Industrial Automation Magazine India

Renewable energy has been one of the key businesses for Zetwerk

Published on : Wednesday 10-05-2023

Abhay Adya, Business Head, Renewables Business, Zetwerk.

What is the larger vision that drives the company?
At Zetwerk, we are working towards bringing the entire fragmented supply chain in manufacturing together and its impact on the MSME ecosystem, which plagues the growth of small entrepreneurs. Zetwerk was founded to solve the problems around manufacturing and supply chain management and deliver projects ahead of time, thereby creating value for the customer and bringing along the world's best-in-class Indian manufacturing capabilities. With positioning India as a self-reliant manufacturing hub, Zetwerk works towards boosting efficiency, providing transparency, and making the manufacturing process faster while being quality-driven.
 
Please let us know about your experience in the renewable energy market. How do you plan to accelerate your growth against the competition?
Renewable energy has been one of the key businesses for Zetwerk. Renewable energy itself contributes about 10% to Zetwerk's overall business. This is because Zetwerk has been a partner of choice for all leading industry players and stakeholders – domestically and globally with diverse projects we have worked across. One such project we did recently was a 280 MW Solar power plant for a significant customer in Bangladesh, the largest in the country. We are currently executing close to 1 GW of Solar projects in India. We are building solid design, procurement and execution capabilities backed by a robust project management tool which has been a differentiator in our solution offering. 

To expand our offerings and strengthen our presence in the renewable space, we recently acquired US-based, Unimacts, which will help us to grow and diversify, providing immediate access to marquee solar and wind-power customers. Similarly, Zetwerk will also benefit from Unimacts notable industry expertise in renewable energy manufacturing and an endless supply of highly specified mechanical products, logistics support, and design for manufacturing, inventory management, and near-customer warehousing.

Kindly enlighten me about your technology, solutions and quality.
We have in-house built software which helps optimise the time required for identifying the proper manufacturer for the design specified for the project. Also, with our state-of-the-art project management tools, we can monitor complex projects and make quick decisions to ensure on-time project delivery. All the products supplied/manufactured by us undergo stringent quality checks and follow ZQC (Zetwerk Quality Control).

SMEs typically have many constraints. What kind of support does Zetwerk provide to make them competitive?
First, we become their extended marketing arm and market their products nationally and globally. With Zetwerk coming in, SMEs can buy their raw materials cheaper; Zetwerk brings that volume advantage. This helps SMEs concentrate on their core strength of manufacturing. Where needed, we deploy our qualified professionals at their factory to ensure the best quality of the products.

End-to-end transparency of the supply chain is easier said than done. In reality, how is it achieved?
Yes, this is a fairly complicated process; normally, a project calls for the manufacturing of 500 or more line items. In order to keep the client informed about the production state of all the materials needed at the site and the overall progress of the project, we have a strong solution that tracks the status of product manufacture, inventory, and delivery.

Zetwerk has made some significant acquisitions in recent months. What have these enterprises brought to the table?
We have been eyeing acquisitions which accelerate access to different markets and geographies. These acquisitions have brought complementary capabilities and helped us emerge stronger.

What's the way ahead and next target for Zetwerk Solar?
By 2030, India wants to add 500 GW of renewable energy to its grid. In the coming years, we anticipate a significant pull from PSUs and private businesses.

We offer solutions to all of the major developers and C&I customers in India, and we have orders from marquee clients and a long pipeline of inquiries. With our bespoke manufacturing capability, supply chain know-how, and execution strength, I think we are well-positioned to dominate this market.

How will Zetwerk take the lead in achieving India's ambitious 2030 renewable energy goals?
With the expertise that Zetwerk comes with, and with Zetwerk wanting to be the go-to partner for all the developers and C&I customers, we will continue to explore the renewable energy space aggressively. We will also endeavor to explore more M&A, which will enable us to increase both the scope of our product offerings to clients and our global footprint.

How is Zetwerk trying to reduce dependence on imports?
During Covid times, China's supply chain became unreliable for North America due to: a) Uncertain wait times; b) High logistics costs; and c) Clogging at the ports. Additional tariffs between the US and China exacerbated this. During this time, India presented itself as a strong alternative, often more reliable than China, as part of a worldwide global shift away from China, which has since been termed a China+1 sourcing strategy. Today our international business contributes nearly 14% of Zetwerk's total revenue, and we work with 200+ customers in these markets, where previously it was negligible. Most of these customers are first-time buyers of the Indian supply chain, where Zetwerk makes sure products are made on time, with pristine quality, providing complete visibility and transparency into the manufacturing process. As a result, we have opened up US offices to be closer to our customers. We are even exploring alternative supply markets within North America to provide an end-to-end solution across renewables, precision components and retail sectors. 

Closer to home, we are helping Indian brands shift production from China to India to become more 'Atmanirbhar'. For example, we have created a complete design for a delivery facility in Noida in the hearables and wearables space for EMS and ODM solutions for some of the top consumer electronics brands in India, in some instances, helping them shift as much as 30-50% of their production to India. India is on the cusp of a revolution in consumer electronics, and we want to lead that today; this strategy contributes to ~10% of the company's revenue. 

What will Zetwerk focus on in the next few years?
It has been a dream to watch India become a manufacturing hub globally, and our steps have followed that since the inception of Zetwerk. Coincidentally, a few macro trends are working as tailwinds for the company, such as the increasing desire of global companies to move away their supply chains from China and create alternatives in India and other Southeast Asian countries. Zetwerk will ride this wave and bring significant demand for manufacturing to India and, in the process, make natural additions to the country's GDP and growth. 

We will continue investing in capacity building ourselves or partnerships and exploit opportunities in the industrial and consumer manufacturing segments. We are also heavily investing in our in-house technical capabilities to improve efficiency in the manufacturing supply chain and meet the specific needs of our customers and suppliers to give them a more personalised experience.