Industrial Automation Magazine India

HARTING India is a reliable partner for complete connectivity solutions

Published on : Monday 01-08-2022

Vidyabhushana Hande, Acting Managing Director & Director – Innovation Hub, HARTING India Private Ltd.
 

Harting has been present in India directly for over 15 years. How eventful has been the journey so far?
HARTING in India was set up in April 2005, which is 100% subsidiary of HARTING Germany. HARTING started its operations with a full-fledged office, headquartered in Chennai, (India) in Oct 2005. The journey began with a small team primarily engaged in sales and marketing activities by importing our own high-quality products from Germany and delivering the same to various customers. Over the course of time, we devised a value-added growth strategy of turning our product selling company into a ‘Solution providing company’ by catering into many segments like Railways, Machinery and Robotics, Energy (conventional and renewable),and other sectors in line with global strategy. The internal strategic road map of HARTING and strong customer relationship helped HARTING India in its transformation journey. Today HARTING India is a strong and successful company in India. The journey began with the humble turnover in FY 2005 and today we have sizable market share. This promising turnover demonstrates the tremendous consistency in HARTING’s growth in India. HARTING India now has 3 regional offices apart from sales touch points across 5 extended regions in the country. We have also recently set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chennai, spread over 32000 sq.ft to exclusively cater to the demands of Indian customers. The investment made for setting up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is a commitment from HARTING towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Indian Government. It is also HARTING’s commitment to customers to become a strong local manufacturing company by promising ‘Make in India’ products to all customers.
 
The company recently inaugurated its India production centre. What is the significance of this to the Indian market and the Asian region?

The new facility, HARTING Manufacturing plant is set up with a state-of-the-art plant at Thirumazhisai, Chennai (India) spread across 32000 sq.ft. This facility will enhance the existing delivery capacity with focus on Indian customer requirements by manufacturing Industrial connectors, connectivity solutions like cable assemblies and wire harnesses. HARTING India is a reliable partner for complete connectivity solutions covering the entire spectrum of services like design, engineering, analysis, manufacturing, and testing.
 
The company is known for its range of connectors. What are the other products, especially in the Factory Automation domain?
HARTING is one of the leading manufacturers in device connectivity, industrial connectors, networking devices and cables. HARTING specialises in power, signal, and data connectivity solutions in all automation segments. HARTING products are known for its reliability, robustness, and flexibility. Customers can choose different connectivity solutions and configure and customise the same for their requirements.
 
HARTING connectors and customised interfaces support the modular design of products which helps designers to choose their connectors based on their applications.
 
What are the main user industries for Harting products in India? How do you engage with the customers?
HARTING India caters to many segments like Railways, Machinery and Robotics, Intralogistics and Conveyor Systems, Energy, Wind, e-Mobility, and Data Centres Covering all types of connectivity requirements in every electrical and electronic device. The strength of HARTING Products is in divisions like Power, Signal, Data and Customised Solutions. Some of the critical applications like inter vehicle couplers; wind mills and automobile applications are areas where HARTING offers engineered and customised solutions which enhance the reliability of the entire system. We closely partner with the customers to understand the total picture of the end applications and pain points of the customers. The collected inputs are translated to engineering requirements and provide cost-effective total solutions.
 
Vidyabhushana Hande has more than 30 years of industrial experience and is currently the acting managing director of HARTING India Private Ltd. He also leads Innovation Hub for HARTING at Bengaluru, focusing on topics like generative design, knowledge management and additive manufacturing.
 
Prior to joining HARTING, Mr Hande led a research group within corporate technology of SIEMENS with special focus on Industry 4.0 and Simulation & Digital Twin. He contributed significantly to the Digitalisation initiatives of SIEMENS. He headed the embedded systems group in Infosys and managed a strong client base across the globe. As Director of R&D for Wavelet Group, Hande guided researchers to deliver high impact results in many strategic projects. He also worked as automation executive for Alfa Laval (I) Ltd and successfully executed several green-field automation projects in the area of brewery, milk and carbonated soft drinks.
 
Mr Hande has global work experience and carries strong knowledge in the area of automation & control, hardware design and automotive product design. He has rich experience in collaborative research and co-creation.