Sylvac SA, one of the world leaders in the field of high-technology digital measuring instruments, has set up a subsidiary in India to look after marketing and servicing of its products. On the occasion of the launch, the company's CEO, Eric Schnyder, in an exclusive interview with Industrial Products Finder (IPF), elaborates about the portfolio of its products and future strategies.

Could you elaborate about Sylvac SA?

Based in Switzerland, we are proud to have more than 40 years experience in the development and manufacturing of high-precision measuring tools. We have three production plants in three different cities where the main Swiss knowledge for micro-mechanics and electronics are concentrated. The company employs more than 150 people to manufacture the various products and up to 90 per cent of our products are exported, primarily to Europe, out of which a major chunk of our customers are in Germany. These precision measuring instruments are used for engineering and non-engineering industries, calibration and testing laboratories, railways, defence organisations, pharmaceutical units, etc., for measurement and calibration purposes. These instruments include electronic Vernier calipers, micrometers, dial gauges, linear probes, digital read-out systems, dial calibration testers, bench comparators, height gauges, online measurement systems, and accessories.

What has prompted you to set up an Indian subsidiary?

The main driving force is that we want to be closer to our customers in India so as to be able to offer them our latest products and provide efficient and timely after-sales service. We would also like to provide on-site training for our technologically advanced products. Our objective is to enter into long-term development and partnership, in harmony with the country's environment and culture. This proximity to our users will definitely help boost sales. Moreover, we find that the Indian industry has many young engineers on its production floors who are always in search of instruments of the highest quality with the latest technology. They would be our target users.

India has all the required scale and a very strong internal market, which we aim to tap. The market for hand tools in India is about 30 million dollars out of which we are eyeing a 10 per cent share in the next two to three years.

How did this subsidiary materialize?

It has come about due to our long-term association with Mr Arun Kudale who has several decades' experience in the field of metrology and his own company making measurement systems. He is now our director in India and has helped us through the process of setting up the Indian subsidiary. Having studied the market and being assured of good growth in the coming years, we have planned to invest about 2 million Swiss francs (more than 2 million USD) in the next two years.

What is your product portfolio for this year?

With many innovations, 2014 is set to be a very promising year for Sylvac. Having signed a partnership with French company Metro, we can now offer extremely attractive new products that supplement our range of inductive units and probes. As of today, there is an important innovation at Sylvac: our new D70i/H, D400S and D300S V2 units are now compatible with the probes and instruments of other brands thanks to our M-Bus multiplexers. This allows us not only to broaden our customer base, but also to re-position ourselves among the world leaders in the field of multi-dimension measurement.

In addition to the new probes and units, we now also offer the S_Dial Pro Basic, a new long travel comparator with 0.1 ?m resolution and incredible precision, along with a new disk probe micrometer and upcoming spherical probe. These new innovations come to reinforce our existing success with our Bluetooth? comparators, which will be offered with a new caliper and Bluetooth micrometer within the next few months. All these innovations will reinforce Sylvac's bold and high-end image, which it intends to promote in the future in order to become the industry's preferred solutions supplier.

Could you elaborate about the incorporation of Bluetooth technology?

It is a new milestone achieved in the field of wireless data acquisition. Launched a few months ago, our S_Dial Work BT indicators with built-in Bluetooth 4.0 module will soon be able to be connected directly to computers equipped with Windows 8.1 and to Smartphone, tablets and devices running Android 4.3 and IOS7, without using any dongle. A free demo app will be available on the Google Store (Android market) in the coming weeks. This innovation will open up new opportunities in the field of data acquisition.

To simplify data acquisition in existing software or system, we have also developed a virtual interface called Vmux that allows assigning virtual COM port to each Bluetooth indicator connected. Customers who need to integrate digital indicators into their systems will quickly understand the benefits of our technology, particularly since our S_Dial Work BT indicators are equipped with a Duplex electronics and can also receive remote commands sent from the computer. Our Bluetooth digital indicators can be connected wireless to a multitude of platforms and peripheral devices at low cost. There is no need to buy expensive add-on equipment.

Is it true that bench tables make for your main domain area?

Yes, these bench tables are used by watch manufacturers and adapted for the smallest measurements. Further, they can be customized for both internal and external diameters. We have three products in this category. The PS15 is a small horizontal or vertical bench table designed to easily and quickly check small parts up to 20 mm. The measured value can be displayed either with Sylvac digital gauge 12.5 mm range 0.01 mm or 0.001 mm reading, or to reach an overall accuracy of 0.6 ?m and a repeatability of 0.2 ?m. This bench table can be equipped with different kind of tables as well as with several types of anvils of any shapes.

The PS16 tables are designed to check internal up to 70 mm and external dimensions up to 50 mm. The VS and LVS versions have an integrated display as well as an opto-RS 232 output. The VP and LVP versions have an integrated P25 or P50 Sylvac probe. A ball bearing, an adjustable and reversible measuring force, as well as many other features and accessories make these tables a must for workshops and inspection rooms. The PS17 measuring bench offers great flexibility of use with fix spindle adjustable XZ; accurate micrometer screw for pre-positioning; compatibility with Sylvac anvils (