Que: Fuji Electric has been serving the Indian market since 1985. Can you share the key milestones and progress achieved in the last three decades?

Ans: The journey of Fuji Electric India has been an exciting one. We have been able to grow organically in the country, thanks to our high-quality products powered by Japanese technology. Our presence in India was way before we set up our 100 percent subsidiary in 2009. 

Since then strengthening local expansion was Fuji Electric’s core objective in India. As part of this strategy acquisition of Consul Neowatt, which was the biggest UPS company in India, aided in streamlining the growth graph of Fuji Electric India. Over the next decade, Fuji Electric increased its presence across India to take the lead in the lift and escalator drive market. Not just that, we became a leading motion control solutions provider for packaging and special purpose machines. Our numbers summarise our story better - 1200+ employees, 400+ service engineers, 80+ service locations, 2 manufacturing facilities, 18+ sales locations, and 2 R&D centres supported by 100+ channel partners. 

Our recent expansion of the Chennai plant with extra added capacity of 65000 Square Feet taking total manufacturing capacity over 3.5 Lakhs Square feet enabling our entire solutions to be ‘Made In India’.

We are ramping up our R&D centers (both Chennai and Pune). These centers are furnished with cutting-edge lab facilities that will enable Fuji Electric product development and the creation of the company's next generation of products, all in keeping with the company's goal to foster innovation to bring more and more solutions that solve complex power backup and automation challenges of our customers.

Que: How does the Indian market fit into Fuji Electric's global strategy? Are there any specific challenges or opportunities unique to the Indian context?

Ans: India is on its way to fulfill its long-held goal of becoming the world's factory as supply chains are being ‘de-risked’, or moved out of China. For many years, the authorities of India believed that the manufacturing-driven economic growth model, which worked so successfully for countries in Northeast Asia like China, Japan, and South Korea, could also work in their own country. Similar to China, India possesses a vast labour pool comprising both professional and unskilled workers, which is essential for developing into a low-cost producer and exporter.

The ‘Make in India’ campaign was launched by the government of India to persuade multinational corporations to relocate their factories to India. This initiative has made India a leading manufacturer of smartphones.

Also, the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme which aims to boost manufacturing in India by giving manufacturers subsidies, has had considerable success. 

These initiatives and the overall manufacturing growth of India attract manufacturers to setup plants here in India and boost the demand for our solutions. 

Fuji Electric India is well-equipped to address the evolving energy needs of the India market. With our 100 years of expertise, we are delivering reliable, innovative, and sustainable solutions that are contributing to India’s growth. Challenges are bound to be there, but our robust team is capable of handling everything and will work around it to get the best solution.

Our products will always align with the specific requirements of the customers. Our R&D centres develop products that address customer challenges specific to Indian conditions.  

Que: How is Fuji Electric positioning itself to meet the evolving needs of the Indian market, especially in areas like energy storage, solar power plants, and smart cities? 

Ans: Experts feel that there is a substantial development opportunity in the Indian market for battery energy storage systems, mostly due to technological advancements in new battery technologies. Furthermore, the market for recovered EV batteries in India is expected to reach 128 GWh by 2030 according to expert data, making the adoption of sustainable recycling processes imperative.

India's ambitious goal of achieving approximately 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, along with technological advancements in new battery technologies aimed at energy storage, are expected to drive lucrative growth opportunities for the country's BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) market in the coming period.

Based on this growth scenario, Fuji Electric India recently launched PV1500 series central inverters for large-scale solar plants. The inverters are available from 1,042 kVA up to 4,167 kVA and offer DC/AC ratio up to 1.6 and peak efficiency of 98.8 percent. With remote solar panel monitoring and diagnostic service, the inverter improves productivity and reduces downtime. We are focusing on developing a high-efficiency power conditioning system (PCS), incorporating internally produced power semiconductors. In Japan, Fuji Electric has a notable 15 percent market share, reflecting its commitment to deliver reliable solutions. We wish to replicate the same in India.

Que: In the automation domain, Fuji Electric offers a comprehensive portfolio. How are these solutions tailored to meet the specific challenges faced by industries in India? 

Ans: FEI offers products including variable frequency drives (VFDs), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMI), and servo drive systems. These solutions enable efficient factory automation, process automation and enhanced productivity for various industries. Our diverse product portfolio & technological expertise along with years of experience is helping us customise solutions for the specific challenges faced. Our clientele includes almost all industries and hence, we have, over the years, picked up the acumen to provide the best possible solution. 
 
Using the best control technologies, IoT technologies developed through frontline operations, engineering support, and exceptional machinery, we build a range of goods that satisfy current demands.
 
Fuji Electric India provides unique solutions for several industry sectors, resulting in significant cost savings and efficiency through detailed planning and implementation. For smart office buildings, data centres, specialty hospitals, renewable energy projects, ports, or commercial offices, Fuji Electric offers solutions that not only cut costs but also avoid excessive rework and project overruns.

Que: Power quality remains a challenge for many enterprises in India. How do Fuji Electric's Active Harmonics Filters (AHF) and Servo Control Voltage Stabilisers (SCVS) address these challenges, and what has been the market response to these solutions?

Ans: The Active Harmonic Filter (AHF) from Fuji Electric India offers an efficient method to mitigate harmonics, and process-related voltage fluctuations, and improve equipment operating life and system capacity of equipment. It could be a component of a harmonic filtering and power factor correction system. The power supply to the electrical equipment installed in a data centre is very important because if it is cut off, the data will be lost. Internet and communication services will be shut down. Fighting fluctuations is just as important as power cuts. The stable operation of the electrical equipment and the saving of energy have become major issues for data centre operators, and we are addressing these by installing AHF. 
 
Servo stabilizer is a system, which provides stable Alternate Current (AC) output voltage where the input power supply voltage changes drastically. It protects the costly equipment from high and low voltage problems. It also increases the life of equipment and increases the productivity of machines and reduces wastage and damage of raw materials by providing a stable electric supply.

We need Servo Controlled Voltage Stabilizer (SCVS) to control the voltage alterations and provide a stabilized voltage output supply to different kinds of simple and complex electric and electronic equipment in houses, shopping malls, offices, industries, hospitals, etc. Voltage fluctuations may be over-voltage or under-voltage. Several disturbances occur due to them.

The market response to these problems is very good and we are glad about it. 

Que: The expansion plan in Pune and Chennai includes increased manufacturing space and the introduction of new products. Can you tell us more about the progress of these expansions?

Ans: As mentioned earlier, we are increasing our investments in India and aim to increase our market share. We have a clearly charted-out plan for the next three years, for which expansion in all aspects is inevitable. In March, we set up a world-class manufacturing facility in Chennai at the cost of INR 150 crores to meet the customers’ demands, both in India and abroad.

We are working wards becoming an INR 1500 crore company by the end of 2024. Our focus on innovations in electric and thermal energy technology will continue to be sharpened. Fuji Electric India will march ahead with the single intention of significantly contributing to the sustainable development of the energy sector.