Kurtz Ersa recently announced to set up 100% subsidiary in India will be headquartered in Bangalore and will incorporate a demo center where customers will be able to see the world class Ersa equipment and soldering systems in operation. Mr Rainer Krauss, Global Sales Manager and CEO Kurtz Ersa India Smart Production Technologies Private Limited shares his insights about this new venture, India market outlook and its future.
Kurtz Ersa has been present in India, indirectly, for many decades. What were the main drivers for the decision to enter directly through the 100% subsidiary route?
For almost 35 years now, we have been effectively represented on the Indian market by our close partner Bergen Associates. The Indian market has the potential to become one of fastest growing market worldwide in the future.
Now, with the establishment of our Indian subsidiary, we want to extend and expand this close cooperation to provide more support to both Bergen and Ersa key customers.
By optimizing this local support structure, we can respond very quickly to customer inquiries.
How do you view the Indian market? What is the potential and TAM that you are looking to address?
We expect the Indian market for electronic components and systems to grow exponentially – boosted by its low-cost manufacturing base, large local demand and a rapidly developing electronics industry.
What are the changes you are seeing in global electronics manufacturing industry in the post Pandemic world? Do you see a re-think of the supply chain of global players in the near future?
Communication has changed across industries. Due to limited travel options, much of the action takes place online: Meetings, live demonstrations as well as test soldering.
Especially in a culture like India, personal contact with people on site will continue to be of great importance. Through our new Indian subsidiary, we now have the opportunity to convey Kurtz Ersa know-how directly.
What are the specific areas of growth that you see potential for India to emerge as a manufacturing base? How does Kurtz Ersa plan to support this?
Current megatrends such as 5G communication, electromobility or Industry 4.0 will have a strong impact on India as a manufacturing country for the electronics industry and will lead to market growth.
Through our Indian subsidiary, we want to position ourselves in the market at an early stage in order to be able to optimally support our customers and partners. We have also customized our products to meet the needs of the Indian market. The so called Tiger Edition, for example, is a high quality and at the same time cost oriented, short lead time version for each of our product lines (stencil printer as well as wave, selective, and reflow soldering)
Has the pandemic and the resulting economic slowdown had a dampening impact on the ability of Indian companies to expand/set up new production facilities/lines?
The situation still holds challenges and the effects of the economic shutdowns are still being felt.
At the same time, we are seeing a high level of demand and interest in our products.
This makes us very confident that India’s economy will recover in the course of 2021/2022.
Even though the pandemic is not over yet, India is like all other countries learning how to deal with this changed situation.
