Competing in such a flat world, the sustainability of a corporation relies greatly on constant innovation and agility in identifying and responding to market trends. In this interview, the Vice President of the Sales and Marketing Department of Delta's Industrial Automation Business Group (IABG), Mr. Andy C. J. Liu shares how Delta IABG has turned from component manufacturing to system integration, and how it has grasped the new market requirements and domain know-how. By providing clients with comprehensive solutions, Delta keeps its industrial automation products and solutions in tune to the market.
Deepened Capabilities Make Possible another Upturn
The business of Industrial Automation comes from two major sectors: original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and project-based business. The two sector's market patterns and sales channels are widely divergent.
In the past, Delta has shared a significant portion of the global OEM market for industrial automation since its high-speed, high-precision products and prompt support service catered well to OEM applications. “Delta has gradually deployed a wider and more complete collection of product lines,” Andy stated, “With the launch of the C2000 Series control drives with greater horsepower, the APF/SVG/AFE Series power quality management products, the AH500 Series programmable logic controllers for high-range applications, and the IES series Ethernet switches, Delta Industrial Automation is ready to approach the project-based business market.”
System Integration - From Single Products to Complete Solutions
Since the work items of a project can be widely diversified, system integrators play a key role in coordinating a project with their in-depth know-how of products, technology, industry, and most important, customer needs. For example, in planning the automation of a production line, the system integrator is responsible for designing a work items range that covers communication among equipment, proper environment conditions for production, monitoring and tracking of production information, and many more, forming different solutions with various products according to needs.
System integrators, indicates Andy, rule project execution and are the key channel for communication with owners. Delta communicates and coordinates with system integrators, owners, designers and technicians from various circles with diverse approaches and probes the project clients' needs and plans.
With the accumulation of domain know-how from field applications, the system integration team of the IABG can utilize Delta's complete line of products and the competent supporting teams to propose the most suitable and effective solutions and products for clients. Their fast and prompt technical support and services help clients and system integrators save time for planning and cost for system construction, making Delta IABG system integration the best partner for system integrators in the field.
Step by step, the product applicability and domain know-how gained from such experience are provided to Delta IABG's product departments to spur further product utilization and innovation, keeping Delta's product development in line with market demands. “Through constant innovation, we aim to bring better solutions and value to our clients. We wish to become an integral partner supporting system integrators and owners toward a better future” said Andy.
Client Relations Named the Top Priority as Target Markets Focused On
The most difficult part of starting a new business is to build up an effective working model and operational strategy. “Time and opportunity cannot be bought with money. We are facing fierce competition worldwide. If we can take the market lead for one month, we earn more than the sales of one month with market initiatives.” said Andy. Taking time for consideration, Andy sought an external and internal integration of resources and focused on three target applications and markets for Delta IABG's system integration – factory energy saving, municipal construction, and transportation.
Energy saving is more than a slogan. It is an application that every industry needs. Take factory energy saving for example, green products and solutions can be applied to air-conditioners or air compressors and injection molding machines on the production line to make better use of energy. Delta's power quality management products can compensate all types of harmonics for the ultimate in power quality improvement, reducing the amount of electricity needed and bringing down operational expenditures. Such solutions are widely applied in industries that have greater consumption of electricity, such as paper manufacturers, the chemical industry and the metallurgical and mining industry in the Taiwan and China markets.
As for municipal construction and transportation, Delta provides customized solutions for any specific application required by clients. A number of successful cases include water treatment, regional central heating systems, port cranes, rail control systems, and many more in Taiwan and the north, east, south and northeast China regions, bringing the public safe, reliable and energy efficient construction and infrastructure.
“We have established many successful applications in the Taiwan and China markets,” said Andy, “because we provide more than products; we provide solutions, technical support and system energy savings that bring our clients more benefits while saving their costs.”
A Rolling Stone – Demand Spurs Innovation that Drives Sustainability
For the system integration team, Andy has set solid goals. “Through daily operations we should elevate our own project execution capabilities, ally with key accounts, owners and technicians, and gradually create a versatile portfolio of success stories in energy saving, municipal construction, and transportation. In the long run, the domain know-how we gain will help us capture market demand that gives impetus to our product improvement and innovation. Our ultimate goal is to strike a more balanced development between the OEM market and the project-based business market.”
The market varies from day to day. Corporate sustainability relies greatly on constant innovation, which is mostly driven by demand. As the channel communicates market demands with product innovation, Delta's IABG system integration captures clients' needs and resonates along with market trends, giving Delta the edge for sustainable corporate development.