EXECUTIVE INSIGHT: Getting Closer to the Customer

Understand the industry, the key issues faced by the customer, and how your solutions can bring value and improve the bottom line, says S. Ravikrishnan, Asia Pacific Business Leader for Infrastructure, Power & Energy, Rockwell Automation.

CEA: I understand that you have been in this position for just over a year now?

SR: Yes, I joined Rockwell Automation in March 2006. Prior to that, I spent 15 years in sales and business development, which included spells based in Saudi Arabia and China. Process industries that I have been involved in include oil & gas, chemicals, power, water and cement.

When the opportunity came up last year to join Rockwell, I was particularly attracted by the chance to be involved in a wider portfolio of industries and the vision of Rockwell. I believed it would be a good move for me – and it has.


CEA: Your responsibilities in this role of Business Leader?

SR: Essentially, this role is about creating market awareness and articulating our solutions to the industries such as: oil & gas; chemicals; power; mining, metals & minerals; water/wastewater, and Infrastructure

Rockwell has always been known for good, reliable products, sold through our Distributors and Integrators, apart from our solutions delivery team. While we still do this, it was felt important to also create a stronger, more direct relationship with customers in order to show the value Rockwell solutions can bring to their business and, in particular, the positive impact we can make to their bottom line.



CEA: What kind of response have you been getting from customers?

SR: I have been meeting customers and prospects almost every week all across the region – which extends across Asia Pacific– and most of them talk about reliable products, Logix platform, etc, but are not so aware of the complete range of solutions that we have or of our huge installed base outside of traditional factory automation, such as in oil & gas.

Rockwell’s Listen-Think-Solve approach is also very relevant in this endeavor. Once you fully understand the issues the customer is facing, it becomes easier to tailor a solutions that meets those needs. And once you can convince the customer about the value you can bring to his business, the more likely it is for him to choose Rockwell as a supplier. This “customer-centric” model is quite different to the traditional product sell approach.


CEA: Could you give an example of this approach?

SR: Energy management is a big issue right now for many companies – both in terms of reducing energy costs and meeting environmental objectives. Rockwell offers an energy efficiency package solution where we go into a plant, collect data, analyze, make recommendations, and then implement as a solution.

Lots of companies offer energy audits but typically stop there. We have the capability to do audits as well deliver a solution. For one project in India, we helped an oil refinery reduce their energy costs by 27 percent.


CEA: Presumably the booming oil & gas sector must be a big focus right now?

SR: Yes, it certainly is. With the continued trend of high oil & gas prices, we see that customers will continue to increase their capital spending over the next five years. A large majority is in the area of upstream exploration and production operations, as companies look to discover new sources of energy and meet growing global demands.

Very relevant to oil & gas companies, as they look to optimize the performance of operations, is the fact automation has moved from being just instruments and controllers to highly integrated systems that not only measure and control the process, but also provide tools to optimize operations, improve reliability and flexibility of plants and equipment, and tie plant processes to business systems.


CEA: What resources and expertise does Rockwell have for oil & gas?


SR: Oil & gas is one of our core verticals, which means we have a dedicated group of people supporting the global sales force with specific domain knowledge of the industry. This also provides the necessary focus required by large corporate accounts so that the needs of these companies are met.

We offer solutions across the spectrum – upstream, midstream, downstream – and applications that encompass process controls, electrical controls, energy management, maintenance and reliability systems. Most of the oil majors in this region will have Rockwell systems in their facilities.

One of the reasons we are exhibiting at this June’s OGA show in Malaysia is to let people see the range of solutions Rockwell can offer for the oil & gas sector and that we do already have a very significant presence.


CEA: Why should a client choose to work with Rockwell?

SR: A key differentiator in our Integrated Architecture approach, which reduces total cost of ownership by using a single control infrastructure for the entire range of automation and power applications, large or small. Process, motion, safety, batch – all these control types can be configured from the same Logix platform.

This enables reuse of engineering, designs and practices to reduce development time and cost, provides faster response to customer and market demands, reduces maintenance costs and downtime, and allows easy access to plant data from business systems for better management decision making.

Aside from conventional automation, our integrated approach also covers the area of Power Control – a complete line of low and medium voltage motor control equipment that seamlessly integrates with our Integrated Architecture enabling faster project completion and actionable information to system operators.



CEA: And overall, how are you finding this new challenge and working for Rockwell Automation?

SR: It’s been really exciting – because the opportunities are so big for us. We are doing well but there is still so much potential for us to grow further in the sectors of power, infrastructure, energy in Asia Pacific. And there is a great set of people here, who are willing to learn and wanting to make things happen. Helping them to increase their knowledge, and to help them see how the products fit into the bigger picture is also very rewarding.