Electronics Manufacturers Need to Adopt New Technologies to Support the Needs of Diverse Segments

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Industry Outlook Team

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In an interaction with Industry Outlook, Rajeev Sharma, Chief Strategy Officer, Mitsubishi Electric India Pvt. Ltd. shares his views on the current trends in electronics manufacturing industry in India and how it is evolving with new technology adoption.

How do you see the electronics manufacturing industry in India? Which technologies are accelerating the evolution of this segment and how?

The electronics manufacturing industry in India is growing significantly and expected to grow more in the upcoming years as well. Many manufacturers including the Japanese companies who have diverse expertise in manufacturing electronics goods are eager to explore the domestic market in India.

The technologies which are accelerating the evolution of the electronics manufacturing Industry are the availability and technical support of advanced key components like Semiconductors. For example, Mitsubishi Electric has created a Small, High-efficiency Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power Amplifier Module for 5G Base-Stations. The new technology eliminates the need for transmission lines in 5G power amplifiers. It also reduces the 5G base-stations power consumption. With the introduction of such technology, the electronics manufacturers would be able to understand and adopt to best technology to support needs of diverse segments from telecom to traction.

Another example is the J1-Series pin-fin direct water-cooling structure, mainly for motor drive applications in electric and hybrid vehicles. The company’s new module is expected to contribute to further compactness, weight reduction, and reduced power consumption in inverters for electric and hybrid vehicles. Mitsubishi Electric pioneered the mass production of power semiconductor modules for hybrid vehicles in 1997. In our context this module is now available for manufacturers and designers so that they could explore, test and seek feasibility of making Electric vehicle components locally with indigenous technologies.

Apart from better availability of key components and the core technology to develop electronics manufacturing, Factory Automation products and solutions are also supporting to increase their efficiency and productivity. The automation technology has evolved so much over time that it is now possible to control and monitor the whole manufacturing facility remotely.

What are the most pressing challenges faced by electronics manufacturers in terms of new technology adoption? How can they address those challenges?

The most pressing challenge faced by the electronics manufacturers in terms of new technology is creating cost-efficient products. The investment needed in technology and manpower for an electronics manufacturer is huge. This is because of the nature of the products, and high precision required.
Partnership is the key. We share latest technologies, train their manpower and support product development with the help of highly skilled technical teams. We have been supporting manufacturing more from a technical support perspective than a product perspective. In India, we have a strong presence with 6 technical centers and 3 Service Centers, along with almost 18 Authorized Service Centers (with 2 in Bangladesh and 1 in Sri Lanka)

IoT is being adopted aggressively in electronics manufacturing but there are concerns related to data protection and integration with legacy machines. How can manufacturers overcome these challenges?

Data is the biggest asset for corporations these days and I agree that there are concerns from manufacturers about protection of data.
The Mitsubishi Electric FA Systems are secure by design since it uses dedicated Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) with its own Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) as CPU, thus reducing the overall accessibility and vulnerability. The access to a shop-floor automation equipment, for example, a PLC is protected with layers of user access systems as standard, which is a big deterrent for intruders.

As a technology company, we play an important role in making the IT Ecosystem of manufacturers secure by advising them with a secure IT infrastructure which has multilayer access control and minimum ports to access external world. In addition, we ask manufacturers to consider setting up firewalls, installing antivirus software in personal computers, and controlling the entrance into and exit from factories to protect the FA systems from cyber-attacks.

Predictive maintenance is becoming imperative for manufacturers across the globe. How should manufacturers devise their predictive maintenance strategy to reduce downtime and ensure business continuity?

Manufacturers need to increase machine availability and reduce unscheduled downtime to respond to global competition and manage maintenance and maximize production. While devising the predictive maintenance strategy, the benchmark or the KPI should manage both planned & unplanned downtimes. The Unplanned downtime lowers down asset availability while routine periodic or preventative maintenance reduces utilization. But predictive maintenance helps to predict a failure and take corrective actions at right time It also reduces maintenance costs because maintenance is done whenever it is necessary.

Manufacturers need to train their maintenance teams to study the machine data carefully to manage predictive maintenance. Machine data collected from each machine should be assessed with the machine’s normal pattern of operation. Any inconsistencies should be noted and be considered for corrective action. This strategy supports the whole manufacturing process and ensures that maintenance activity and its cost optimization support the market demand and supply variations.

By integrating VR with computer-aided design, designers can make changes to the product before the production begins. How do you see the application of AR/VR in the electronics manufacturing industry?

Our Customers are seeking intelligent products and solutions that can support them in the future. Various industries are exploring diverse technologies. Applications of technologies like AR/VR are now driving many sectors.

Nowadays, AI is becoming an important technology for Industries Machine learning is one of the fields of AI, and it is already being used in industries - from automated driving to medical devices. We are working towards embedding Mitsubishi Electric’s AI - MAISART* technology in our products and solutions like Collaborative Robots, Inverters and Servo Drives, which can help the electronics manufacturing industry more productive and to increase operational efficiencies.

3D Printing is bringing about a revolution in the manufacturing industry by enabling production anytime anywhere. How do you see its application in the electronics manufacturing segment?

3D printing allows design engineers to design freely. The application of 3D printing in the Electronics Manufacturing segment will lead to in-house prototyping of the product design which will significantly reduce the cost and dependency on a third party which has been a usual industry practice. I am sure this will bring agility in the whole electronics manufacturing ecosystem and motivate manufacturers to innovate more and create strong reach and development functions as well which takes us up in the ladder of innovation.

What role can technology play in transforming the supply chain in electronics industry? How can manufacturers accomplish it to operate their business more efficiently?

Technology is playing a key-role in transforming the supply chain of the electronics industry. With a more data driven approach which is a win-win situation for all, nowadays manufacturers and OEMs are working as partners with better exchange of data which is reducing their inventory and making the whole supply chain very lean and productive.

Japanese companies who are pioneers of Lean Management are already doing a very good job in using technology to operate their business and supply chain ecosystem more efficiently. They use software which can be accessed by all stakeholders from sales teams to OEMs, so that the market demand and component supply from OEM can be optimized to reduce the overall business efficiency.