Technology firm Panasonic on Wednesday said that it has integrated its welding solutions and surface mount technology (SMT) machine business into a single division that will be known as Smart Factory Solutions.
The company told BusinessLine that it is targeting a revenue of ₹1,000 crore in India from the Smart Factory Solutions in three years, which can make up 7-7.5 per cent of its total India revenue.
This integration will enable Panasonic to provide end-to-end solutions to its customers seamlessly.
“In the year gone past, we have grown our SMT machine business more than four times. The need for these kind of machines will continue to expand,” said Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India.
Automated feedback
Sharma added that the company aims to provide a “key account management oriented approach” for its customers.
This will include a software that will collect manufacturing and assembly-related data and provide feedback to customers in an automated manner.
While Panasonic has been manufacturing welding machines in India since December 2012, Sharma said that going forward, SMT peripherals could also be manufactured here.
“This will have a specific timeline. With our SMT machines, there are a lot of peripherals. We may look at manufacturing those peripherals in the next three years. However, it purely depends on economics of scale for us to consider higher level manufacturing,” he said.
According to Sharma, India about to rapidly expand its manufacturing economy presents a opportunity. While Panasonic did not elaborate on how much it plans to invest in its smart factory solutions’ business, Sharma said that there are three broad areas of investment.
“We are going to open the first technical centre in Manesar, Gurgaon, and this will be operational in seven to ten months from now,” he said. This technical centre will aim to impart skills required to operate a digital factory to Panasonic’s customers.
The second investment area will be initiating accessories and peripherals’ assembly in the country and the third will be creating a repository of relevant know-hows for India and generating a human resource pool to understand the need of Indian manufacturers.
Improving productivity
Sharma said that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are interested in how Panasonic can help them improve productivity and efficiency.
“In areas which are highly labour intensive, lot of opportunities for automation can happen and essentially, SMT machines help do that,” said Sharma.