Speak Out
Redefine welding with Industry 4.0 We want to drive the word welding by changing it to a term called “joining technologies”, which will further strike the millennial generation and open gateways for new developments. Vishwanath V Kamath, Managing Director, Fronius India Private Limited
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ishwanath V Kamath, Managing Director, Fronius India Private Limited, in an interaction with Megha Iyer of OEM Update, talks about how trending technologies and Industry 4.0 is transforming the welding sector by creating a substantial benchmark for finished outputs. What is your focus area currently? Our focus now is neither on products nor technology; we are in fact more focused on enhancing and improvising our customer’s experience. And for the same, we are taking measures to minimise the welding cost for our customers so that they become more competitive in terms of cost and become quality-conscious and also they can have value-for-money products. What kind of products have you added in your basket for IMTEX 2020? This edition of IMTEX has been quite good for us. We have been able to attract more customers this time and have been busy throughout the event. We have launched industry 4.0 in action, welding simulator - version 2.0 with the virtual glass which is easy to operate and easy in application, especially for training welders. Further, we have launched the “twin wire system”, which is basically a high-end and high-deposition welding process. We also launched our professional welding tool machine that can perform all the three process of SMAW welding, Mig welding, and Tig Welding by a single machine. We have introduced a new process called ‘ArcTig Welding’ where customers can weld and join two metals without using any filler wire of up to 8-10 mm thickness.
can be a game changer for the Indian industry. It’s a known fact that the industries and the welding sector are interdependent on each other and they complement each other to a great extent. So, I think it’s mutually inclusive and we should see a very good growth when this investment is realised for at least the next few years. What are the major hurdles faced by the sector? There are quite a lot of challenges in this sector. It’s evident that welding is one of the most non-glamorous sectors to gain the customer’s attention. But the point remains that an industry will remain incomplete without welding, as it is one of the most critical and crucial processes in any industry. The sector remains untold only because people are unwilling to enter it and understand it as they’re not projecting welding as a well-paid career for engineers. Fronius is not only talking about welding, but we are attempting to convert this into joining technologies. So, we want to drive the word welding to the word “joining technologies” to make it more attractive to the millennial generation. The second problem which we are facing is lack of skilled manpower and this is definitely point number two. If point number one is addressed, then point number two can be addressed much faster. What are your views on increasing localised manufacturing in India? There is nothing called local manufacturing in today’s world; we are living in a global village. Today you get food or material from any part of the world online, and just to remain in competition, nobody can start their own food joint in their locality believing that they can beat the market. Looking at the evolving trends across the industry, it won’t be right to pretend or perceive that
The government has announced an investment of ₹100 lakh crore for infrastructural development. How can welding reap its benefits? The government’s call for these investments is basically in the infrastructural segment, which is very good news for welding industry. To be more precise, you cannot move the planet without having people or technology to do it, and for that you require welding as the whole process will be accomplished only by welding. So, this is an exciting announcement for us and I feel that this 18
February 2020 n OEM Update
