Smart electricity requirements for emerging smart cities

Internet of Systems, IoT and Industry 4.0 are the key drivers to make smart electricity a reality.
Vikram Bhansali, Director, Metravi Instruments Pvt Ltd and CEM Instruments India Pvt Ltd

In a discussion, Vikram Bhansali, Director, Metravi Instruments Pvt Ltd and CEM Instruments India Pvt Ltd, talks about how demand for IoT is increasing as people are inclining more towards smart cities, and how the company is helping to provide the same for consumers.

What is going to be your focus in the 14th edition of ELECRAMA?
For Metravi and CEM both, we want to expose and showcase our wide range of hi-tech, reliable and high-precision test and measuring instruments to the various industries, visitors as well as exhibitors.

We are also looking forward to gain exposure in various industries and sectors to interact and understand their various instrumentation issues and woes and try and find solutions for the same by way of customised applications or instruments.

How do you view the rise of IoT and Industry 4.0 transforming the sector?
With Industry 4.0, human involvement is on the decrease and computers make decisions as they are connected and can communicate with each other. A combination of Internet of Things, Internet of Systems and Industry 4.0 is making and will make the Smart Factory a reality. Consequently, the support from smart machines will be on the increase as they get access to more data and will result in a jump in efficiencies and productivities. Ultimately, the network of these smart machines will create and share the information that results in the true power of Industry 4.0.

Since a huge volume of data from these connected machines can inform about maintenance, performance and other issues, along with identifying patterns and insights from analysing the data (which is impossible for humans to achieve within reasonable time frames), Industry 4.0 offers all manufacturers the opportunity to optimise operations quickly and efficiently by knowing almost instantly what needs attention.

Instrumentation in this scenario will become highly useful and important with the likes of smart instruments, which will connect to computers and smartphones for instant data, reports, and analytics. High-quality instruments would be required to work at higher frequencies with the ability to collect, collate, and analyse big volumes of data.

What kind of opportunities is present in smart electricity in India?
With the growing trend towards smart cities and more environmentally conscious consumers, there is a clear growth in smart electricity — be it smart grids, more efficient production and transmission or automated monitoring and consumption systems.

With this comes a need for efficient, precise and high-accuracy instrumentation. We are in a prime position to be able to fulfil these needs with our smart and high-precision, reliable instruments. So, we see growing and sustainable opportunities for both smart electricity and our smart instruments for such smart systems.

Can you brief about the latest innovations and additions for your range of solutions?
We have launched our integrated range of CEM Thermal Imagers, including adaptors that convert smartphones into Thermal Imagers, Air Particle Counters, Multi-Gas Analysers, Nuclear and X-ray Radiation Meter, Multimeters and Clamp Meters combined with Thermal Imagers, High Current Data Loggers, ELCB Testers, Clamp on Ground Resistance Testers, and Digital Storage Oscilloscopes on Tablets. We are also launching a professionally designed and Bluetooth-enabled series of CEM Environmental Meters.

We have introduced an industrial/professional series under the Metravi brand — the METRAVI PRO range — which is waterproof and dust-proof, to be used in rugged environments. Some of the products are intrinsically safe and the range includes products with OLED displays, unheard of in instrumentation as yet. Products under this range carry a 48-hour replacement warranty.

What are your plans and projections for the next two years?
We have been working on the following issues as regards test and measurement, and we will continue our efforts for the same in the coming years:
Often customers are unaware as well as unsure about which instrument or specification would serve their measurement needs — we provide consultation and advice as per measurement or industry needs before offering them any product from our range.

Most of the users are oblivious that certain instruments are already available for their specific needs — we are now trying to educate and propagate our offerings and solutions that we offer for every measurement need.

Mostly, users are unaware that such high-quality, reliable and innovative instruments are available at such realistic pricing, since they have only been used to American brands selling at three times our prices. We want everyone to know that quality and reliability does not always come at a price.