The technology is massively evolving and transforming the nature of the industrial and manufacturing operations. Indeed, industries are no longer dependent entirely on a human workforce for simple or complex tasks. With digitalization and IoT, industrial automation is having a competitive advantage in today’s industrial landscape. Industrial automation is helping businesses to enhance their productivity with profitability. B&R Industrial Automation Pvt. Ltd is one such a global leader in industrial automation, providing complete end-to-end solutions for machine automation, factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology.
The excerpt below showcases Jhankar Dutta’s experience as the Managing Director of the company. Let’s hear it from him more about what it takes to build a thriving business, to learn more about B&R Industrial Automation and what it offers, along with some insights about the current status quo of industrial automation in India.
Can you tell us about your inception story of the company, its progress throughout the years and its vision for the future?
Recognizing the strategic importance of the Indian market, B&R Industrial Automation Pvt. Ltd., opened its India office in the year 1998. Headquartered in Austria and having presence all over the world, B&R became a member of the ABB group in July 2017. B&R India has its headquarters in Pune, Maharashtra, in a premise of 16,000 sq. ft. with a logistics and service center in Chakan. Currently, we are extending our comprehensive application and support all across the country from our regional offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Coimbatore, and Chennai. Looking at the current trends of implementing Industrial IoT and smart factories, the discussions are always focused on technologies, electronics, hardware, software, sensors, network connectivity and much more. For handling and implementing new technologies, skilling is essential. Along with solutions, B&R also focuses on specific industry training where customers obtain skills to evaluate new technologies effectively enabling them to keep pace with current trends. Our training provides in-depth knowledge to our customers as well as our own employees where attendees develop essential skills they need in the shortest time. We are an innovative company helping us become technology leaders. We are proud that market leaders from various industries place their trust in our automation and digitization solutions.
Brief us about the key personality (Founder/CEO).
P V Sivaram, the Managing Director, established B&R in India. He took over the responsibility of Non-Executive Chairman of B&R India in the year 2018 when Jhankar Dutta, the Managing Director succeeded him as Managing Director for India operations. In July 2017, B&R became a member of the ABB group.
Brief us about your products and services that make your company stand ahead in the Indian automation industry.
As a global leader in industrial automation, B&R combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers in virtually every industry with complete solutions for machine automation, factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology. With Industrial IoT communication, open standards such as OPC UA, POWERLINK, openSAFETY and powerful Automation Studio software development environment, B&R is constantly redefining the future of automation engineering. By pairing our innovative products, software and solutions for modern machine and factory automation with ABB’s world-leading offering in robotics, process automation, digitalization, and electrification, we have expanded our position in industrial automation and are uniquely positioned to seize growth opportunities resulting from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Share with us the accomplishments and achievements of the company.
We are proud of the fact that we are not just automation vendors for our machine-building customers but act as partners helping them in every stage of the machine development process. This has helped us to become preferred automation suppliers for market leaders in all industries. Our customers have consistently awarded us with accolades for enabling them to cement their position as market leaders.
Our customers have been working with us for years or even decades, which shows our strengths in enduring partnerships. Our high-performance products, expertise, quality, efficient after-sales service, and support have enabled us to keep our customers happy and not only use but also recommend our products to the market.
How does your product help clients improve productivity and efficiency?
Today’s manufacturing industry requires high-performance automation and digitization solution enabling improve productivity, overall efficiency and thus profitability. At B&R, we provide complete solutions for the automation industry and we excel in this because our product range includes everything needed for machine and factory automation. We have also realized that only a product with higher features is not sufficient. Expertise and industry knowledge makes the solution robust acting as a single source for all automation needs. That is why we focus on experts, who help our customers to select and implement new products, technologies, and all features. The future of automation lies in the software. Our Automation Studio, the single powerful programming tool provides an extensive simulation environment together with excellent integration with Maplesim, Matlab & E-PLAN software. All our products work together seamlessly and are precisely synchronized. Our mapp Technology is one such innovation in recent times, which enhances software functionality and reduces development effort by 67%. All B&R controllers are capable of handling robot programming, eliminating the need for a separate robot controller, thus reducing costs. mapp Robotics has opened up new dimensions of robotics integration for machinery and production lines. With uniform programming for every component inline – including robotics – our customers around the world gain full benefit of holistic approaches to operation, diagnostics, and maintenance. B&R with its innovations, products, and technologies is an ideal partner for achieving a cost-effective, high performance, productivity, efficiency, and flexibility.
As an industry expert, what is your opinion on the future of Automation? What are the possibilities we can expect?
The digital revolution is rapidly changing our manufacturing industry, society and economy in many ways. New advanced technologies are already generating value with various personalized products, smart manufacturing processes, services, and lifestyles. Advanced automation has gained momentum in India in consumer as well as industrial sectors such as automated shop floors, smart buildings and vehicles, automated grocery stores, smart homes and intelligent connected vehicles.
Home automation is no longer new with the new buildings having such features as basic amenities. Similarly, factories and plants have automation, robotics, and digitization as a core in their operations. Today, factories look at connecting to their plants and factories from anywhere around the world and need data at their fingertips. Therefore, automation and other technologies are the future and there is no denying to that. Advanced automation will further throw up endless possibilities in industrial manufacturing areas. In addition, the rate at which technology is evolving has drastically changed. Thus, in the near future, we could expect AI / ML / VR becoming regularly used and enhanced technologies making a way in the market.
What is your advice to the budding entrepreneurs who are trying to embark in the same field?
Persistence is the key. There are always challenges, which help one learn and grow. However, giving up is not an option in order to become successful. Entrepreneurship definitely looks good from afar but the amount of challenges on various fronts are unimaginable. Once one takes this road it is essential to not look back and keep moving forward. It is important to make mistakes but even more important to learn from them and be able to take responsibility for them.
Where do you see your company in the near future?
B&R is a technology leader with a huge focus on innovations. We have always kept our customers at the core, which has enabled us to grow. We continue to lead the market with innovations and work for our customers, enabling them to achieve success. We have preferred automation partners for many machine builders and factories and we expect to further cement our position in all markets.
