RS Components India to Grow Online Business to 50 Percent Over Next Few Years

By Manu Sharma
Global industrial component and electronic products distributor R S Components is all set to expand its online trading platform in India from the existing 30 percent to 50 percent over the next three to five years.

After 24 years of operations in India, the UK-headquartered firm has announced a sum of Rs 15 million primarily to support electronic design engineers and small quantities buyers over the next few years. The company is also strengthening its online market by making the platform more robust, secure and expand its operations in India.

Speaking to the media, Keith Rice, Head of Emerging Markets, RS Components Worldwide said, “We have a very strong online market globally and sell almost $2 billion electric components online. Infact, we sell about 70% i.e. $1 billion of our products online through our portal. However, in India most of our customers surf our website for our products, inquire online via customer support/helpline but when it comes to buying they still prefer offline. This has been the trend in India for a very long time, but is slowly changing. Today about 30 percent is sold online in India and intend to grow this market to 50 percent over the next few years. We are also focusing on IoT, Medical Electronics and Aeronautics, Automotive to expand."

Shiv Bhambri, Chief Executive Officer, R S Components and Control India said, “We have major customers like the Indian defence - Army, Navy and the Airforce as our major customers and as you are aware they still purchase products offline. Likewise few others also prefer the offline mode of payment. Now through DesignSpark events, RS plans to increase the digital awareness among the communities."

The company has opened a new office of 2,000 sqft of space in Whitefield, the hub for IT and ITes companies in Bangalore. “This is mainly because we have 6.5 lakh products and over 10,000 customers in India and that's reason moved to a new location closer to the IT hub, adds Bhambri.

RS in India has a diverse ranges including process control and automation, electrical consumables, electronic components, information technology, health and safety, mechanical products, office equipment and semiconductors.

The new Bangalore Centre will have technical marketing and support teams, specialized sales force that will focus on specific industry verticals like IoT, Medical Electronics, Aeronautics, Automotive among others,

Boeing Announces Launch of Engineering & Technology Center in Bangalore; To Employ Hundreds of Engineers In India

Boeing has announced the formal launch of the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center (BIETC) in Bangalore. Hundreds of local Boeing employees will work to support Boeing – including Information Technology and Data Analytics, Engineering, Research and Technology, and Test. BIETC will leverage a talented pool of employees to increase productivity and long-term competitiveness to support Boeing’s engineering growth in strong global markets like India. 

“When we look for regions of competitiveness for the company around the world, we look at building cost, capability and market access advantages,” said Pratyush Kumar, president for Boeing India. “In India we see a true path towards a mutual partnership for success, and the launch of BIETC is a major step in that direction.”  

“The BIETC and the talented people who work here are strengthening Boeing’s efforts to innovate, compete and win by providing contributions in key technology areas that make our products and services more capable and more valuable,” said Greg Hyslop, Boeing chief technology officer, and senior vice president, Boeing Engineering, Test and Technology.

“Boeing IT has been working in India with Tier-1 suppliers for many years,” said Ted Colbert, Boeing chief information officer and senior vice president, Information and Analytics. “The new center is instrumental in promoting the digital transformation of Boeing by utilizing India’s talent seamlessly with our U.S. teams.”

With a mix of technically proficient engineers, BIETC will undertake high quality technology-driven work to support areas as diverse as the development of advanced environment friendly coatings, data analytics for next generation Airplane Health Management tools, software tools for airlines and airports to improve their operations and reduce costs, automation for more efficient next-generation manufacturing, systems, infrastructure and analytics.

RS Components Sets Up New Electronic Center in Bangalore; To Focus on IoT, Medical Electronics & Aeronautics, Automotive

RS Components, the world’s largest distributor of electronics and maintenance products today announced the opening of their innovation hub, a  new  ‘Electronic Centre’ in Bangalore. The high service level supplier of electronic components and tools plans to invest close to $ 15 million over the next two to five years at the Bangalore centre.

The new 2000 Sq feet office in the heart of Bangalore has been set up to support electronic design engineers and manufacturers in the region. The compay also plans to set up a warehouse which will enable RS Components to undertake “next day delivery” to its customers.

The Bangalore Centre will have technical marketing and support teams, specialized sales force that will focus on specific industry verticals like IoT, Medical Electronics, Aeronautics, Automotive and RnD sector.

Speaking at the launch of the Electronic Centre, Keith Rice, Head of Emerging Markets, RS Components Worldwide said, “Our Electronic Centre at Bangalore is a great opportunity to bespeak RS’ strong value proposition in the light of our technical expertise and tailor made solutions that create a huge difference in the day-to-day life of a design engineer.”

Talking about the potential of the Indian market and RS India’s growth Keith Rice added, “RS envisages India as one of the most promising and high potential markets. The pace at which the RS India story is accelerating will soon turn out to be a significant advantage for them on a global landscape.”

Shiv Bhambri, CEO RS Components India, further added, “The Bangalore Electronic Centre is a reflection of the strong Indian ESDM market, as well as the continued growth of the Indian operations of RS Components, which has been a part of the electronics design and manufacturing story in India for the past 20 years.”

