During an Interaction with Electronics Era;Mr. Gaurav Bawa, Sr. Vice President, Wika India elaborates Wika’s business modules and also share his future plans for business growth.
Electronics Era: Kindly share about Wika India operations in India, key achievements so far and future projections?
Gaurav Bawa: WIKA India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WIKA Global (WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG, Germany), practicing precision engineering instrumentation that controls Pressure, Temperature, Level, Flow, & Force for critical industrial applications. WIKA Global has been in measurement technology for 75 years and in India WIKA is present for last 25 years.
WIKA has four production units India. The first one is the instrument plant in Pune, that manufactures pressure and temperature gauges, diaphragm seal, level gauges and equipment for SF6 gas handling units. Our second plant was established in Chennai. In Chennai, we make the pressure and temperature switches for process industries like railway plants, steel plants, power plants and others. The Ghaziabad plant makes switches which cater to HVAC and railways. Our Faridabad plant manufactures Instrumentation Valves & Manifolds, Flow elements for DP-based measurements. This plant also supplies export products supporting global key accounts.
WIKA’s products are based on Quality. Now that we have a firm foothold in India, the strategy is to maximize the market share in the segments where we are present through prudent localization. WIKA India aims to double its turnover by 2025.
Electronics Era: As you know, the Indian landscape is now changing with the introduction of Smart Mobility, 5G Network & Smart Appliances. How Wika India identified a list of products according to it?
Gaurav Bawa: Each and every industry today is going for automation and smart processes and it is pertinent that 5G enabled communication and Smart Mobility industry will be looking for efficient returns to investment in smart technology, better functionality of the machines and of course the safety point.
Smart Instrumentation today is a large part of asset performance management, where variety of functions, includes power management, maintenance systems, process automation, asset optimisation and safety. In order to deliver on the same, WIKA offers a number of smart products aiming to cover the entire industry range.
For example, WIKA has differential pressure gauges with a pressure switch for monitoring of air pressure which is relevant for pump and pressure applications. Additionally, there are temperature gauges that are used for any industry that needs to monitor its cooling or heating. These applications are all sensor-driven. Not only they can predict the heating and cooling requirements of the surroundings and adjust themselves, the inbuilt mechanism in the system is wired through smart communication that also enables the system to send a signal to the maintenance department in case there is any issue that needs to be addressed.
Electronics Era: As we all know there are various International players who play a leading role in Test & Measurement business in India. How Wika India keeps it ahead from their competitors?
Gaurav Bawa: There are various international players and Indian OEMs who are catering to the test and measurement business in India.
Frost & Sullivan, a market research firm, forecasts that the Indian market for general-purpose electronic T&M instruments alone has touched US$ 300 million by 2022 and growing. It has enough scope for every firm to operate and sustain, as long as there is quality product and service. WIKA not only provides quality service and products, it hand holds the client for smooth integration of these products and helps them with predictive maintenance, ensuring doorstep service.
Electronics Era: How do you observe the rapid changing digital landscape across Industry?
Gaurav Bawa: India is an emerging hotbed for test and measurement equipment, given the major technology impact on every sector, including start-ups and traditional industries. Led by emerging trends like green mobility, rapid urbanisation, open stack, 5G communications—demand for smart appliances are on the rise. Coupled with government’s focus on smart transition to green energy, hi-tech manufacturing processes, health industry, communication tools, and smart transportation, the testing and measurement market is expected to experience unprecedented growth in India. Enhanced adoption of electronic devices and increased penetration of modular instrumentation in every appliance at the individual level has also increased the demand for precision test and measurement tools.
Electronics Era: Quality & Services are two main pillars for any company. What standards does Wika follow to maintain that?
Gaurav Bawa: WIKA Instruments India has established and operates a quality and environment management system according to the requirements of international standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001). WIKA already complies with all national and international environmental legislation. In addition to the highest quality, continuous attention is also paid to energy savings in manufacturing.
On its 75th anniversary, WIKA has aligned its Sustainability Strategy with a focus on minimized carbon footprint both in its own production and supply chain management. While we have embraced renewable energy sources in all our plants in a big way, we also handhold or suppliers in implementing best practices and help our customers with predictive maintenance—thus leading to comprehensive Sustainability story.
Electronics Era: What key Products that Wika adds in its catalogue in 2022-23?
Gaurav Bawa: WIKA has launched variable products in 2022-23. Recently it launched the model FSFD– the fire sprinkler flow detector model, designed to detect the water flow in wet pipe sprinkler, designed to detect the water flow in wet sprinkler systems once the sprinkler has been triggered. The flow switch is fitted with a pneumatic time delay mechanism that can be set from 0 … 70 seconds via an adjustment dial to avoid false alarms during water surges. Two sets of microswitches activate the control panel and the local audible warnings The tamper-proof screws on the cover prevents any unauthorized access to the switch point setting.
WIKA also launched the PSM-630 —an automatic heavy duty pressure switch for applications like air compressor and water pumps. The model PSM-630 can also be used in industrial control, monitoring and alarm applications. The switch point is engineered in such a way that it can be manually adjusted by the customer on site and also adjustable for automatic cut-off within the prescribed range. Entire electrical system can be controlled by the pressure switch to maintain the pressure of the storage unit.
Electronics Era: According to you, what key emerging technologies and trends do you foresee shaping 2023 and ahead?
Gaurav Bawa: Green Technology, not only for Green Hydrogen as fuel, but for every industry is going to be a reality. Technology for sustainability has been leveraged in automobiles, engineering, heavy industries and what not.
Apart from this 6G and 5G are the resolute forces behind every smart technology that the industries are adopting. AI is going to get smarter while metaverse and quantum computing for R&D will user in smart and new technical interventions.
