We expect the market to maintain high-growth trajectory

Chandrashekhar Shrotri, Business Unit Head – Electrical Products, Smart Infrastructure, Siemens Limited, in a brief discussion with EPR Magazine, talks about the trends, smart solutions and automation in switchgear industry.

What are the latest automation solutions offered by Siemens in switchgears?

We have an integrated power distribution concept – from the infeed to the load where our components ensure a fail-safe power supply and can be integrated seamlessly into holistic energy efficiency concepts over different communication protocols. 

Recently, we introduced a new generation of softstarters with innovations such as ‘pump blockage’ protection, ‘pump dry-run’ protection, ‘emergency mode’ operation and ‘auto-parameterisation’ feature which improves system reliability and saves commissioning time.

How are you matching your solutions with the requirements of Indian market?

Customers are demanding more transparency in the electrical consumption as well as device and system operational data. Due to this, a clear trend is visible with customers opting for microprocessorbased and communication-enabled circuit breakers (ACB & MCCB). Siemens’ modern circuit breakers offer enhanced protection and energy transparency. Our energy monitoring software compliments the metering products and supports our customers in energy monitoring. 

Another evolving technology which is noticeable, particularly in the process industry, is the adoption of intelligent motor control centers (i-MCC) in place of age-old conventional motor control centers (c-MCC). Siemens’ intelligent motor management system forms the backbone of the i-MCC. 

Apart from these factors, OEMs and panel builders are now looking for modular systems for faster assembly of control cabinets/machine panels, as a result of rising wages and limited availability of skilled manpower. Our modular control gear products help OEMs and panel builders to increase throughput while maintaining a lean workforce.

What are the market opportunities you look at for Siemens’ solutions in switchgears? 

The demand for low-voltage switchgear in India has been growing at high single digit for the past 10-15 years. Despite the ongoing disruptions, we expect the market to maintain the highgrowth trajectory in the medium to long term. The selection criteria for low-voltage switchgear have evolved over a period of time. End-users are no longer making decisions based on purchase price alone but are mindful of the ‘lifetime cost’ of the products. Customers are giving due importance to the value-added services that switchgear OEMs offer to them, apart from the product itself. 

What are your future plans on bringing in smart solutions in switchgears? 

Siemens is a pioneer in driving digital transformation in industry and infrastructure. Our low-voltage switchgears are increasingly becoming interconnected, from ACB right down to MCB or a push button. We have a manufacturing facility in India that is a true digital factory where all the data is transformed in a digital format. This factory is globally benchmarked and can manufacture many variants of products with a high degree of precision. Specifiers can use our network planning software in dimensioning the power distribution network accurately, while the digital resources for our products can support our customers in engineering the panels virtually.