For more than 50 years, Leuze electronic has been developing, producing and marketing efficient sensor solutions for industrial automation around the world. The company is specialist with solid application know-how and comprehensive industry knowledge. Excerpts from an eInterview with Industrial Products Finder...

'The Sensor People' is how this 50-year old company described. What are the origins?

Leuze electronic GmbH + Co KG was established in 1963, near Stuttgart, Germany, and has now grown into a Euro 141 Mn (approx Rs 10,000 crore) company with more than 1000 employees.

What are the different types of sensors/products on offer?

Leuze has three divisions, namely:

• Detection: Photo sensors, proximity, measuring sensors, color/contrast sensors
• Identification: Barcode scanners, machine vision, RFID, positioning sensors, and
• Protection: Safety light curtain, safety scanner, safety door switches, etc.

Sensors are inseparable from safety and security related products. What are the products and applications here?

Our division "Protection" deals with safety and security related fields. Applications are typically in machine tools, automotive and general machinery. These can be related to area guarding, AGVs, finger/hand protection in hydraulic presses, door locking of dangerous operation, and/or perimeter guarding, e.g., robotic applications.

We also have infra red light (invisible), which can be used for security in case of trespassing which can go as long as 120 metres in range.

How long has the company been operating in India? What changes have you witnessed during this period in the manufacturing sector in India?

The Indian subsidiary was established in 2012, but our presence was there through service providers from year 2008. The growth in manufacturing sector is slow, however automation pace is much faster, may be 15%. The industry has understood the importance of automation to optimise operations and reduce manual mistakes. We expect this year that apart from automation, core manufacturing sector grows as well, indications are bright after new government formation.

With growing automation, sensors today have millions of applications. What are the changing trends?

Sensors are used everywhere today - from making small pins for tracking to large commercial aircraft and huge cruise ships - these are the primary devices in machines and equipment to send signals and are called "eyes" of automation. Simple example of changing trends is in food and beverages industries. Earlier in a typical soft drinks factory a man use to sit under light to check labels, cap and filling of liquid in a bottle and use to miss one or the other parameters. But with sensors and vision system, all these processes are automated and one can ensure zero error.

The market is crowded with many global sensor manufacturers. What is the USP that differentiates your company and products?

100% right! You need to be different. We are close to customer with personal touch, we take fast decisions, we offer very competitive price, we keep stock on behalf of our OEMs, we have a good team for technical support, we do less paper work in case of return, repair or warrantee and above all, we ensure very good quality and user-friendly features, ensured by our R&D team.

Do you have manufacturing activity in India or it is just a marketing/servicing operation? How cost competitive are these products?

No as of now, the nearest manufacturing base is in China! We are competitive but it depends on niche products, quantity, etc., as well. There are few cost effective sensors now sold as commodity items.

How does the cost of ownership over the life cycle compare with competition?

Since these are non-contact type sensors, life is long - a typical sensor will have 100 thousand hours of working, which is around 11 years. Taking other considerations, Leuze sensors have worked 8-10 years in many cases. Then there are commodity items, which you can expect to work for 3-4 years. These are use and throw types. For certain high end products we give warrantee of 24 months. In the long run, these turn out to be economical. Yes, in the process we also lose some spares business due to less failure!

What are the company's achievements? Especially in terms of breakthrough product launches?

Amongst all peers, our growth was fastest and in small time we are already up the chart at No. 4 in India. Others on top are not far ahead, but have been in India for decades whereas we started in 2012. This growth was possible with our different thinking and innovative products. We put 20% profit back into innovations and R&D. In India, we are leaders in textiles followed by packaging and labelling application. We are also strong in machine tools, automotive and printing.

How is the present business environment?

The market is picking up and is good, except for automotive, which looks flat at the moment, and so has affected related industries like machine tools and tyres as well. Steel and power is down too.

On a positive note, food and beverages, textiles, cement, pharma and some other sectors are up. Core sector is not doing good, but now it looks positive this year with the governments 'Make in India' initiative.

What are the future plans for India?

We have excessive plan for hiring in the first place. We are starting service centre in India to repair products locally. We have already started assembly of inductive switches (low cost commodity item) to offer very competitive price from India. The raw materials will be imported from Germany and quality assured under German technology and supervision.

Leuze electronic Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. Tel: 080-41219334. Fax: 91-80-41497195. Email: info@leuze.in