Industrial Automation Magazine India

Fuji Electric India has an aggressive expansion plan

Published on : Saturday 04-02-2023

Yosuke Ishizaka, Managing Director, Fuji Electric India Private Limited. 

Fuji Electric has been serving Indian customers since 1985 with a joint venture. How has been the progress since?
Over the past three decades, Fuji Electric has served the Indian market. In 1985, we began operations through joint ventures to manufacture and sell automation and instrumentation solutions. Fuji Electric India Pvt Ltd is a 100% subsidiary of Fuji Electric Group. Over the subsequent decade, Fuji Electric expanded throughout India to become the market leader in Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) for lifts and escalators. It has become an industry-leading producer of Motion Control solutions for packaging and special-purpose equipment. After acquiring Consul Neowatt, the most significant Indian UPS company in 2019, Fuji Electric India now has a national footprint with more than 1,000 employees serving customers across all industry verticals. Fuji Electric India has an aggressive expansion plan to become the leading provider of Energy and Automation solutions in India. This plan includes introducing new products and solutions, expanding its manufacturing base, hiring more people, and investing more in R&D as part of our ‘In India For India’ objective.
 
Fuji Electric as a group has pursued innovation in energy and environment technologies since its inception in 1923 to significantly contribute to the world's industrial and social infrastructure. In addition, we are currently working to realise a responsible and sustainable society through our energy and environment business by providing renewable energy solutions, power stabilisation, energy savings, and automation solutions to contribute to the global objective of a decarbonised society. Fuji Electric's strength is its capacity to independently develop and produce essential energy-saving products, namely power semiconductors. We incorporate these devices into our power electronics equipment and provide our clients with extensive engineering services for their incorporation. We are contributing to the attainment of the global objective of a decarbonised society by capitalising on our capabilities.
 
Tell us more about Fuji Electric group and your offerings in India and which products command the major market share?
Fuji Electric is a Global Energy & Automation solutions provider, headquartered in Japan with a turnover of over USD 9 billion. Since our inception in 1923, we have spread our operations to more than 100 countries globally. Today Fuji Electric has 212 sales offices across the world with 25+ Manufacturing Facilities and over 27,000 people worldwide to cater to the energy and automation requirements of its customers.
 
We have a wide and deep product portfolio with over 4 lakh products ranging from small semiconductors to larger power plants to meet the needs of our customers, However, in India, we offer solutions for power backup, engineered UPS, power quality, AC drives, solar & energy storage, power semiconductors, electrical distribution & control, motion control, gas analysers, pressure transmitters, process automation and electrical distribution & control (ED&C) products.
 
With a long heritage within the field of energy-saving and energy conservation, we at Fuji Electric India believe in creating high value-added environmentally friendly products that use energy with maximum efficiency through our Innovating Energy Technology and meet the needs of the customers. Being an expert in Energy and Automation solutions, considering that we offer our solutions to a diverse market, we enjoy a respectable market share in the areas of power control, factory and process automation, and measurement technologies in India.
 
Our advanced solutions developed based on Japanese technologies are designed to answer key challenges for several industries and help customers to enhance operational efficiency and generate enormous energy savings. We can provide solutions that save money and prevent expensive rework and project overruns, whether it is smart buildings, manufacturing facilities, data centres, healthcare and pharma, renewable energy projects, ports or commercial offices.
 
Energy efficiency and sustainability are major planks today for the industry. How do Fuji Electric products cater to these requirements?

Fuji Electric India aims to create and promote the general use of eco-products that increase energy efficiency, reduce the number of chemical substances in products, and consider various other environmental issues. In addition, we develop and promote products that reduce the environmental burden on society.
 
Fuji Electric assesses its products' environmental contribution and friendliness on a group-wide platform. Products that meet predetermined environmental friendliness requirements are certified as ‘eco-products’, whereas ‘super eco-products’ are at the top of their industry in terms of environmental contribution and benefit or are nationally recognised for their environmental excellence. Fuji Electric is committed to building a sustainable society through its energy and environmental operations. We announced ‘Environmental Vision 2050’ in 2019 to identify the long-term environmental operations of the company. We have recently changed our ‘Fiscal 2030 Goals’ to fulfill our ‘Environmental Vision 2050’ in light of the social trend toward a decarbonised society.
 
Tell us more about the Automation business of Fuji Electric. How comprehensive are the solutions here?
Industrial automation refers to using intelligent machines and programmable logic to automate many industrial processes and reduce the amount of human intervention. With the vigorous recovery of the Indian manufacturing industry following the Covid downturn, a more significant competitive edge in terms of productivity, profitability, safety, and sustainable manufacturing practices has become necessary. As industrial automation enhances output efficiency and quality and maintains uniformity throughout the micro- and macro-level operations of all sectors, it is becoming increasingly prevalent. Our sophisticated industrial automation solutions are tailored to meet the difficulties of Drives and Control, Motion Control, Gas Analyser, Pressure Transmitters, Process Automation, and Electrical Distribution & Control. The Indian market for process automation devices and equipment, which have applications in various industries, including pharmaceutical, coal, power, oil and gas, and cement, is experiencing a remarkable expansion today.
 
