WEISS Expands Expertise with Solution Factory

Published on : Thursday 10-11-2022

WEISS has more than 55 years of experience in automation systems especially in rotary indexing tables.

Only two years after WEISS opened its Campus at Chakan, near Pune, the specialist for rotary indexing tables, linear transfer systems and handling solutions has expanded its on-site expertise with a Solution Factory, localised the assembly of its rotary indexing tables and established a Global Sourcing Centre.
 
In 2020, a year determined by the Corona pandemic, WEISS GmbH from Buchen, Germany, took an important step and opened its Campus in Pune, India. After only two years, WEISS Automation Solutions India Pvt Ltd has now established a Solution Factory, where components and subsystems that meet the needs of the local market will be designed and realised. The automation solutions satisfy the requirements of customers and sectors in the APAC region as well as users in China. For the record, Pune in India is one of the four global facilities of WEISS designated as a Lead Factory, the other three being located in Buchen – Germany, Cleveland – USA and Shanghai – China.
 
At the opening ceremony held in mid-October 2022, Uwe Weiss, CEO of parent company WEISS, and Sanjeebit Choudhury, Vice President Asia Pacific and CEO of WEISS India, welcomed numerous guests of honour. The list included Ms Achim Fabig, General Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms Silja Weiss, Ingo Nenninger, Group CFO, WEISS GmbH, and Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India Office, and members of the trade media.
 
Speaking on the occasion, Uwe Weiss congratulated the India team led by Sanjeebit Choudhury for making effective use of the Covid period to connect with the user industries in India and achieving a sales growth of over 50% year-on-year since setting up the WEISS Campus in early 2020. “India has a very high potential when it comes to economic growth and the number of skilled people available in the labour market. At the same time, the geographical position of India, particularly the Pune location, is ideal for us as the starting point for supplying our customers reliably throughout the entire Asian region, increasing the customer service activities such as after-sales services, refurbishment and retrofit support and spare part delivery,” said Weiss.

WEISS has more than 55 years of experience in automation systems especially in rotary indexing tables. These were first designed to meet the requirements of the automotive industry but nowadays are installed in automation systems to a broad range of industries such as communication, life science, electronics, and consumer goods. The local experts collaborate closely with their colleagues in Buchen (Germany) in order to ensure the high quality standards of WEISS. In addition, they support customers in engineering as well as in commissioning of the WEISS components and solutions. In the long run WEISS plans to establish an academy for both employees and customers. The overall strategy is to connect experts in the field of automation from different industries to open a knowledge exchange platform not only for India but for the whole APAC region. To Sanjeebit Choudhury it is especially important to share the organisation’s knowledge to increase customer centricity and improve the company’s performance for customers.
 
To keep delivery times as short as possible for the rotary indexing tables, which have proven their value for decades, selected product types and sizes will be assembled in India in the future. Furthermore, the recently opened Solution Factory widens WEISS India’s expertise and makes it a full range supplier in automation. The components and solutions designed and made in India will meet the expectations not only of customers from India but from a broader market region. As WEISS has decades of experience in setting up automated assembly processes, it is also a reliable partner for both – beginners in the field of automation as well as advanced companies dealing with optimisation issues and digitisation. Offering CAD data and simulation models facilitates construction of whole automation systems and virtual commissioning.
 
Later in the evening, a panel discussion was held at a city venue on the theme ‘Global Meets Local – Design to Value’. The panellists included Uwe Weiss, CEO, WEISS Group; KV Suresh, Country Head & President, ZF India; Harsha Kadam, MD & CEO Schaeffler India; Preshit Murudkar, MD & CEO, COMAU India Pvt Ltd; and Hemant Watve, MD, Wilo Mather & Platt Pumps Pvt Ltd. Moderated by Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India Office, the discussion centred around how Affordable Automation is the key to Make in India.
 
Each panellist spoke about the strategies followed by their respective organisations in terms of firming up their presence in the country, making use of the local resources to develop products not only for the local market which is price sensitive, but also to export these to other markets that have similar profile. The emphasis on investing in localisation of supplies to achieve higher indigenisation and reduce dependence on imports also figured high in this scheme of things. While the overall atmosphere was not very conducive for manufacturing to flourish in the early years of the post liberalisation era, the situation is now changing thanks to the many proactive policies of the government. The panellists also agreed on more digitalisation as the way forward, especially in terms of enhanced quality and better safety. Finally, there was also consensus on the urgency to address the needs of the MSMEs in terms of enriching their knowledge base and a solution based approach to problem solving.
 
(A detailed interview with Uwe Weiss is published in the following pages.)