As India emerges as a significant global hub for semiconductor and electronics development, companies must position themselves to cater to the unique demands of this rapidly growing market. In this insightful interview, Vaishali Umredkar of Electronics Maker spoke with Mr. Shitendra Bhattacharya, Director – India & ASEAN, Emerson’s Test and Measurement business to explore the company’s vision behind participating in high-profile exhibitions such as productronica India and Semicon, and their strategic approach to expanding test and measurement solutions.
What motivated your participation in this exhibition, and what do you hope to achieve by showcasing your intelligent test systems?
The vision behind participating in this exhibition is to showcase our intelligent test systems, positioning ourselves as the ideal test and measurement partner for companies developing products in and for the Indian market, which is becoming a key global hub. Events like Electronica, Productronica, and Semicon attract companies aiming to launch innovative solutions, and we want to ensure their development process is more accurate, reliable, and faster. We are aligning with the growing semiconductor ecosystem, and by 2024, we plan to introduce a test solution tailored to India’s semiconductor fabs, enhancing testing capabilities for future advancements.
How has the merger with Emerson impacted your test and measurement business, and what aspects remain unchanged?
After merging with Emerson, there have been no significant changes to the test and measurement business. Our focus remains aligned with the vision and strategy we previously established. Now, as part of Emerson, a global automation leader, our test and measurement group continues to concentrate on innovation and R&D.
How are you preparing for emerging technologies such as sixth-generation wireless communication, AI, and AIoT?
Regarding emerging technologies like sixth-generation wireless communication, AI, and AIoT, we ensure our solutions are future-ready. We are focusing on intelligent test systems that follow three key principles: being engineer-led, AI-enhanced for better business insights, and industry-ready. These systems aim to provide higher accuracy, reliability, and efficiency, adapting to the constantly evolving market and technology requirements.
How does your R&D center in India contribute to local innovation and the overall growth of your business?
India is a key potential market for NI, and we focus on four primary industries: aerospace, defense, automotive, and semiconductors. The diverse Indian market aligns well with all these sectors, making it a strategic area for us. We are committed to supporting this market with equal emphasis on all industries.
Our R&D center in India, the largest outside of our Austin headquarters, is continuously expanding, fostering local innovation and aligning with the “Make in India” initiative. We have a strong ecosystem in India, with numerous alliance partners who use our core technology to develop value-added solutions. We’ve also opened an engineering innovation center, enabling co-engineering with customers, facilitating startups in validating products faster, and supporting academic research.
Additionally, we’ve launched a service center for local calibration of our products, eliminating the need to send them abroad. In the coming years, we plan to establish a repair center to manage product repairs locally. Our robust partner ecosystem is essential in providing customer solutions, and we’re ready to customize offerings as needed to meet specific market demands.
How does your R&D team ensure that LabVIEW remains relevant and responsive to the rapidly changing market needs?
Software solutions, especially LabVIEW, are a significant focus for us. LabVIEW is one of the most widely used applications in the electronics industry, and we continue to invest heavily in its development. Most of the AI enhancements we’ve been discussing are centered around our software, while our hardware is already well-prepared.
LabVIEW plays a crucial role in enabling AI-driven, customized solutions. Since many of our offerings are software-centric, customization becomes more accessible and quicker for our partners, helping them deliver ready-to-use solutions for customers efficiently. Our R&D teams are constantly innovating LabVIEW, ensuring that it remains the ideal test measurement software to keep pace with the rapidly changing market needs.
What key global research bodies have you partnered with for 6G research, and what role do they play in your initiatives?
We are actively involved in 6th generation (6G) wireless research and have partnered with key global research bodies. In India, we are collaborating with local research organizations and academic institutions to support ongoing 6G research. While 4G and 5G deployments are still progressing, we remain focused on preparing for the future. Through these partnerships, we provide tailored solutions to industries and institutions engaged in 6G research, ensuring they have the tools to explore and develop next-generation wireless technologies.
What are your key strategies for expanding R&D efforts in India, and how do you plan to increase headcount?
Our primary focus in India is on expanding our R&D efforts, with plans to increase headcount as much of the development work is being done locally. We are also concentrating on entering and growing within the Indian market, tailoring specific solutions to meet local needs.
In addition, we are investing in a new repair center in India to minimize the time and cost for customers who currently have to send products abroad for repairs. We aim to provide a complete ecosystem locally, including adding new partners with different engineering capabilities to better serve the evolving market and cater to customer requirements efficiently.