In the automation domain, our offers comprise a comprehensive portfolio of world-class products and services to ensure the maximum performance of your equipment and processes. By integrating high-quality equipment employing necessary devices with engineering services, optimal control technologies, and IoT technologies established through frontline operations, we manufacture various products that meet essential requirements. Fuji Electric views its future in the country in the long term. We are investing to increase our capacity, develop expertise in India, and eventually serve the Indian and global markets. We recognise both the promise and the possibility. Fuji Electric has invested in cutting-edge production facilities in India to conform to international regulations and requirements. It represents our dedication to the nation and is consistent with the government's goals of investing in the nation's future. Our solutions are available for various industries and can result in substantial cost savings and improved equipment longevity. Fuji Electric provides a vast array of design and consulting services for the creation of solutions in all of the industries in which it operates. Each project demands specific inputs and in-depth knowledge to generate optimal solutions.
 
Power Quality is still a key challenge for many enterprises. How is Fuji Electric catering to this issue?
India’s power sector is witnessing a lot of transformation due to significant reforms by the Government of India. The present demand in the market is to have a high level of power quality along with continuity to ensure uninterrupted business operations.
 
To answer the challenges of power quality in the existing infrastructure, we have Active Harmonics Filters (AHF) to support from Small to Large scale infrastructure and Servo Control Voltage stabilisers (SCVS) for improving the power conditioning challenges is one of the more preferred SCVS for major OEMs across India. To provide uninterruptible and reliable power to critical equipment in any new infrastructure, we have UPS solutions from 600VA to 600kVA as a stand-alone solution and in the parallel configuration, we can support up to 9.7MW. We also support Data Center Specific solutions with a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) for monitoring power quality and power distribution.
 
How is the current expansion plan going ahead between the Pune and Chennai facilities? What are the new products expected? How indigenous are these?
The expansion in Pune and Chennai will result in the phased hiring of about 200 individuals for manufacturing and R&D. Our India 2.0 expansion objectives remain largely unchanged from those disclosed in November 2019 for Fuji Electric in India. Although the epidemic and lockdown have created a short-term delay in our planned activities, we view the current situation as temporary. Fuji Electric continues to view India as an important target market. Therefore, our investment plans for expanding our production, R&D, and product offerings in India are proceeding. The company is expanding its manufacturing facilities in Chennai and Pune by 50,000 sq.ft and 75,000 sq.ft, respectively, to accommodate volume growth, increase localisation, and introduce new products. This expansion will boost the production capacity of three product categories: variable frequency drives (VFD), uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and solar inverters.
 
Our Pune facility will build locally adapted UPS products for data centers. Currently, these items are manufactured outside of the country. The same factory will also produce megawatt-scale solar inverters for release by the corporation. This is the first Fuji electric device created and developed in India for the Indian market.
 
Manufacturing expansion in Chennai will involve ramp-up at the existing factory at Perungudi and the launch of a new unit, which is being finalised. In Chennai, a ramp-up is being planned for producing locally-made VFD products as the company seeks to expand this industry with a cost-competitive advantage. To facilitate this, a new R&D team for customisation and other requirements has been established in Chennai. This will be the company's second R&D facility after the Pune Centre, which employs about 50 people now.
 
The company has made two acquisitions in India. Are there any more on the anvil? Where do you see growth coming in the future?
India is undergoing substantial economic development. In accordance with its ‘Make in India’ policy, the nation has been following a production-driven growth strategy. With two acquisitions in India, we have expanded our offerings in India. Our focus is on strengthening the Indian manufacturing system for local production and consumption.
 
What are your future expansion plans or product innovations in the next three years?
We are aligned with the global strategy of Fuji Electric for all major markets which is to develop local capabilities and manpower resources In Country – For Country; our 2.0 roadmap for India is focused on enhancing our India manufacturing, R&D, and manpower capabilities In India – For India.
 
Currently, we are expanding our factory operations in both Chennai and Pune by adding over 300,000 sq.ft of additional manufacturing space for increasing the production of UPS, AC Drives, Gas Analyser and Pressure Transmitters products in India. We also have enhanced our R&D manpower and capabilities for UPS, Solar, and Energy Storage Systems in Pune and AC Drives and Instruments in Chennai. Also, our key operations personnel are trained in our Japan factories to implement the Fuji Electric Quality System and Fuji Electric Production System in India.
 
In order to expedite the introduction of new products to the market, the business will establish and localise the full production and supply process in India, including product development, material sourcing, manufacturing, and quality assurance, including AC drives, UPSs, and other components. This will also result in India being a manufacturing hub for products that will be sold in regions such as Africa, Middle East and SouthEast Asia, which have comparable difficult sites and power conditions.
 
Fuji Electric is also well positioned in India to meet emerging applications such as energy storage, MW-scale solar power plants, and smart cities with cutting-edge products, solutions, and services emphasising energy efficiency and environmentally responsible technology.