Explaining the reason for setting up such a large operation in the city Bhambri said, “Bangalore has emerged as a major global EDSM hub and recognised as the RnD capital of India. Most of the Global Industries and PSUs in strategic electronics have their manufacturing facilities and R&D centres in Karnataka. Therefore it was important for RS Components in India to further expand it’s Electronics focused set-up in Bangalore.”

On the role of the Bangalore office in supporting the local ESDM community, Bhambri said, “The Electronic Centre at Bangalore will be key to RS Components goal of providing technical training and assistance to Design engineers and students. The engagements with design engineers will influence and drive our electronics business which is targeted for high double digit growth in near future”

RS will offer value added services to the design community in and around Bangalore including: Organizing workshops on new technologies and solutions; Running training programs for EDE and Academia Holding engineer meet ups; New product launches in collaboration with suppliers, among others

The team at the Bangalore office will also be actively involved in building up the design engineering community through DesignSpark.com. DesignSpark provides its community of over five lakh engineers with free access to design tools like DesignSparkPCB, DesignSparkMechanical and DesignSparkElectrical.

RS In India

Elaborating on RS Components unique value proposition to Indian manufacturers Bhambri says, “The key to our strategy is that we are a high-service level distributor. No order is too small, as we believe in supporting every aspect of the business from concept to preproduction. He further says, “We offer our customers a choice over 500,000 products from 2500 leading brands along with technical datasheets to help them make an informed buying decision.”

With e-commerce at the heart of its business strategy, RS India has one of the most advanced transactional website offering benefits like parametric search and around 5000 new product introductions every month.

“We offer the broadest range of semis, passives, electro mechanical components, test and measurement equipment and quintessential tools to support every design engineers’ job. We are committed to provide value add solutions to electronic design engineers at every stage of design life cycle from concept to pre-production,” concludes Bhambri.

DB India and Sodexo Celebrates Spirit of Excellence & Innovation at HR Best Practices and Awards 2017

The most crucial resource for any industry or economy is the human resource, and over the last decade, there has been a profound shift in the working of human resource development functions. Sharing of HR Best Practices has been identified as one of the most prominent areas, especially for developing countries for maximizing organisational and individual efficiency. Keeping this in mind, Dun n Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insights, in association with Sodexo successfully organized “Dun n Bradstreet India- Sodexo HR Best Practices and Awards, 2017”. The occasion also marked the launch of the publication, ‘HR Best Practices 2017’.

The publication, ‘HR Best Practices 2017’, a joint initiative of Dun n Bradstreet and Sodexo India, captures and showcases some of the excellent and impactful human resource initiatives and programs adopted and implemented by organisations across India Inc. Organisations are often faced with a plethora of talent-related challenges ranging from engaging employees, optimizing performance, identifying and nurturing of future leaders, retention and many more. In the modern age, an organisation's ability to come up with and implement new-age and innovative human capital strategies can help it successfully deal with its talent-related issues. This publication represents interesting and effective human resource initiatives undertaken by Indian corporates pertaining to multiple aspects including recruitment, retention, talent acquisition, leadership & talent management, employee welfare, performance improvement and managing diversity among others. The publication profiles 171 case studies, from 77 organisations, grouped into 5 broad categories - Recruiting (Talent Acquisition, On-boarding) Living or Environment (Engagement, Industrial Relations) Growing (Performance Management, LnD) Rewarding and Caring (Incentives, Welfare, Workplace) and Others (Records management, HR Analytics)

Delivering the welcome address, Kaushal Sampat, President and Managing Director - India, Dun n Bradstreet said “Technological advances, paired with increased connectivity and interdependence across countries and geographies, are driving businesses out of their comfort zones rapidly and has deep implications on Human Resource. The new generations of young professionals entering the workforce are changing the shape of the workplace and work culture. Future workplaces will undoubtedly be more technologically driven and integrating talent across geographies will be an important part of an organisation’s culture.”

“Our survey findings reveal that more than 60% of the respondent companies have made use of programs to promote diversity at the workplace. These include professional development programs, mentoring programs focusing on diversity, employee networking programs and other internal communications focusing on diversity.”, he further added

Expressing his views at the event, Rajiv Warrier, Managing Director, Benefits and Rewards Services, Sodexo SVC India Pvt. Ltd. said “With an ever-changing people landscape of young India, it is important to adopt collaborative hiring and talent development practices which act as a win – win for both individuals and organisations. Our close association with the HR fraternity in India over the past two decades has helped us understand that it is time for India Inc. to look beyond the conventional HR approaches. This book captures some great insights on managing millennials as well as other industry-leading best-practices.”

With the objective of creating a knowledge sharing forum, the event witnessed an interactive panel discussion on ‘Human Resources Management in the Age of Millennials’. The essence of the panel discussion was to deliberate on how the role of the human resource function has undergone changes over time and its status in the current age of millennials.

