Digital technologies transform testing and measurement solutions

Industry leaders come together to discuss the growth prospects of digitalisation in the test and measurement sector that is slowly taking over conventional testing measures.

In India, there are a few aspects to be considered. In terms of digital substations, particularly IEC 61850, and secondly in conventional testing, we need to change the mindset towards investing in equipment, which can save a lot of downtime and directly translates into revenue for utilities, focusing on how we can optimise the complete testing of a substation.

Growth potential in the test and measurement (T&M) market in India

There is a huge transformation going on in the test and measurement industry. Digitisation is reshaping the test and measurement industry in a big way. Through it, authentic data is formed and customers expect to be provided data analysis that will be beneficial to them at various levels of decision making.

The benefits include improvement in productivity, design, management, and ease of doing work, as well as bringing about change in processes and providing extended services to customers and other stakeholders. Test and measurement is going beyond what it was, and it is now associated with data analysis, providing several benefits to the client. With this change in the T&M industry, it is expected that the market potential will increase further.

Jitendra Agrawal, Managing Director, Motwane Manufacturing Company Pvt. Ltd. said, “As India is very good in software, with the advent of digitisation, Indian players like Motwane must play a big role not just domestically, but also globally. In that sense, it is a big market, but change is happening and disruptions are sudden. Those who adapt to these changes will go ahead and those who can’t cope with the disruption will slowly see the difficulties going forward.”

This is a huge challenge in terms of how we adopt digitisation in test and measurement. It requires transitioning your company from just a test and measurement company to an extended digital test and measurement company. The challenge is to shift the organisation from just the design aspect to the way it manages the customer and it’s highly essential to be in line with the emerging technology trends.

Vijaykumar N. Kinariwala, Managing Director & CEO, Pankaj Potentiometers elaborates, “Pankaj Potentio Industries is involved in creating and developing new products that can accommodate the industry’s requirements. Moreover, all the products produced by us are completely innovative and new.  Since we are into delivering new and innovative products every time, it takes time for us to establish them in the market and create a substantial market for them, and we are assured that we will gain substantial traction from the market.”

With this, the T&M industry is also experiencing a growth of 10-15 percent. However, we must note that customers’ needs and expectations keep changing, so it’s crucial that we follow the same pattern.

Narendra Goliya, Director, Rishabh Instruments Pvt. Ltd explains, “Test and measuring instruments industry is driving the country’s growth enormously. India’s GDP is growing at an average of 5-6 percent, and the electrical industry is growing at 10 percent, while performing companies are growing at 15-20 percent.”

We require investment opportunities, and the recently announced project sanctions worth `5 lakh crore for infrastructure will boost the electrical sector, particularly T&M, as they require such products. Ultimately, the network of these smart machines will create and share the information that results in the true power of Industry 4.0. Instrumentation is 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.

VikramBhansali, Director, Metravi Instruments Pvt Ltd and CEM Instruments India Pvt Ltd said, “High-quality instruments would be required to work at higher frequencies with ability to collect, collate and analyse big volumes of data.”

Manish Gupta, Regional Manager, OMICRON Energy Solutions Private Limited said, “OMICRON has been a pioneer in this field and that is the advantage we can bring to the power industry in India. We offer the power of automation through our solutions, by which we can reduce transformer testing time to as low as 90 seconds from 2-3 hours. ”

T&M products contributing towards smart electricity
In order to grow, one must understand the flow of current frequency, and what the exact frequency in monitors is, along with the amount of available, excess and required electricity. Today, we have a surplus amount of electricity, and people are more conscious about the quality.

Agrawal says, “T&M is crucial to set up automated substations and digitally monitored assets and transmission lines, which help to reduce breakdown times as well as manpower and capital expenditure that would be otherwise incurred due to replacement or repair of assets.” Technological advancements in T&M are helping companies to address issues quickly. Bad or deteriorated assets can be replaced quickly and in a cost-efficient manner through proper use of T&M products. This helps in centralised asset planning.

Upcoming products for T&M market
The Motwane Manufacturing Company Pvt. Ltd. launched its online transformer monitoring system. It has also connected all its T&M products digitally so that one can get the data automatically without manual intervention. Moreover, it has started integrating third-party products that allow it open protocol. The company has combined all these products and services on one test data platform that is called MOTWARE or Motwane Software.

Metravi Instruments Pvt Ltd and CEM Instruments India Pvt Ltd have launched an 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. It is also launching professionally designed and Bluetooth-enabled series of CEM Environmental Meters. It has introduced an industrial/professional series under the Metravi brand — the METRAVI PRO range — waterproof and dustproof, 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 of yet. Products under this range carry a 48-hour replacement warranty.

Conclusion
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 dream of 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.

Jitendra Agrawal, Managing Director, The Motwane Manufacturing Company Pvt. Ltd.
Bad or deteriorated assets can be replaced quickly and in a cost-efficient manner through proper use of T&M products.

Vijaykumar N. Kinariwala, Managing Director & CEO, Pankaj Potentiometers
It takes time for us to establish products in the market and create a substantial market for it, yet we are assured that we will gain substantial traction from the market.

Manish Gupta, Regional Manager, OMICRON Energy Solutions Private Limited
IEC 61850 can save a lot of downtime and directly translates into revenue for utilities, focusing on how we can optimise the complete testing of a substation.

Narendra Goliya, Director, Rishabh Instruments Pvt. Ltd
India’s GDP is growing at an average of 5-6 percent, and the electrical industry is growing at 10 percent, while performing companies are growing at 15-20 percent.

Vikram Bhansali, Director, Metravi Instruments Pvt Ltd and CEM Instruments India Pvt. Ltd
High-quality instruments would be required to work at higher frequencies with ability to collect, collate and analyse big volumes of data.