Systeme LAUER to set up Indian arm soon

Systeme LAUER, the number two automation company of Germany, plans to set up a subsidiary in India within few months.

Thomas Hartmann, in charge of software development at LAUER told Business Standard that the company was exploring the options of either setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India or forming a joint venture with Elecom Software, the company from which it was outsourcing software.

The Indian company would initially take up product support activities and later will market the company's products in India and the Asian region.

The idea is to convert India into a marketing hub for Asian countries.

"We would be surveying the Indian automation industry soon and we will plan our marketing strategy and the size of the company according to the survey report," he said.

"If India and the Asian region provides enough opportunity, we may also think of setting up a manufacturing base," he added.

LAUER is gradually moving all its software development outsourcing to India from countries like Russia and Bulgaria. "We are now outsourcing all new projects software development from India, which has turned out to be the most effective for us," he added.

"Although we do not directly sell to India as of now, our porducts are being used in the country through companies like Alstom, which is our client in Germany. There are other vendors who have also sold our automation products but we don't have the actual count as to how many of our equipment are being used," he said.