The cement industry, as a whole, is in the process of automation in India. In an exclusive chat with Indian Cement Review,Karl-heinz Kaul, Global CEO, Siemens Industry Automation Control Equipment, speaks on the challenges faced by the industry and the paradigm shift in control equipment engineering over a period of time.What are the challenges you feel are faced by the industrial automation and control equipment sector as far as the cement industry is concerned?Cement industry needs specialized kind of equipment which can work in rough conditions. The challenge here is to make operations competitive with an increase in production levels. We also have to keep energy consumption low for ensuring cost effectiveness. Safety is also an important feature which needs to be paid attention to.What are the different sub divisions of the industry automation division of Siemens
Industrial automation division is highly customer focused with a unique combination of automation technologies, industrial switching technology and software. The different sub divisions of Industry automation division include:??Control Components and System Engineering??Siemens PLM Software??Industrial Automation Systems??Sensors and Communications??Water technologiesPlease comment on how efficiency of the production process can be enhanced through Product Lifecycle ManagementInnovation has always been a part of the Siemens value chain. It is in our genes. We always look at whole innovation cycle. It starts with an idea and it ends with the life cycle management of products. We have a global R&D setup in India. Our R&D is followed by detailed product life cycle management process. The PLM process ensures a cross-functional team for any new product development. The PLM process has defined milestones with elaborate checklist to ensure error free design and minimise risk. Only after clearing one milestone, the project team is allowed to proceed to the next. This helps in taking care of issues at the right time and ensures right time to the market. The final product is the result of a comprehensive research in the area of manufacturing technology, raw material and manufacturing processes. Our in house facilities for product type testing and life testing helps us validate the products before they are introduced in the market.What we are doing in Siemens is we use engineering software, 3D software but we do not stop, we design and forward to management execution system then go for simulation of manufacturing and automation equipment. Whole chain is part of our scope. We offer these product life cycle management softwares to our customers to be used by their R&D departments for developing products. We want to create productivity for customer. We want to increase productivity and whole life time support. We call it digital enterprise. So we do step by step digital end of life and to do all these connected together with no interface. We utilize software packages easily together. We do step by step in network innovations. We call it network innovation. This is future of innovation from our point of view.We are trying to develop production in addition we did also design. We were focused We sell product to customer/product with CAD that you can easily load in computer and you can do engineering much easier and faster. We are enabling our customer to reduce time. R&D is becoming important in this age.What is the difference between the German and Indian market with regards to the IA, CE domain?Germany is a high end market with a different functional ethos. The Indian market, on the other hand, is cost driven. The products and solutions in the Indian market are largely local in nature.What are the challenges you face in the Indian market?The challenge in the Indian market is to attain a certain proximity with the customer as the geographical reach of the country is huge with varying tastes and aspirations of the customer. Training has to be provided to the customer for which technical experts have to be made available. The return on investment also needs to be taken into account alongwith monetary and safety benefits.With the euro crisis in the Eurozone and problems faced by the US economy, what is the impact you have felt?I believe the impact has been minimal. The German economy has not been affected hugely. The crisis in the USA is on a corrective course with the construction industry developing rapidly. The Asian market has remained resolutely strong in the face of the crisis. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries hold tremendous potential for us.What has been the paradigm shift in CE engineering over a period of time?The latest innovations of sizes S00 and S0 up to 40 A, the SIRIUS modular system now offers even more functional diversity: In addition to the basic components (such as contactors, circuit breakers and overload relays), the innovative SIRIUS modular system offers unprecedented highlights:Spring loaded terminals: Spring loaded terminals provide the key benefits like short assembly / disassembly time, very high contact reliability and shock and vibration proof terminalsDirect mounted monitoring relays: First time in industry you have a choice to mount current monitoring relay on the contactorFunction Modules: Function module can be directly mounted onto the contactor for the easy assembly of direct on line, reversing and star delta starters. They replace the need of control wiring and auxiliary contactsCommunication capability: SIRIUS innovation is the first to offer open communication protocol like AS-i and IO link