The European debt crisis and slow-paced recovery from the US slump have helped the robotics industry to look at alternative markets for growth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, says Sandeep Kishore, executive vice-president-engineering R&D services (ERS), HCL Technologies. Talking to S Saroj Kumar of FE, he reveals how robotics technology is going to play a major role in sectors like renewable energy and consumer electronics in developing economies other than the US and Europe.

What is happening in the robotics industry due to de-growth witnessed in established economies?

There is a tectonic shift in the investments made by robotics industry. The investments are now flowing towards emerging markets in the robotics industry. Most of the investments are happening in APAC region given that China & SE Asia where companies have significant manufacturing base. There are two other areas where we are seeing aggressive robotics and automation investments: One being manufacturing facilities that are addressing emerging markets like BRIC and other emerging countries including South Africa, Indonesia and Turkey. The other being investments in sunrise vertical sectors like renewable energy, nano technology and biotechnology have increased while traditional markets including automotive, food & beverages, electronics have seen marginal growth in rates if not reduction. We expect the market to turnaround by 2012 when electronics sales will lead higher investment in robotics & automation.

What is the scope for engineering research in the renewable energy industry?

Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing engineering services market segment for HCL. Customers including established players and start-ups want to focus on core R&D to address yield and return on investment (RoI) increases while seeking a mature engineering player like HCL to aid them in productization of their design concepts. HCL has already implemented 5 designs in the last 12 months for customers in this space and aided customers in complete product development and even low volume manufacturing for some of these designs. In addition, HCL has developed a solution – SMS that helps customers in real time monitoring of their solar installations and alerts users on gaps between potential and actual energy generation. Based on initial experience & installation, we have seen upto 40% better yields through the solution.

Can engineering research and robotics contribute to the lean manufacturing growth of future industries in renewable energy sector?

Absolutely! The number one challenge for renewable energy industry is to deliver better RoI and close this RoI gap with traditional energy sectors. The focus from a product perspective is in better yield management systems and engineering research has a major role to play in converting design concepts to market facing products. However, that is only one of the areas of product cost impact. Improvements in manufacturing through adoption of lean manufacturing techniques will help our customers to drive product costs downward.

Does HCL ERS have any major role in India?s space programme especially in the area of cryogenic technology?

HCL doesn’t comment on specific India defence programmes and our corporate policy. India?s defence and industrial R&D space is a growing market for HCL ERS. We have current defence programmes in the non-weapon systems and are seeing a major growth in this market as there is lot of latent demand. India is expected to spend over $200 billion over the next 10 years on energy, space and defence purchases.

To cater to such a large market, Innovation & R&D investment is expected in India and HCL sees a major opportunity, being the fastest ERS growth player in the recent past. It has seen a significant growth in the Japan ERS market.

HCL is investing in Qatar in a big way keeping in mind Fifa 2022. Does R&D arm have major part in this key account?

West Asia is one of the areas that is fast seeing a significant IT services demand. The uptake of engineering and R&D services is picking up in these areas but most companies are able to leverage their global innovation strategies to address the local middle east markets.

Over the next few years, we expect that huge local demands will drive companies to invest R&D budgets for specific country needs.

The tipping point for local innovation R&D budget is expected to be the technology solutions for Fifa 2022.