An Exclusive Interface with Mr. Shreyansh Gunde (Assistant Marketing Manager) Ifm Electronic India Private Limited

A&I: Please Brief Us about Your Role & Job Profile at “Ifm Electronic India Private Limited”

I joined ifm electronic India in 2014 as Marketing Executive and my 1st task was to set-up Marketing Department in ifm India. Since then, I have been responsible for various aspects of marketing such as:

• Event Management: Organizing exhibition stalls, Road Shows, Conferences, Symposium etc., coordinating logistics, managing budgets, and ensuring successful event execution to maximize brand exposure and lead generation.
• Social Media Marketing: Making sure the ifm brand messages, product details etc are articulated properly and spread across all the social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn etc.
• Marketing Collateral Development: Such as brochures, catalogues, demo bags etc which can help our sales colleagues to sell more efficiently.
• Vendor Management
• Brand Management

A&I: What made you choose a career in the manufacturing / automation industry?

Entering Automation Industry was a luck by chance opportunity for me. My prior experience was in IT industry and when I was looking for a job change, there was an opportunity in ifm India. And the luck by chance opportunity was the perfect choice. Automation has become a crucial part of manufacturing and even service industry now. And with the 4 th Industrial Revolution, introduction of IoT Automation has become the epicenter of all sectors / industries.

A&I: What are the exclusive products which your company offers to various industries? How do you plan to position these services?

We at ifm have a wide range of products such as Position Sensors, Process Sensors, Condition Monitoring, 2D – 3D image processing, Safety technology, Systems for Mobile machines & IO-Link. Being exclusive in 21 st century is unknown of but none the less our solutions such as Real Time Maintenance (RTM), Vision technology, IO-Link sensors & Moneo software are at par or the best in the market due to our virtues, our quality standards, and our sincere and respectful cooperation. For us, quality refers to more than just the product. All our processes are designed with customer service and product quality in mind.

A&I: What is your marketing and channel strategy? What kind of plans and expectations do you have for this year?

have for this year? Being catering to the traditional manufacturing sector, we had always followed the traditional marketing methods but with a little infusion of digital marketing means. But now our marketing mix is a synchronized between traditional and digital platforms.

Our goal has always been “Sales conversion” and thus our marketing efforts align to it. Brand awareness, Lead generation, Sales conversion and Customer loyalty which helps us to keep our re-order % higher.

A&I: What are the Market Opportunities for Your Products & automation solutions in India?

As we all know India is THE emerging marketing in the world. For Manufacturing, Services, IT or Tourism. You name the industry, and we have a huge potential market available. Our focus and challenge is to grab on to this opportunity and excel.

We offer a wide range of products & solutions which cater to Industries such as Automotive, Machine Tools, Food, Dairy, Water, Steel, Robotics & Automation, Mobile Machines, Packaging, Ports, Mining, Wind Energy etc. And we are already ready / preparing for the new emerging industries like EV, Semicon, Waster Water etc.

A&I: In your opinion, what are the trends in technology and automation? How do you keep in step with them?

ifm has always been aligned with the latest trends in technology or sometimes a step ahead. With the 4th Industrial Revolution and introduction to IoT, ifm was one of the 1st companies to have IO-Link (IoT ready) sensors already installed at our customers. We provide “The all-in-one solution from ifm: Products – Services – Software”. Our Moneo software the IIoT platform for industry and production is best in class and user friendly.

In the ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ (IIoT) installations and machines get into contact with each other. In the cloud, each machine can be represented by a digital twin in a virtual factory. Even if they do not use the same language due to their own control systems, we establish the connection to the virtual factory. With the target to get information from their data. For efficient use, they give details on the state of the machines, on required maintenance, on potentials to increase productivity, on options to save energy and much more.

A&I: What is Your Future Vision & Growth Plans for “Ifm Electronic India Private Limited” In India?

Our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has vision 2047, we at ifm India have vision 2027. By the next 5 years we are planning to double our turnover, customers with only a few additions in our employee strength. This is a huge task we have undertaken, and I am confident with the wonderful and brilliant colleagues we have, it will be achievable. Of course, the current Indian economic condition and growth path of it will be a helping hand to achieve this goal. As for my personal goal, I want ifm to become a household name for Industrial Automation & Industry 4.0 solutions in next 10 years.