The electrical panel industry is amongst the several areas where OMRON provides automation solutions. We have Sameer Gandhi, Managing Director, OMRON Automation, India,discussing how automation can bring technical and commercial efficiency in the electrical panel industry. Gandhi observes that the panel building industry is rising up well to this fact and has started investing in the automation solutions to create advanced control panels.
Please discuss the automation solutions provided by OMRON for the control panel building industry.
Omron is known in the industry for its highly customizable and advanced solutions to create compact and reliable control panels delivering high performance and values in terms of functionality, robustness, design standardization, and reducing the amount of design work.
The solutions are based on Omron’s Value Design Concept which is an end to end journey comprising of conceptual design, detailed design, assembly/ wiring and shipment phases.
Our solutions focus on:
- space saving so as to mount more devices without increasing the size of the panel and enhance the functionality
- reducing the width between wiring ducts and dead space in order to downsize the panel
- bringing in robustness by reducing vibration during shipping and operation
- increasing the product reliability, decreasing the failure rate and extending life expectancy by reducing uneven heat dissipation and improving air circulation
- faster designing of new products: Electrical control CAD can be successfully implemented and unified specifications let one easily customize panels for multiple customers, and help shorten delivery times.
The product portfolio constitutes machine automation controllers, switch mode power supplies, digital temperature controllers, safety relays, pushbutton switches, power monitors, solid-state timers, switch mode power supplies, etc.
We appreciate that automation can vastly improve the efficiency of the process as well as the quality of the final product. Given that electrical panel building is largely a “manual” industry, how are panel builders responding to automation solutions?
A control panel is the heart of a manufacturing facility. The panel building industry is rising up well to this fact and has started investing in the automation solutions to create advanced control panels to help the manufacturers achieve the maximum out of a facility. They know that the manufacturers are constantly looking out for advanced solutions to help them increase the production capacity within the same amount of resources and without bringing in many changes in the current set of manufacturing processes and an advanced and robust control panel can truly help them achieve this.
The electrical panel industry has players largely from the micro and small business segment. How do you see their inclination towards process automation solutions?
Panel industry has a mix of customers ranging from small-scale to large enterprises. In a bit to expand their business, lots of panel builders are trying to venture into process automation because it provides good amount of business opportunity, exposure and recognition. By dealing with more and more process industry customers, they are trying to increase their knowledge.
How do you see the business outlook for OMRON Automation with respect to the panel building industry? What would you consider as your prime growth drivers?
Omron has the largest portfolio of automation solutions for a panel maker. We provide relays to robots as solutions; this places us in very good stead with the prospective as well as the current customers. This is supplemented with many proven case studies, strong application support and material availability. Further, the ratio of product features to price offers great benefit to customers giving them another advantage to choose Omron over other solution providers in the industry.