Industrial Automation Magazine India

India continues to be an important growth market for Emerson

Published on : Monday 01-02-2021

Anil Bhatia, Vice President and Managing Director, Emerson Automation Solutions – India.
 

Emerson has a large footprint in India. What are the products manufactured as well as activities of the various engineering centres?   
For decades, Emerson has been providing industries in India with highly-engineered automation technology products and solutions that efficiently solve some of their biggest challenges. We have multiple manufacturing facilities, engineering and innovation centres in India. All our manufacturing facilities and engineering centres serve the needs of our customers in India and around the world. 
 
Today nearly 70% of Emerson products for India are made in India. Our product and services portfolio in India includes: 
i. Highly reliable and accurate measurement and analytical technologies designed to achieve process clarity and insightful automation of systems, software and machines and provide decision integrity for safe and high-performance production.
ii. Highly reliable final control technologies to help users control, regulate, and isolate their processes with certainty.
iii. Flow control and pneumatic solutions that enable processes to operate more reliably and for machines to run more efficiently.
iv. Precision joining, welding and ultrasonic cleaning technologies designed for perfect joins, reliable welds, and immaculately clean parts. 
 
A scalable and secure digital transformation portfolio of technologies, software, and services that provide relevant personnel with enhanced insight to enable actions that drive operational excellence.  
 
What is the significance of the recently inaugurated Emerson Integrated Manufacturing Centre near Pune?  
The Emerson Integrated Manufacturing Centre (EIMC) in Talegaon, near Pune, is one of our largest projects in India to date. It will optimise capacity and efficiency for our customers in India and around the world. It is a strategic investment that aligns with the government’s initiatives such as Make in India and Magnetic Maharashtra and that support local resources and talent for the growth of India’s industrial ecosystem. Developed in collaboration with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Invest India, the 800,000 square-foot campus will feature multiple manufacturing sites within a single facility. In Phase 1 of the expansion, over 450,000 sq.ft of manufacturing and engineering capacity currently spread across multiple sites will be integrated at this one location. With the addition of the Pune facility, Emerson will not only strengthen its global automation manufacturing capabilities and improve its network in the region, but also foster high tech workforce development and operational excellence that will drive our ongoing commitment to exceptional customer service and future growth.  
 
The timelines of the EIMC project are impressive indeed. What has been the experience of working with Invest India as well as Maharashtra government agencies?  
Thanks to the sincere efforts and strategic support from Invest India, the MIDC and various local government agencies under the Directorate of Industries, Emerson has been able to meet all milestones in the project’s completion so far. With our facility being the first one in Talegaon Phase 2, I am sure it will help authorities to increase focus on the infrastructure in the corridor. We are confident that EIMC is poised to become a success story for the state’s industrial corridor and will be a magnet in bringing other manufacturers to this area in the future.   
 
The company has been scaling up operations in India even before the government's recent initiatives. What are the forthcoming projects in this direction?     

Emerson has been a dedicated investor in India since the 1980s, and even after four decades of our presence here, India continues to be an important growth market for the company. In addition to the current manufacturing, engineering and innovation centres in India, we will soon be opening our brand-new factory in Mahindra World City, in Chennai. The new facility will consolidate our manufacturing operations in Chennai to increase speed, improve efficiency and at the same time significantly enhance customer experience. We also have plans to introduce additional Emerson products at this facility that would cater to Indian and global demands.     
 
Going further, will Emerson be looking for acquisitions in India with so many exciting start-ups around?   
While Emerson is always evaluating opportunities in the Indian market to strengthen and grow our capabilities through acquisitions, our focus at the moment is to strengthen our presence in India through facility investments such as the EIMC in Talegaon and the upcoming campus in Mahindra World City, Chennai.  
 
At a time when Cybersecurity concerns are rising globally, what is the kind of work done at Emerson's Global Cybersecurity Lab?  
Emerson’s Cybersecurity Centre builds on our existing capabilities to support the highest levels of product security across the development lifecycle. It joins our larger global cybersecurity network and is the only lab outside of the United States with elements of our leading Plantweb™ digital ecosystem on display – enabling our customers to experience the technologies and benefits of digital transformation first-hand. The lab conducts test services to verify the security capabilities of our products in their lifecycle; coordinate training for development engineers to continuously improve security practices; provide inputs during product development lifecycle to deliver secure products; and support our businesses in maintaining alignment with industry regulations, standards and best practices.
 
Here, we focus on defining security requirements, designing threat models and security walkthroughs, maintaining security practices and simulating cyberattacks in industrial environments to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. A dedicated team of security professionals collaborate and work together on cybersecurity initiatives and pioneering new approaches.   
 
The world has passed through a difficult year. What are the learnings for businesses in general, Emerson in particular?  
What came to light in the past year is the importance of collaboration and the commitment to act on the collective responsibility of businesses and the government to ensure that critical infrastructure industries have the support and resources they need to keep the nation going. As an essential business, Emerson’s goods and services have supported power generation plants, water and wastewater facilities, production facilities for energy, pharmaceuticals, refining and medical equipment, the cold supply chain serving the food industry, and more. The focus has been to support the critical infrastructure that ensures the essentials of daily life remain available. I see our teams using technology to its full extent to remain connected and operating with the same zeal and passion, reaffirming our unwavering support for our stakeholders across various industry segments. Another major lesson from the pandemic was how well our implementation and service teams were not just able to support and troubleshoot site issues remotely but also bring completion to various projects implementing digital transformation technologies (in the fields of reliability, safety, and energy).
 
Emerson received extraordinary support from customers, in particular from their IT and operations teams, to finish the site acceptance testing (SATs) and move the site toward go-live status during this period. This has generated a great deal of trust and confidence in our clients and will certainly help them to be more agile in embracing digital transformation projects and become accustomed to the ‘new normal’ way of working inside process plants, which will take productivity to a higher level. 
 
Process industries have started stepping up in this field and prioritising their initiatives, which brings more value to their businesses.  
 
Finally, what does this project mean for you, personally and professionally, as it has coincided with your association with Emerson?  
I have profound admiration for the many partners, collaborators and innovative thinkers at Emerson who came together to see this project through from vision to reality. There has been a great deal of learning and knowledge exchange that has added immense value to a project of this size and scale.
 
EIMC is not just an Emerson project – it is an India and Maharashtra project. With this project, Emerson is also delighted to take its Make in India for India and Magnetic Maharashtra promises further as well as support the Indian government’s vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.   
 
Anil Bhatia is the Vice President and Managing Director for Emerson Automation Solutions India business since February 2017, based at the headquarters in Mumbai. In his current role, Anil drives growth for multiple business groups, focusing on providing process automation solutions across industries, with a major focus on digital transformation. He is championing the campaign on diversity and inclusion for the organization in India.

Anil began his career with Emerson in 1995, and moved to international assignments from 1997 – 2005, operating out of various world areas including Dubai, Austin, TX, USA and United Kingdom. He relocated back to India in 2005 moving into a senior Project Management and Operations leadership role. After five years of growing the Systems & Solutions Operations business, Anil took over the Power and Water Business in India. In 2015 Anil moved out to run the Power Business Operations for complete Asia Pacific operations from Mumbai. 

Anil is currently the strategic advisory board member of IIT-Washington University St. Louis, USA and India. He is actively engaged with various industry bodies like USISPF, Invest India, IHS Market and ISA. Anil is a regular speaker on digital transformation and process automation in various industrial forums and has published several technical articles on this topic.

Anil has completed his Graduation in Instrumentation Engineering from University of Pune. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and son.