The company, which aims to increase contribution of exports to 40-45 per cent by 2020 from present 32 per cent, has tied up with the UK-based PCI Instruments to manufacture diaphragm seals for pressure, differential pressure, flow and level transmitters in India, says Rakesh Rao.

 

 

The Bangalore headquartered Shridhan Automation Pvt Ltd, one of the leading players in field instrumentation market, aims to climb up the value chain by foraying into primary instrumentation space through its tie-up with the UK-based PCI Instruments. “Field instrumentation is divided into primary (which are critical, high-end instrument used for primary purpose) and secondary market. We are leading player in the secondary instrumentation space. Though we have worked with companies who supply primary instruments earlier, we are now foraying into primary instrumentation manufacturing through the collaboration with PCI,” said Gautham Shenoy, GM, Shridhan Automation, during his recent visit to Mumbai. 

 

The 32 years old Shridhan Automation is known to manufacture field instruments for measuring key elements such as level, pressure and flow in process industries like oil & gas, power, steel, pharmaceutical, chemical, food & beverages, marine & mining, etc. Recently, the company introduced a new product line called as PLUS Service Line through its tie-up with PCI Instruments.

 

“In partnership with PCI Instruments, we will be license manufacturing diaphragm seals for pressure, differential pressure, flow and level transmitters. It involves high-tech manufacturing – the know-how for which is provided by the UK firm. We will also provide integration and calibration services. The partnership, which will expand our product line, will help us collaborate with OEMs as well as end-users. We wanted to get into product plus service category for quite some time and the collaboration offers us this opportunity,” commented Shenoy.

 

Besides domestic market, Shridhan Automation also caters to global customers. Over the last decade, the company has been expanding its global reach with a subsidiary in the Middle East (ORBIT Automation FZE based in Sharjah, UAE) and other sales & representative offices in the US, Northern Europe and Asia. The company, which took 7 years to increase exports contribution (to the turnover) from 1 per cent to 32 per cent, is targeting 40 per cent revenue from overseas business by 2020. 

 

Shenoy informed, “Our products are not commodity based, but are application oriented, hence buying and stocking our products is not possible. Only 10 per cent of products are stock able or standardized. At present, we export 32 per cent of our products outside India. By the end of 2020, we aim to take it up to 40-45 per cent. While we will be banking on existing products for this growth, we will be targeting different markets.”

 

Field instruments, which play an important role in process control, help in managing plant assets, enhancing plant safety, and optimising overall production processes through data acquisition, control, and measurement. In India, field instrumentation market (which does not include analytical instruments) is estimated to be in the range of Rs 600-700 crore. In spite of the current slowdown in the manufacturing sector, Shridhan Automation is optimistic to register robust growth. “We expect to grow 15-20 per cent every year. Since we have opted for multi-product, multi-market approach, the impact of the current slowdown has been reduced,” stated Gautham Shenoy. 

 

From applications in the coldest conditions to super-critical temperatures and pressure applications, Shridhan provides its customized solutions suitable for the application. Shenoy elaborated, “Our biggest USP is we are able to deliver most of our products with quickest lead time possible within the industry. The final specifications of field instrumentation are always decided towards the end of the project, which provides little time for installation and commissioning. Hence, our strength of short delivery cycles proves very helpful to our customers.”

 

Speaking about emerging trends in the industry, he said, “This field is technology driven. As long as you are improving technology, you are in the race. We are seeing a growing trend towards non-contact instrumentation products.”

 

While globally companies are adopting digital technologies such as IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), the market for such products in India, according to Shenoy, is still in its infancy. He explained, “IoT and IIoT systems are not governed by IEC standards. Absence of common communication standards is a major stumbling block for the adoption of IIoT in field instrumentation segment. Also, manufacturers in process industry would not like sensitive data to go out as data security is a major concern in a wireless environment.”