Opines SAJIV NATH, Managing Director of Yokogawa India Ltd in an interview with EPC World
Can you please begin with a brief overview of Indian operations of Yokogawa for our readers?
Co-innovation where we innovate with the “users” is key to our success world-wide. Every industry has its own challenges and technology enhancement is key to their success. Yokogawa spans across 60 countries, sales exceeding US $ 3 billion, has more than 4500 patents and registrations, 18 manufacturing facilities, dedicates 6% annual revenue towards research and development and is Worlds first in innovating Distributed Control System (DCS) and Digital Sensors for pressure transmitters. We have state of the art staging facility for DCS in Bangalore which is spread across 15000 sq ft area and a manufacturing facility under the “Make In India” slogan. Transmitter manufacturing facility at Bangalore is the mirror image of our facility at Yokogawa’s Kofu factory in Japan. This exemplifies -customer centricity, customers’ appreciation which is a value proposition we have for our customers and gives us a competitive advantage over other players. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) revolution is being heralded by Make in India, Industrial 4.0, Smart Factories that are built on strength of IIoT evolution. We YIL’ites believe in the fact that to be a part of change, we need to co-innovate for the benefit of the society.
With a strong marketing and service network across India, Yokogawa India excels in turnkey project execution in Process Automation and Enterprise Integration with core competencies in:
- Design and Engineering of Process Control Systems
- Implementation of Extended Enterprise Applications
- Web enabling & Enterprise Application Integration
- Manufacturing Execution Systems Software Development
Today, Yokogawa India is positioned as a Comprehensive Solutions Provider with state of art global engineering centre and manufacturing centre for systems & field instruments in Bangalore.
Being one of the major players known for measuring instruments and automation for process industries, how do you see growth in your Indian operations?
Envision a manufacturing plant where people are watchful and attentive as the business responds to change quickly and efficiently. As digital transformation ensues to disrupt, transform and reshape industries we can now picture an operation that delivers consistent production, real-time information and accurately controlled and safe processes that comply with the regulatory and demanding requirements of different industries.
We have noticed that sectors like oil & gas, pharmaceutical, energy, chemicals, power, iron & steel, pulp & paper and food have recognised the value of automation as we have come to recognize that industrial automation is a business tool, not just a control tool, which can help process businesses meet their industrial challenge.
Ideally an intelligent and scalable Plant Information Management System is in the heart of the system which provides an analysis and reporting application that collects, stores and displays current and historical data from production, equipment and recipe viewpoints. This enables production and recipe management, process engineering, quality management and operations staff to easily access process information for decision support, production planning and scheduling, analysis, process improvement, safety and quality purposes. These are ideal productivity improvement tools that enables user to focus on KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) such as a cycle time and frequency using the web based browsing, analysis and reporting user interface and to develop action plans for process improvements. Intelligence and scalability varies from developer to developer and user needs to exercise right diligence to select the one suitable for present and as well future needs. The economic environment in India has been challenging in last few years. Industry growth has been talked about but not seen so much in reality. However Yokogawa India had got its act together, had diversified beyond conventionally served segments, captured on initiatives of infrastructure development by the Government of India.
Synaptic Business Automation is Yokogawa’s new concept for its Industrial Automation & Control Business. How it Create sustainable value for customers?
“Synaptic Business Automation” is our new business concept that focuses on creating sustainable value for customers through co-innovation and collaboration with them. Our shared goal is to realize profitable and sustainable growth for customers’ business. The first step in developing a shared goal is to understand the potential value of customers’ business. The created value is divided into the following three elements:
Business Innovation
Business innovation creates further value for our customers, for example, promoting collaboration between customers and their suppliers via the cloud technology and providing services to our customers, creating a new business model for all.
Optimized Production
Optimized Production is to optimize TOTEX which means CAPEX and OPEX through our customer’s lifecycle. Furthermore, it includes value improvements related to productivity and profitability such as reliability, adaptability, and supply chain challenges.
Resilient Operation
Resilient Operation means to improve flexibility and adaptability to business risks for HSSE, and organizational issues, safety, and environmental regulations.
