With three business units (Perfect Welding, Perfect Charging, and Solar Energy), Fronius India (a subsidiary of Fronius International) has shown phenomenal growth and has considerable market share. With more than 35,000 machines currently operational in India, Fronius has become the most preferred welding equipment supplier in the country. In this interview. with Rakesh Rao, V V Kamath, Managing Director, Fronius India Pvt Ltd, explains how changes in the user-industries are leading to new trends in the welding processes and technologies.

How is Fronius fulfilling the welding requirements of the manufacturing sector? Which industries are driving the demand for your welding solutions?
As infrastructure projects are in their early phases, industries like railways, construction, and construction equipment manufacturing are in demand. Due to the "Make in India" initiative, the rest of the manufacturing sectors are also on a growth path and in good demand. We, as Fronius, are in open-arc processes to meet the demands of the related industries.

How has the welding industry changed in the last few years? What are some of the emerging trends in the industry?
There are a few new materials that are in use in various sectors to meet the needs of the respective industries. In the welding of such new materials, various joining processes are being explored by the industry, considering the base materials. For example, friction stir welding, handheld laser welding, and 3D printed parts using additive manufacturing are different from regular welding.

We have introduced Plasma/TIG Keyhole Welding to join 8mm to 8mm stainless steel plates without any edge preparation, and this is the revolution in the industry. In addition to this, we have also developed the TWIN Welding Process, which can deposit 20 kg per hour, and this can increase productivity in the construction industry, which is the new industry benchmark. The introduction of tungsten-inserted contact tips, which can improve the life of the contact tip by five times, also plays an important role when we talk about innovation. We are always finding innovative ways to make the lives of welding professionals easier.

What are the key challenges before welders today? How is your company helping them solve these challenges?
Health and safety are important things, and these are the biggest challenges for welders. With the new materials and higher demand for productivity, the welder’s health and safety are very important. Unless they are comfortable, we cannot expect the best result from them. To make their lives comfortable, we have introduced auto darkening helmets, fume extraction units, and fume extraction torches. We also have a range of PPE wearables that are comfortable and have safety reflectors, etc. With our few machines, we are providing gloves and helmets as part of the machines to ensure the safety and health of the welding operators.

With usage of automation and robotics increasing, how is your company tapping this trend?
Fronius is always engaged in collaborative work with robot OEMs and their research and development teams to understand robotic applications and develop innovative and technologically advanced robotic assistance systems. With these robotic assistance systems, the shortcomings of the robotic application are now taken care of and able to make the robotic welding operations more effective, efficient, safe, and productive. Also, there is a demand for the documentation parameters, and we can meet the demand with excellent features like the Application Programming Interface (API) and Weld Cube Documentation Software.

The Through Arc Seam Tracking (TAST), Wire Sense, and Teach modes are a few robotic assistance systems from Fronius to make robotic welding comfortable.

Auto industry is shifting towards electrification. How will the rise in the electric vehicles industry affect the demand for welding?
Electric vehicles need to meet the safety standard, and hence more advanced materials are used in BIW (body in white). Except for the engine and exhaust, all the other parts remain the same. The engine is replaced with a battery and battery management system (BMS). The battery housing also involves a good amount of welding if it is made of steel or aluminium. Hence, the welding will remain the same, whether it is an electric vehicle or an internal combustion (IC) engine vehicle.

What are your growth plans for your company in India?
Fronius is coming up with all-in-one, dedicated machines. The iWave platform can be used as a dedicated TIG machine, MMAW machine, or GMAW/MIG-MAG machine. The same machines can be upgraded to CMT Technology as well. Fronius India caters to all industry sectors with its new and advanced products and processes.

Future growth is possible only with quality welding operators. To meet this, we have introduced an exclusive training program, "Fronius Academia Centre for Skill Training (FACT)," and under this program, we select fresh students who have competed in the ITI welding trade from government ITIs, and then we train them for 45 working days on relevant fields and make them suitable for employment. This year we will be training more than 200 such professionals, and next year we will be coming up with huge numbers.