India’s R&D expertise can drive global manufacturing: Rockwell CFO Rothe | Company News

“It is an interesting dynamic in India that this journey has really started from an R&D base. Typically, for most economies, the journey starts from manufacturing and expands the other way. The global value equation has changed a lot, and India can play a huge role in that,” Rothe told Business Standard in an exclusive interview in the city.

Nearly 20 per cent of Rockwell Automation’s global headcount is in India, and more than 50 per cent of the Indian workforce comprises engineering talent developing tools and solutions for the world, he said.

“India contributes way more to the global technology of Rockwell Automation than any other geography. Revenue expectations from India are the same as in any other region. But this market is very strong for us in terms of software development,” Rothe said.

In countries such as India, a vast majority of industries are still micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Newer technologies and processes such as automation, artificial intelligence and digital transformation can help MSMEs reduce per-unit costs, get to market faster and deliver better value for their products, Rothe said.

“It is just as much about trying to meet our customers where they need what as much as working with our suppliers to find ways in which we can unlock value that can be great for the supply chain throughout the market,” he said.

Though a large number of MSMEs in India do not yet have the maturity to become global suppliers, several of them have woken up to the opportunities that automation and digital transformation can bring, the company’s India Managing Director Dilip Sawhney, who was also present at the meeting, said.

“We have to work with the large companies which are the chain leaders but also the MSMEs to make them ready for global standards, quality norms and build systems so that they can then demonstrate that they have not just the quality but also the traceability into their manufacturing processes,” Sawhney said.

To prevent companies from racking up huge bills during digital transformation and large language model use, Rockwell Automation has put in place regulators that monitor the number of tokens consumed by AI-powered agents and humans, Rothe said, adding that runaway costs for such agents can be capped in most cases.

For companies, some of these costs may be unavoidable because of the experimentation required during digital transformation. The entire process, however, must keep in mind not just the cost but also the return on the investments being made, he said.