V.V.Kamath, Managing Director, Fronius India Private Limited in an interview with B2B Purchase.

How did you successfully manage your business in the COVID times? What were the key drivers for your growth?

Together, as we face the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are managing through a truly unprecedented situation. During these difficult times to reaffirm our steadfast commitment to our customers and the continuity of our operations to reinforce our commitment to our continued success. Whereas, during first wave we had proactively implemented regional regulations on working from home to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, we are prioritising our customers’ needs and customer support during this crisis. 

During the second wave our Fronius’ sales and service teams were committed to respond as quickly as possible to customer’s requirements throughout this challenging period and we commit to regular communication with our customers to ensure that we remain fully aligned with them to meet their quality standards and assisted them to reach their business goals.

This situation is dynamic, and we are actively working for timely supplies of equipment and accessories with resilience within these evolving constraints. We are currently assessing the impact of these constraints with our plans to cater our customer orders to overcome their crisis with our innovative approach. 

Sustainability is the foundation of our corporate values. We are the raising awareness for ‘Sustainability’ which is our trinity principle with the three terms ecology, economy and sociology are inseparable and connected to each other. That means, our people, our planet earth and the business profit needs to be in harmony, only than a sustainable future can be guaranteed.

How do you evaluate the recovery in the welding and cutting market so far? 

We face known and unknown challenges ahead, but we are together in this recovery, and our commitment is that Fronius will mobilise extra resources and with our full capabilities, we shall navigate these testing times with fullest cooperation from all our stake-holders.

What are the significant factors impacting productivity in your sector? 

As is the cases with most manufacturers; they are operating in the global supply chain utilising the semiconductors, Fronius has been effectively planning to meet the supply disruptions due to pandamic. We are currently looking forward for the government actions that are enablers for industry welding safety along with skill levels allowing people movement with strict measures to control the spread of COVID-19. These actions allow increasing capacity for both welding and cutting market in the days to come. We are actively deploying more resources and optimising safe work practices. 

What kind of policy/regulations/investments support is required for the market revival? 

We believe that customer relationship and trust building are strongly influenced through social distancing with more formal meetings with reduced number of participants in meetings that can enhance trust building. Digital social media capability of various activities will also influence the trust. Most of customers utilise their own networks at the business platforms such as LinkedIn, to bring ideas and messages into the right areas post-pandemic. Data usage and gathering are required for taking the customer centric strategies way forward.

Can technology and digitisation be a key factor in driving your sector’s growth? 

Fronius has technologically innovative new products and processes that can manage customer experience through up-to-date information with digitisation in the fore-front. We also create solutions to occurring problems anticipating the needs of our customers. We support in the acceleration of digitalisation within the customer journey by providing IoT in welding.

How do you assess the growth prospects for the next 5 years in the welding and cutting market?

The welding equipment, accessories, and consumables market is projected to grow from US$ 25.9 billion in 2021 to USD 32.5 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.6 percent during the forecast period. Innovations in welding equipment and technological advancements in the automotive industry to cater to the growing demand from customers are expected to create higher demand for welding products which is likely to drive the global welding equipment, accessories, and consumables market during the forecast period. Fronius has plans for progress through sustainable manufacturing along with leaders scaling up the programs. However, as we emerge from the pandemic, we wanted to find out, how it has impacted this trend. Importantly, we also understand that our company’s sustainable procurement practices have improved the resilience of the supply chains in the face of unprecedented disruption. Sustainability measures are integrated into a balanced scorecard approach at our end. We expect that the welding industry will focus on these measures and scale-up in the days ahead.