Life cycle of a motor depends on the usage and how much the motor is being used for applications. The main factor is the quality of winding, and if that is of optimum quality, the efficiency of the motor increases which translates to the machinery, explains Rahul B Goyal, Managing Director, Mieco Pumps and Generators Pvt Ltd.

 

How is the motors industry performing currently?

 

At present, the government has mandated all motors to have IE2 efficiency. So this has been a game-changer in this industry. Hitherto there were a lot of small manufacturers who were making motors, and there was really no checks on them, and the efficiency part of these motors. Most of them have now closed down because they are not able to compete with the pricing. But the other effect of that is the supply issue for the motors which has delayed in most of the cases. Especially for special motors like brake motors, the delivery time 

has increased.

 

Can you tell us which are the sectors that have the highest demand for motors?

 

Motors are an integral part of machinery. So any industry which has got machineries in their premise, they will need motors for that. There are many people who are doing OEM machinery manufacturing. For them, they need motors constantly on a regular basis. Motors are used for a particular process, whether they are used in a conveyor belt, robotic arms or any process for that matter.

 

What types of motors are used for your industrial pumps? 

 

We use flame-proof motors, gear motors, crane duty motors, brake motors, etc.  Life cycle depends on the usage and how much the motor is being used for applications. The main factor is the quality of winding, and if that is of optimum quality, the efficiency of the motor increases, which translates to the machinery. A motor will have a standard life per se. In MNCs and critical government companies, such as railways and defence, they have a particular life cycle of a motor calculated. Irrespective of the functioning, after that cycle they decommission that motor and put a standby motor and get it serviced. Generally, the life of motors is very good, if you are buying from a reputed brand.

 

What is the role of automation in the production of motors?

 

Yes definitely. The first and foremost thing is the winding, because the finer the winding, the more efficient it is. There is less failure and that also has to enamelled neatly, which are done through automation. The more machinery what we are using today, gives a better life at that.

 

In what ways can the motors increase the efficiency of a machine?

 

Moving forward, we have to look at the compactness of motors. That is something that the Indian industry needs to see. When we compare them to pumps or machineries in China, they have really compact motors, which our industry is not manufacturing. The more compact it is, the better it is for our machineries because based on motors, the size of the machinery increases. So the bigger the motor size or the raw materials inside any machinery, it also relates to the increased cost of production. Compact motors can result into more efficient and compact machines, which people in other categories can also use.

 

What do you think are the major challenges facing the motors industry?

 

The major challenge is the cost vs efficiency scenario. While the rest of the world has already geared up to higher efficiency power, we are still in efficiency level 2, which happened long back. So with the presence of so many industries pan-India, there is huge loss of power due to this reason over a number of years. Hence there is a need to gear up the efficiency level and at least reach IE3 or IE4, but with a lower cost. The power industry should be able to sustain this cost. Many of the imported motors have much better finish and efficiency. So the motors should be made compact, maintaining the quality. If the motor prices increase, it affects scores of SMEs, since motors are an integral part of any SME today. For any machine they will require motors, and since they are running the machines 24x7, the life of the motors are also limited. This will require replacing the motors frequently. So how fast we are able to gear up the efficiency level and maintain the price is the matter in question.