Littelfuse – the worldwide leader in circuit protection solutions. Littelfuse products are vital components in a variety of applications, from consumer electronics and telecom circuits, to automobiles and industrial equipment.
Littelfuse products protect devices and business assets against harm caused by short circuits, power surges, electrostatic discharge, lightning, electrical load switching and other electrically-harmful occurrences.
Vaishali of Electronics Maker met Mr. Bharat Shenoy at recent EFY Expo, Director of Technical Marketing, Electronics Business Unit of Littelfuse. He discussed about Littelfuse profile, products, leadership and innovations that are changing the way we live.
About Mr. Bharat
Joined Littelfuse in 2008 and is currently Director of Technical Marketing.
Career in the Circuit Protection industry began in 2001. Served in various applications engineering and sales management roles.
Please introduce Littelfuse Company and its history and background?
Founded in 1927, Littelfuse is the world leader in circuit protection with growing global platforms in power control and sensing. The company serves global customers in the electronics, automotive and industrial markets with technologies including fuses, semiconductors, polymers, ceramics, relays and sensors. Littelfuse has over 7,000 employees in more than 35 locations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Five-year strategy to accelerate Littelfuse growth:
Circuit protection: As the worldwide leader in circuit protection, we are creating forward momentum by participating in major global trends that are changing the way we live and work.
Power control: Successful new products and diversification strategies are contributing to the forward momentum of the power control platform.
Sensor: Our strategy to build a global sensing platform continued its forward momentum in 2013 with the acquisition of Hamlin, Inc., the largest acquisition in our history.
What are the basic manufacturing products and where these products manufactured?
Littelfuse has the broadest and deepest portfolio of circuit protection products and we serve three major market segments: Electronics, Automotive and Electrical.
As the industry leader in circuit protection and a growing force in power control and sensing, we are in the right place at the right time to participate in some of the broad industry trends impacting today’s manufacturers and consumers. The “Internet of Things,” LED lighting, solar and safety are just a few of the fast-growing markets that helped to drive our record 2013 sales.
Electronics markets include: consumer electronics, computing, mobile handheld, telecom, high reliability, industrial and general electronics.
We continued to win new business in growing market segments including tablets, e-Readers, smart phones, gaming consoles and LCD TVs. Our overcurrent and ESD devices are used in a variety of applications for these products, protecting chargers, battery packs, inverter circuits and data lines. The ever-increasing volume and speed of data in many of these popular consumer products has also provided good growth opportunities for us in the telecom infrastructure market.
Another successful growth area is LED lighting, where our new line of Surge Protective Device (SPD) varistor modules has won significant new business with major outdoor lighting manufacturers. Our NANO fuses, metal oxide varistors and TVS diodes are also specified by manufacturers of LED bulbs and tube lights. I n total, our LED lighting business increased by more than 30 percent in 2013 as energy costs, governmental bans on incandescent lighting and the focus on energy conservation continue to drive overall market growth.
The strong electrical fuse performance was driven by continued growth in our focus areas of solar, HVAC and lighting. Our first-in-the-market line of solar string fuses released in 2013 has quickly gained market share due to customer benefits including lower total component cost and reduced manufacturing time. We also converted a number of major electrical distributors to Littelfuse during the year, broadening both our customer base and geographic reach.
Littelfuse is a global company, and has offices and manufacturing facilities around the world. Explore the below link to check more about Littelfuse’s many worldwide locations.
Can you explain the importance of circuit protection in electronics devices? What is Littelfuse strength in offering these products?
Every product that uses electrical energy needs circuit protection to ensure safety, reliability and performance. Littelfuse products protect devices and business assets against harm caused by short circuits, power surges, electrostatic discharge, lighting, electrical load switching and other electrically-harmful occurrences. Littelfuse products are vital components in a variety of applications, from consumer electronics and telecom circuits, to automobiles and industrial equipment. Since we have tons products to serve almost every area, we can actually protect every product that uses electrical energy.
How is Littelfuse distribution network worldwide and how you are promoting products in India?
Today our 95% of our Electronics business units are routed through the below Distribution Channels. Distributors form an impressive network, through which our products reach the end customer. We are always focusing to have the best distributor mix with an ultimate aim of:
1. Best Demand Creation
2. Complete Technology Focused
3. Best Logistics support
4. Best eCommerce Portal
5. Capacity to serve customer in Local currency ( INR )
In India we have classified Distributors as :
–Global – who have presence all over the world. They have line cards from the A to Z of Semiconductors , Passives, and other components . This means they have a wide reach of components for design which in turn can be used for creating demand ( Demand creation business )
–Regional – have a smaller Regional strength with a strong presence.
