Control panel and switchgear industry must rise to occasion

Control panel and switchgear industry must rise to occasion
In a rare interview with EPR, Soeb Fatehi, President, Control Panel and Switchgear Manufacturers’ Association, shares his outlook on the control panel and switchgear industry
The government plans to focus on infrastructure sector in 12th Plan. How do you see control panel and switchgear industry going ahead with this development?Focus on infrastructure as announced brings hope for millions of Indians who still live without electricity despite having connection. The 12th Plan envisages a return to a balanced outlay where generation almost equals transmission and distribution for expense allocation.
This will make available resources for growth. Naturally the control panel and switchgear industry will be elated. But with the good feeling, they must rise to the occasion and deliver quality on time. If they fail, the will have only themselves to blame.
How big is Indian market for control panel and switchgear, and at what rate it is growing?The market for low-voltage (LV) control panels and switchgear has registered a steady growth in the last decade except for the last 12 months. Growth has tapered down in the last period for most companies. This is attributed to sluggishness in decision making for a variety of reasons at the buyer end. We are confident that the next 12 months will see a spurt in demand again. Demand will also continue to grow in the medium and long terms because India has earmarked large development resources for plugging the energy gap.
What are the challenges faced by the industry?I’ll divide the answer into two parts. About 70 per cent of the demand for the control panel and switchgear business in India is catered to by MSMEs, which suffer in productivity mainly because of poor infrastructure in all the state industrial development (IDC) zones. Almost all the IDC zones are now over 4 to 5 decades old and still without basic amenities like roads, transport, uninterrupted power, clean potable water, healthcare facilities near to work places, and security from theft. This dumps them with consequent problems like high costs to overcome the shortcomings of infrastructure, inability to attract and retain the best talent, and low productivity.
A large number of MSMEs have difficulty is creating a structured business as well as development plan. These are frequently deficient in access to business and market intelligence. Many suffer from poor understanding of inventory, supply chain management, debt and credit management, process optimisation, and the non-acknowledgement of the need to source access the best professional advice.
In the last decade, however, things have improved in many pockets. The big picture still leaves great room for working. In many organisations, the second and third generation of ownership is now bringing new learning through higher professional education and wider exposure.
The remaining 30 per cent of the volumes that come from the large sector players have a different set of constraints. Productivity remains a concern, and they too face capacity utilisation issues rising out of erratic demand patterns.   How is the industry coping up with those challenges?Industry is built by entrepreneurs who are high on innovation and creativity. We depend on these basic instincts to search for and find ways of elevating our constraints. Industry has realised the need for investment in internal development of people, processes, and products. Even small and medium companies are using platforms of associations and chambers of commerce to collaborate for growth.

Advertising