a credit line of 30 days, now that has gone up to 45-60 days,” he said.

This increase in credit lines is one of the measures that Honeywell Automation India is taking in an effort to ensure business continuity, considering the after effects of the pandemic.

Honeywell Automation India has also tailored its software solutions for the Indian market requirements. The company deploys technology that is used by petrochemicals, refineries, power and other sectors, which have large running plants. “These are around longer lifespan of the solution and implementation,” said Gaikwad.

In July, Cairn Oil & Gas Vedanta deployed Honeywell Forge enterprise performance management software to improve decision-making, boost productivity, enhance efficiency and reduce manual paperwork. In India, Honeywell does not directly sell to MSMEs and instead uses the distributor network.

Some of these solutions, which are implemented in the US are Do It Yourself (DIY). Also, customers in the US don’t particularly look at solutions beyond six years.

In India, companies in these sectors have been beset by slower offtake in their business. Refiners such as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) have publicly said that Covid-19 has impacted the entire fourth quarter of 2019-20 fiscal.

National refinery BPCL has trimmed FY21 capital expenditure plans by around 50 per cent to ₹8,000 crore, as the company was unable to find the skilled manpower to complete two of our critical projects.

Remote application of solutions

Prior to Covid-19, engineers would go to these plants, study the work process-related requirements (which vary in every company), security needs and then do on-site implementation. “With the lockdown and the subsequent restrictions placed on people movement, we decided to remotely implement these solutions,” said Gaikwad.

To put it in context, software implementation of this kind involves complex workflows, large amounts of data crunching and is unlike the work done by IT companies. potential. Digitalisation of our operations has helped us in business continuity and maintaining optimum levels of production during the ongoing pandemic,” said Anand Laxshmivarahan R, Chief Digital Officer, Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta.

Analysts are bullish about Honeywell Automation India’s prospects going forward. According to YES Securities, based on its ongoing product portfolio upgradation, focus on software industrial business model, faster adoption of automated solutions by domestic market post Covid-19 episode and relentless execution on cost control, the company’s prospects look strong going forward.

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