Can you please take us through Embraco’s journey in India?
In 2016, we announced our entry into the household and commercial refrigeration market in the region, but Embraco has been in the Indian market since 2009 with a focus on special applications. To become leader in this market, we’re launching a solutions portfolio which fits the region‘s requirements completely and we’re reinforcing our local team to better serve our Customers in India. We’ve developed technical support professionals, supporting trainings and marketing actions for example, as well as increasing the sales team dedicated to the business. This way, Embraco is strengthening the commercial relationship with several customers and increasing partnerships with its distributors.
In 2017, we attended several events in India, in addition to Japan and Thailand, with a customer-partnership strategy. We intend to continue with this strategy in 2018, including participation in ACREX, the largest international exhibition on air conditioning, refrigeration and building services, taking place in India. We will attend this event with a strong presence in our own booth.
Embraco’s greater presence in India aims to support our vision in this market and is in line with the country’s objectives, which promote increasingly more energy efficiency in an ever more demanding refrigeration market.
What are the trends in current refrigeration market? How would you envisage the growth with particular emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability in global refrigeration markets?
Awareness for a better environment has driven more energy-efficient systems, better acoustic solutions and an increasing appeal for health, which translates into food preservation. Technologies such as variable speed compressors and connectivity, with Internet of Things solutions, are the ones that will be predominant in the future and will add value for the end user. We believe in natural refrigerants as a success case in many developed countries and it’s on the agenda worldwide, both for use in household and commercial segments. Hydrocarbons, for example, are the winning solution for the future of refrigeration by sustainably aligning economic and environmental needs.
What kind of technological innovations would you like to incorporate in your products considering rising global temperature?
Sustainability is a driver in the company’s strategy and goes beyond developing intelligent solutions and continuous improvement. We’ve done a comprehensive environmental assessment to understand the full impact in the product life cycle. It brought several insights which we’ve implemented in our product development cycle.
As technology leader in the industry, we are the pioneer in developing a natural refrigerant portfolio and variable speed technologies and, therefore, our solutions are now being used for both commercial and household refrigeration markets in India (HCs – R290 and R600a). Embraco has used natural refrigerants for more 20 years, which are the solution to reduce the negative effects on the ozone layer, greenhouse effects and to improve the equipment’s energy efficiency.
What are the products offered by the company and in particular catering to Indian markets?
We have a complete and the most updated portfolio for the Indian market, which attends upto 1.5 HP. As the pioneer in inverter type compressors for refrigeration, we are proud to provide our most efficient variable speed compressors, which are the most efficient and silent in the market. I would like to highlight special solutions which attend wide voltage ranges such as Fullmotion Inverter Technology, both for Household and Light Commercial use. Embraco has been investing in Fullmotion variable frequency technology since 1998 and this technology brings energy savings of upto 40% compared to conventional compressors when applied with natural refrigerants such as R290 and R600a. In the household segment, we’ve launched the family called ‘Fullmotion X’ compressor for refrigerators and freezers with an extremely high energy efficiency for cooling systems.
In the light commercial segment, we have the most complete portfolio of single speed compressors for R290, considered the world’s most efficient portfolio for this segment.
Another technology Embraco has developed is plug n’ cool a solution that reduces the physical area in supermarkets, for example. It’s a simple and compact sealed unit for commercial refrigeration, which aims to optimize resources (time and operating cost) in installation and maintenance for manufacturers and contractors. This technology allows food retailers to reduce the total cost of ownership, increase revenues, leverage flexibility while fitting different applications and store formats.
For commercial, I also highlight the recently launched FMFT Bivolt, an intelligent and fast-cooling solution for light commercial applications such as freezers and vertical refrigerated display cabinets. The FMFT Bivolt, a very robust solution for voltage fluctuation, employs Variable-Speed Inverter Technology that enables the machine to reach a target temperature quickly, helping to ensure better food preservation and reduce thermal fluctuations. This product is able to operate at many different speeds, allowing it to reach target temperatures more efficiently, which can help reduce energy consumption by up to 30 percent.
How would you differentiate Indian refrigeration markets from Global markets particularly European and American markets while offering your services and products? Do you face any competition in Indian markets?
Globally, most governments have been working to reduce energy consumption. In Europe and Asia, manufacturers are more concerned about launching high-efficiency products as well as competitive solutions. In the various countries where Embraco operates, the company is prepared to attend the global refrigeration market, which seeks to migrate to natural refrigerants. India has been growing and the customers are demanding more than competitiveness, but also energy-efficient products and robust solutions for voltage fluctuation. As a global company and a multinational focused on solutions for refrigeration, Embraco has a complete portfolio of products and cooling solutions which attend different cultures and regions, such as India. Our 46 years of history make us more competitive and a differentiated player to win the Indian market’s trust.
What are the growth drivers of your products in India?
As I mentioned earlier, we’re committed to providing high energy-efficient products and solutions for voltage fluctuation according to all present and future regulations in India. There has been an ongoing trend for the Indian commercial refrigeration sector to migrate to R290-equipped compressors. In the household segment, the trends toward energy-efficiency and food preservation will significantly support the massive usage of our Fullmotion Inverter applications bringing quality of life to Indian consumers, through reduced electricity costs, better preserved food as well as lower noise compared to a standard compressor.
How competitive and technologically superior are your products as compared to your peers?
We invest a substantial part of our resources to research and develop technologies to be launched in the next 10 to 20 years. This is one of the reasons why Embraco is the pioneer in bringing the best and most innovative solutions to the market.
In addition, one in five hermetic compressors in the world has the Embraco brand. As a multinational in the refrigeration segment, Embraco invests annually 3% to 4% of net revenue in Research and Development – its technology DNA – to propose new solutions to customers. We are committed to maintain partnerships with several high technology universities and institutes around the world, operating approximately 50 research laboratories on all continents.
We have global operations and annual production capacity of 40 million units and the company holds over 1,700 patents. With 11 business units located in Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Slovakia, USA and Russia, we are present in more than 80 countries with solutions.
What are your expansion plans in India? What potential do you foresee for your company with the Indian Government’s focus on development of infrastructure like smart cities, urban transportation projects?
We’re playing to win over the market in India, developing our distributors’ network, offering all technical support with a specialized team. We have the goal to help our customers succeed, evaluating new opportunities for partnerships, in light commercial and household segments to provide innovative solutions for a better quality of life.
Aiming to expand our market share in the Indian market, we’re looking to add even more value and differentiation for our customers through strategies that focus on the end user. As our mission states, we exist to provide innovative solutions for a better quality of life. So, in any potential opportunity which requires developing cooling solutions, Embraco has the capability to provide a better quality of life for the entire Indian population.
