“We find applications in all stages of value chain of power”

Nomex is an insulation material. Every electrical equipment needs insulation material be it generators, motors, transformers, or even household appliances. We find relevance in all the rotating machinery, generators, rotators and rotating traction motors, Lohit Shringi, Global Business Manager, Energy Solutions DuPont in an interaction with Electrical India...

Kindly take us through the journey of DuPont.

Founded more than 200 years back, DuPont, is an American conglomerate that initially manufactured gunpowder. After 50-60 years of the company’s existence, during the era of manmade materials, the company reinvented themselves from being an explosives manufacturer to more of a materials science. As a result, DuPont invented and developed a lot of new products like nylon, polyester, Neoprene that is a synthetic rubber. Polyester, Teflon brought a sea change in our lives. Now, again we are in the process of reinventing ourselves. So, recently we merged with Dow Chemical Company to create DowDuPont Inc. We are trying to firm our foothold in speciality chemicals, industrial biosciences etc. I represent Energy Solutions business which is a part of DuPont Protection systems. In this, we have products and services like Nomex and Kelvar that has applications in body armours for soldiers and law enforcement officers. DuPont developed the products like Tyvek having applications in processed protection like pharmaceutical industry which is highly sensitive to contamination. Nomex protects equipment by enhancing its life and reliability against high temperature and overloads.

Do you manufacture Nomex in India? Do you have R&D in India?

We do not manufacture Nomex in India. We are a global company. So, we have global scales. So, it is manufactured in US and Japan. We have distributed research and development. The way we divide research is in two parts. One is the basic materials science, the invention of new materials and invention of what the next Nomex would look like. The second apart of research is application development. We have application development research, which are there in all countries and India is a prominent country where we have invested into application research many years back. R&D for materials is primarily in US and Japan.

How would you differentiate the Indian markets from American markets while talking about Nomex?

Fundamentally, Indian and American markets are not very different. I think it is the stage of evolution that is different. So, the American markets are much more matured. They adopted these technologies and the designs. I think India is witnessing the phase of technology evolution now. So, the nature of the market is not very different. However, the stage of evolution is slightly different in American and Indian markets.

But Indian markets are price sensitive.

I would say it is value sensitive. People are willing to pay the price as long s they understand the value. There are lot of incidences and examples which I can provide where people have to be taught the value and. Once the potential clients understand the value, they quickly adopt it.

What are application areas of Nomex?

Nomex is an insulation material. Every electrical equipment needs insulation material be it generators, motors, transformers, or even household appliances. These are the various applications. We find relevance in all the rotating machinery, generators, rotators and rotating traction motors. We also find relevance in the transformer space. So, we find applications in all stages of value chain of power. So, we have presence in generators in power generation in generators. Nomex has applications in transmission transformers, distribution transformers. Nomex is used when power is consumed in terms of rotating machinery.

What kind of technological innovation would you like to incorporate in this product to make it more energy efficient and sustainable?

Nomex really brings two very important values to the industry. One is about enhancing the reliability of the equipment. We are trying to introduce new technologies which will enable our participation in the distribution transformers area. Again fundamental value we bring is safety and reliability. The company is in process of designing products that allows transformers to be overloaded without an impact on the material degradation for a relatively long period of time. We want to make sure that when the transformers are overloaded, the materials inside the transformer do not lose their properties. Thus, it enhances the life of the equipment making it more sustainable.

Do you have any plans to set up manufacturing hub in India?

We support ‘Make in India’ by making sure that the latest technologies and latest application development technologies are available to our Indian customers. As of now, we do not have plans to set up a Nomex paper plant in India. However, our idea of ‘Make in India’ is to support latest innovation in technologies in India which enables our customers to explore new areas.

What is your outlook for this sector?

I think we are very bullish. We are continuing to see a very sustainable growth in this area. So we see growth coming into two parts, one is the normal organic growth which will happen because as a result of infrastructure build up in power, roads and ports. For example we foresee growth in solar batteries. We also see electrical vehicles as a tipping point. The growth will come from these innovations in new technologies. In solar segment, India is following the other developed countries in the world. So, in terms of transformers, motors, India has made progress. In terms of solar and electrical vehicle, India is also matching the speed and pace of the western world. I think this new domain will drive growth for us.  So, we expect to register double digit growth rate in India for next five years.

Do you have any expansion plans?

It is a continuous process. We really do not get into yearly milestone in terms of expansion. If there is an opportunity, the company will make investments. India is a special focus at the global leadership.

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