 "Bazmi Husain, ABB Group")
Bengaluru-based Bazmi Husain heads the research & development (R&D) vertical of Swiss engineering major ABB that spends $1.5 billion annually on R&D. Bazmi took charge as the chief technology officer of the group in January 2016 after being the managing director of ABB India. Bazmi, who also heads the venture capital arm of the group, tells Jyoti Mukul about the global technology trends and how India is uniquely placed. Edited excerpts:
How important is ABB's India centre in its R&D operations?
India is the largest and fastest growing R&D location for ABB, with footprints across Bengaluru, Chennai, Vadodara and Nashik. The largest of ABB's corporate research centres across seven countries is based in India. And, we have cutting-edge R&D and engineering emerging from here for local and global requirements.
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Along with R&D, the world of service and engineering is also undergoing a transformation with the renewable push, changes in grid architecture and the world of digitisation. In India, we have the biggest HVDC (high voltage direct current) engineering centre outside Sweden and here we are set to double workforce by this year.
A lot of the software work is done out of the India centre - software plays a much larger and differentiating role in the next generation of ABB's products. More than half of ABB's market offering today has software content and this is increasing.
How technologically advanced is the existing infrastructure across various sectors in India? How does it compare globally?
There are inherent dichotomies, which mark the situation across sectors. In power and energy, while our per-capita consumption of power is one of the lowest at 1,010 kilowatt-hour (kWh) and about 250 million people are without continuous access to power, India has the largest operating synchronous grid in the world. Also, by virtue of being a young grid, the grid in India can adapt to - and adopt - new technologies. For instance, integration of renewables or deploying digital sub-station. The UK commissioned its first digital substation this year. In India, the idea was implemented four years ago.
In terms of manufacturing or industries, the most voluble data point possibly is that it takes an average 30 per cent more energy to manufacture one unit of anything in India compared to global benchmarks. Also, less than one per cent of manufacturing GDP comes from automation and instrumentation in India, compared to five per cent in developed countries.
In recent years, the European Union, along with several other countries, such as the US and China, has imposed new rules requiring older, energy-hungry motors to be phased out. These rules, known as minimum energy performance standards (MEPS), specify the minimum acceptable efficiency levels of a product, defining which products can be marketed and sold. Considering that more than 10 Gw of low voltage motors are produced in India annually, MEPS on the European lines could save 2,000 GWh of energy. On an average, it takes 30 per cent more energy to produce one unit of anything in India.
Manufacturing activities already account for one-third of the world's total final energy demand and, with continued growth, industrial demand for energy is expected to rise rapidly, highlighting the importance of energy efficiency. India will benefit from being a late starter in this area as this provides an opportunity to adopt the latest energy-efficient technologies to support its ambitions in improving industrial performance. Such investments often pay for themselves quickly.
In terms of application, how latest is the ABB's offering in India?
ABB manufactures 75-80 per cent of its global portfolio in India. In the group, all countries have access to the same R&D - the work of 8,200 technologists. The world is moving towards Internet of Things Services and People (IoTSP) and the corporate research centre in Bengaluru focuses on industrial software and wireless, diagnostics and monitoring, communication platforms and cyber security.
Does limited government spending constrain introduction of newer technology? How can innovation be made more cost-effective?
Necessity is the mother of invention. Smart investment is necessary - from the government or from their policies that encourage investment in R&D and talent. India is famous for its frugal innovation. In ABB, corporate research centre developed an arc-welding robot, whose new interface reduces upfront cost by 20 per cent, while providing all functionality sought by customers.
Where do you see the next intervention in technology coming from?
We are at the cusp of the next energy and industrial revolution. In the energy space - how electricity is generated, transported, distributed, stored and consumed is changing with more renewables and distributed generation.
In 2015, nearly 90 per cent of new capacity added worldwide came from renewable sources.
In the industrial space, increased computing power, ubiquitous communication, cheaper sensors and better mathematical techniques combined with great strides in artificial intelligence are allowing devices to exchange information with each other and with people throughout the equipment and plant lifecycle. This allows for step changes in productivity and for this reason, the term IoTSP is very apt.
Globally, what are the focus areas for the company in terms of R&D and introduction of new technology?
Among the challenges is climate change. Sixty per cent of today's emissions come from generating electricity. So, we have to seek solutions on how to generate cleaner electricity - renewables. That challenge leads to the next: how can we integrate more and more renewables into existing grid infrastructures? We have to find ways to balance reliable, predictable power supply from fluctuating sources. Digital technology is becoming important for many technology fields (marine operations, for example). That's where we see many new opportunities. One new compelling product we are introducing this year is the smart sensor for low-voltage motors. The smart sensor measures data normally not available to our customers - vibration, acoustic, magnetic fields, temperature. A smart app analyses the data and provides information about the whereabouts of the motor. It could be compared with a fitness tracker for humans.
In general, a challenge is to better understand the domain (customer, markets, and technology) - if you can balance these elements, success will follow suit. Digital technology is not only hardware - software is getting more and more important and 'intelligent'. We are also looking into the concepts of artificial intelligence through our investment arm ATV.