Sujaya Banerjee, Chief Talent Officer and Sr. VP – HR, Essar Services India Private Limited said “The Millennials as an Age-Cohort have not been fully acknowledged in India Inc. as we mostly make the mistake of believing they are yet another group of young professionals, similar in aspirations like past generations. Their lens is different and so is their world view. We Mentored/Parented them so they are thankfully a 'differently similar' generation. Human Capital Management will need to integrate this world view to curate new solutions that meet the Millennials more than half way!”

Prashant Khullar, Vice President and CHRO (Designate), Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd. “Millennials are not a generation looking just for ‘entitlements’ or any special treatment. They’re looking for greater responsibility and challenges and are ready to work towards it. What they want is a workplace that helps them express themselves, build their strengths and help them adapt.”

Also present at the launch were Prof. Y. K. Bhushan, Senior Advisor & Campus Head, IBS Business School, Mumbai, Rakesh Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Finance Limited, . Sanjiv Anand, Chairman and Managing Partner, Cedar Management Consulting International,  Unmesh Pawar, Global HR Managing Director, Accenture, . Amita Maheshwari, EVP and Head HR, Star TV India Pvt. Ltd.,  Tarun Ramrakhiani, Managing Director, Santa Fe Relocations,  Rahul Taneja, Chief People Officer, Jet Airways (India) Limited and  Karthik Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer, eCentric HR along with the leaders from the business and HR community.

India’s Largest Telecom Company to Deliver Enterprise-Wide Compliance Management Now Runs on Simpliance Platform

In a move set to revolutionize labour law compliance administration and management in India, about 40,000 pages of complex legalese content has been catalogued into a patent-pending ERP tool – Simpliance for free public access. Quess Corp, India’s leading integrated business services provider has bought a 45% stake in Bengaluru-based Simpliance. The SAAS-based, plug-and-play software will be deployed for labour compliance management across shops, establishments, factories and enterprises in the country. 

Simpliance has also inked deals with large Indian Corporates for implementing enterprise-wide compliance across their pan-India branches. Simpliance is working towards a goal of 10,000 licenses that will bring in more companies in India under the compliance ambit by 2016-17. It is also set to expand into overseas markets including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore by 2016-18.

“Labour compliance industry in India is currently pegged at Rs 600 crores,” says Anil D’Souza, founder of Simpliance. “Labour law compliance in India is beset with complications unlike financial or other industry regulations, which already have players with designed systems for governance and course correction.”

“India’s growing number of SMEs is becoming increasingly vulnerable and finding compliance to labour laws is highly expensive. Adding to the complexity is compliance laws’ inherent inertia: it is neither replicable nor standardizable across industries. For the first time ever, Simpliance has automated labour compliance to help companies identify the regulatory requirements in an intuitive, user-friendly and hassle-free manner. We will slowly expand its scope to cover all regulatory compliances and standards in the coming years,” he adds.  

Simpliance’s entry comes at an opportune time when the Indian government is keen on simplifying labour laws. Technology will play a major role in helping people and companies to understand the context and perspectives of such laws, making compliance a transparent exercise in the process. Adherence becomes simpler and conflict resolution faster. Simpliance’s first of its kind simulation model which is powered by its patent-pending engine will also power student, HR and Legal Professionals to learn labour laws in an interesting way than the traditional class room training. It also improves productivity, transparency and trust as staff and even consumers align better with an establishment’s corporate vision, mindful of their rights and requirements.

Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Forecast to Grow 7.2% in 2017

Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $364.1 billion in 2017, an increase of 7.2 percent from 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. This represents a complete turnaround for the semiconductor industry as the market experienced 1.5 percent growth in 2016.

"The worst is now over with a positive outlook emerging for 2017 driven by inventory replenishment and increasing average selling prices (ASPs) in select markets, particularly commodity memory and application-specific standard products,” said Ganesh Ramamoorthy, research vice president at Gartner. “The turnaround that started at the end of the second quarter of 2016 will continue to gain momentum and we expect the improved conditions to carry through 2017.”

Gartner has increased the outlook for 2017 by $14.1 billion in its most current forecast, of which the memory market accounts for nearly $10 billion. “Memory market supply and demand have turned positive for memory vendors who are pushing ASPs higher to recover margins. ASP increases for application-specific standard products (ASSP), discrete and analog chips and higher semiconductor content in key applications including the Internet of Things (IoT) were the other key drivers for revenue increases,” added Ramamoorthy.

Overall, the mixed growth seen in 2016 will turn into a broad and more consistent growth in 2017. Areas to watch for in 2017 are the industrial, automotive and storage markets, which are growing quickly but represent a smaller portion of the overall market. Additionally, the slow-growth outlook for traditional applications such as smartphones and PCs highlights the importance of semiconductor markets outside of these categories, notably the IoT.

"This implies that semiconductor product managers who have depended upon these categories must now continue to look for adjacent opportunities in new emerging applications in the IoT and in areas like industrial, storage and automotive markets," said Ramamoorthy.