–Local – who are purely born, brought up in India, Focused on India markets with more of franchise distribution focus.
–Catalogue Sales – who have a larger line card and working with multiple customers for proto , NPI , small and mid volume.
We at Littelfuse India constantly and cautiously value our relationship with a distributor. We know and acknowledge the value of Designed IN Socket by giving the demand creation margins.’’
Which are the key areas where Littelfuse products use?
Littelfuse had entered the circuit protection industry for almost a century. As the second question, Littelfuse has the broadest and deepest portfolio of circuit protection products and we serve three major market segments today- Electronics, Automotive and Electrical. From popular consumer electronic devices like LCD TVs, Tablets, smart phones, digital cameras, home appliances, telecom infrastructure equipment, critical life saving medical equipment, passenger automobiles, agriculture & construction equipment, commercial & recreational vehicles, switches, motors, power distribution centers, machine control equipment, marine, land-based generators, heating and cooling systems to solar panels, we entered every market that needs circuit protection and we attached the importance to them all, we just want to make sure that every client gave us trust and their safety are getting their value back from us.
We can provide you our focus market in India:
What are the unique offerings and technologies from Littelfuse and how you will compete them?
We improve the safety, reliability and performance of our customers’ products that use electrical energy, and we are the only company to offer a complete range of circuit protection technologies, which we are very proud of. Here below is a picture for your reference:
Our drive for operational excellence is centered in our company-wide Lean initiative. Our Lean program involved almost 4,400 Littelfuse associates in 2013. We are working to accelerate the results we achieve through Lean and are extending this program to new acquisitions.
Significant results achieved through Lean include double-digit improvements in factory productivity and product quality. Lean initiatives have also driven meaningful reductions in our inventory, and in environmental metrics such as water usage and carbon emissions.
In addition, we further strengthened our engineering capabilities with the recent opening of a new Technology Center in Mount Prospect, Illinois. The new center brings together 40 highly skilled engineers from three locations into one facility that is designed for collaboration and creativity. Built on our long history of innovation, the new Technology Center takes our research and development program in Chicago to the next level.
What new trends you are observing for your products advancements?
Trends such as increasing communications between people, devices and equipment, “smart” cars, governmental requirements for energy savings and reduced emissions, the safety of people and equipment, and consumer demand for the latest electronic products all provide exciting long-term growth opportunities for Littelfuse.
Without question, our success is due to the contributions and dedication of our more than 7,500 associates around the globe. Our efforts to support our associates and make Littelfuse a great place to work were recognized with our selection as one of the “2013 Best Places to Work in Illinois” awards program promoted by The Daily Herald Business Ledger and as a 2013 “Illinois Workplace Achiever” by the Chicago Tribune.
How was your business growth in last fiscal year and what will be your focus this year?
Total 2013 net sales of $757.9 million were up 13 percent from the prior year. Sales increased 13 percent to a record $757.9 million in 2013.Earnings per share rose 16 percent to a record $3.94.
2013 electronics sales of $367.1 million increased 13 percent. This includes $24.1 million in sales from the Hamlin acquisition. Excluding Hamlin, electronics sales were up four percent. Our semiconductor products were a strong contributor to the 2013performance, with revenues up 10 percent over the prior year.
In summary, our teams are leveraging our innovative products, extensive distribution network and global presence into increased sales and earnings. Our strong financial position has enabled us to embark on an aggressive growth strategy aimed at doubling our business by 2017. We made excellent progress in the first year of this plan and believe our goals are within our reach.
What do you think about Indian market opportunities for Littelfuse and do you have any promoting plans for India?
And in India, Littelfuse has plans to not just be a component provider but also solution provider for customer issues related to circuit protection.
Indian industry is not very much educated on latest developments in circuit protection and moreover traditionally all systems were more electrical based which inherently are robust to surges etc. But with newer advancements, solid state products are becoming more popular (e.g. being LED lighting, Air conditioners with inverter based compressors which have complex electronics etc). These products have complex electronic circuits which are more susceptible to surges etc and so need advanced surge protection solutions and this is where we plan to play a major role in the coming time to help customers build reliable products which can operate in all Indian conditions.
Besides passenger vehicles we are also now focusing on commercial segment of the automotive business unit (ABU). So do the reed switches from Hamlin. And Littelfuse has the solar fuse to offer to the stakeholders of solar energy.
We are also trying to get into Protection Relays specially Arc Flash Relays for Internal Arc Protection in Low Voltage and Medium Voltage Panels.
Can we have the names of your partners and supporters?
