Date:25/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/02/25/stories/2006022503821300.htm

Back Rockwell sees big scope here

Kripa Raman

Mumbai , Feb. 24

GLOBAL provider of industrial automation and information systems, the US-headquartered Rockwell Automation sees a huge opportunity for itself in the growth of the Indian manufacturing industry.

The company has been growing by 40 per cent in India over the last two years and expects the growth momentum to continue, said Mr Keith Nosbusch, Chairman & CEO, Rockwell Automation, who was in India recently."India is our fastest growing country and this year, we expect to have business of $70 million ," he said. Rockwell's workforce has doubled in the last couple of years to 300, and "we expect growth to continue as we participate in the Indian manufacturing growth," said Mr Nosbusch. The company has a laboratory in Bangalore with a staff of 20 that serves the entire APAC region.

Manufacturing is being viewed as a desirable activity and can be a growth engine for India, he said. Indian manufacturing is becoming globally competitive and the company is investing in automation and information systems. In fact, the extent of opportunity that this presents may be gauged from the fact that Rockwell Automation which was earlier present only in the metros and the larger cities such as Pune, Bangalore and Baroda, is already present in a place like Sahibabad and is now looking at places like Baddi in Himachal Pradesh where several SME manufacturing units are coming up.

Information investment, he said, is growing in industries such as cement, mining, power generation and natural resources. "In India, we have a brand in metals, oil and gas, food and beverages, life sciences and the pharmaceutical industry." One of Rockwell's solutions specialises in process control applications for the pharmaceutical industry and is finding a large market here.

Time to market needs and regulatory compliance requirements and IPR protection laws all lead pharma clients to look for process control solutions.

Original Equipment Manufacturing is a typically smaller vertical that the company is focusing on. OEMs incorporate automation systems in their machines for competitive advantage. The company also has an OEM centre of excellence in Bangalore.

So, what is unique about Rockwell's automation and control solutions? "Traditionally, plant floor control was thought of as different from the informational space. How to integrate what happens on the plant floor with information systems and the business process on the same platform? We also have to seamlessly integrate with the ERP and supply chain, we have to provide an effective interface whichever ERP our customer has selected."

At the enterprise software level, Rockwell has entered into an alliance with IBM's Websphere platform.

Rockwell works through channel partners here, distributors who are systems integrators. Rockwell works with Wipro, Patni, TCS and HCL Technologies, leveraging resources to address business processes.

Rockwell continues to invest in all its geographies. Retention, says Mr Nosbusch, "is outstanding," with a large amount of responsibility placed with sales engineers who handle more accounts than their competitors. It has a flatter organisation, something seldom seen in large, mega organisations.

For the $4.4-billion company, the number one in process controls in North America and among the top three worldwide, India is going to be a very large market, said Mr Nosbusch.