We have key enablers for co-innovation of our customers business. Our unique approach is a Continuous Value Creation Cycle which consists of four phases as follows
- Identify: Defining potential improvement area across the customer’s entire business processes and resources
- Create & Implement: Deals with design and deployment of optimal solutions at a customers’ site, based on the potential improvement areas outlined in the “Identify” phase
- Operate: This phase deals with wither helping the customer or having Yokogawa perform safe and stable operations
- Sustain & Improve: This is very important phase, wherein Yokogawa maintains the solutions, helping the customer drive continuous improvement and sustained performance excellence.
Can you elaborate on your recent project for implementation, operations, and maintenance of a centralized, integrated water information management system (WIMS) by Govt. of Rajasthan?
Rajasthan IT Day 2018, hosted by the Department of Information Technology and Communication (DoIT&C) of the Government of Rajasthan was a three-day event between 19th to 21st March 2018 and presented various programs under “Rajasthan Smart City” initiatives. Vasundhara Raje ji, CM, Rajasthan, visited Yokogawa India Ltd stall who were invited by the government to take part in this tech show and met us. The world class water information management system installed in Rajasthan aims to monitor the loss of wastage of water, monitoring of equitable water distribution and also reduction of NRW (non-revenue water) in Jaipur and adjoining areas.
Water demand in Rajasthan, the largest state in India, has continued to rise along with the growth in population, and already exceeds supply in many areas, making it increasingly difficult for the state’s Public Health Engineering Department to deliver the quantity and quality of water required. With the present public drinking water systems, which supply more than 370 million litres per day, most of the data collection has been done manually or using Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems where information is stored locally. This means measurement frequency is limited, recorded data is sometimes inaccurate, and central decision-making cannot be carried out in an effective and timely manner.
Yokogawa India Ltd., has been entrusted by the State Government of Rajasthan with the implementation, operations, and maintenance of a centralized, integrated Water Information Management System (WIMS) in Jaipur, the state capital, as part of the Smart Cities Mission, deploy Water Management System in State of Rajasthan (132,139 Sq. Miles) including parts of Thar Desert to Provide Water Information, Leakage Monitoring and Forecasting System which will impact 75 Million people Life.
The WIMS initiative aims to establish a centralized monitoring system for both the potable water supply and industrial and municipal waste water systems across the state to optimize resource utilization and improve service delivery. Yokogawa will leverage the open, scalable architecture SCADA system to integrate legacy SCADA installations in one hundred geographically remote locations into a single network. Yokogawa will also be responsible for implementing Water Network Management and Analytics software, as well as developing mobile applications for field personnel. Water flow and energy consumption data from the multiple SCADA systems will be transferred regularly to a Command Control Centre and data storage facility, named the Water Information Hub, built at the State Data Centre in Jaipur. The new monitoring system will provide a real-time view of assets and the distribution process in dashboards that are optimized by purpose and target user. The new network will enable easier expansion of the water supply and treatment monitoring system as demand grows in the future.
There are indeed great opportunities in oil and gas sector in India, both upstream and downstream. Where in the value chain are you more involved?
We are equally strong both in upstream and downstream in Oil & Gas sector. We have served state owned and private oil refineries. We have large installations in all major on- shore and off shore platforms. Apart from servicing their stated needs, we have provided many customized solutions to address some specific process measurement and control challenges. With our strong project management and execution capabilities , we have served some of our customers’ in extreme conditions when they have been hit by accidents or natural calamities and brought back the process in operation in record time.
What would be your final message to the readers of EPC World magazine?
Our founding principles are Quality First, Pioneering Spirit and Contribution to Society. We have honoured those for more than 100 years. We have seen many Tsunamis and Quakes over last 100 years but never deviated from our principles and that has earned us the image of “Trustworthy”, “High Quality” and “Highly expert” from our esteemed customers. Society is ever changing and so are the needs. So to keep contributing to the Society, we have kept changing. We have been nimble footed all through. This inherent flexibility of our approach, at the end we could meet our customers’ changing need. Our customers have been recirporacting by continuously reposing their trust on us.
For any business, customers’ trust is the single most important aspect – once which is earned and retained, revenue, profit, growth and everything else will follow. Commitment , customer focus , partnering with customers on mutual trust are the essential ingredients to sustained growth .We could do it by sticking to our core values for over 100 years and being flexible to the changing need of our customers. That is our key to success. Any business house can do it if they follow this simple but ultimate truth of business.
@EPC World Media
