EMSNOW Executive Interview: Murthy Munipalli, Managing Director of Incap India

Incap India is one of the forerunners of the country’s EMS industry. Its modern manufacturing facilities in Tumkur serve global customers all over the world. Incap India is located only 65 km from the airport and the city of Bangalore, the center of India´s high tech industry. We caught up with Murthy Munipalli, managing director Incap India to get an update.

 

EMSNOW: Please tell us about your background and role within Incap. How long have you been with the company?

I have been with the company since 2008, serving first as Sales Director and as Managing Director of the Indian subsidiary. I worked previously at Spike Technologies Ltd (present Qualcomm) and Tata Elxsi Ltd.

 

EMSNOW:  Tell us about Incap India’s EMS journey. How did the company get started and what are your strengths as an EMS?

Incap established a sales office in 2006 in Delhi, India and the following year the company already had a subsidiary Incap Contract Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. in Bangalore. Soon after this Incap acquired the contract manufacturing unit of TVS Electronics Ltd. located in Tumkur and the operations were transferred over to Incap as from 1 June 2007.

As already mentioned, Incap´s modern manufacturing facilities in Tumkur serve global customers all over the world. Incap India is located only 65 km from the airport and the city of Bangalore, the center of India´s high tech industry.

Tumkur factory specializes in manufacturing of electronics and box-build products, having long experience particularly in power electronics. The machinery is suitable for common component technologies, and together with the great location and skilled personnel, Incap is able to provide high quality manufacturing services to meet the most demanding customer needs.

The two factories have 18,000 square meters of total floor space. The modern facilities enable fast and flexible manufacturing of different types of products. The factory is being expanded. After the expansion, the total area of the factory will be close to 26,500 square meters. Additionally, Incap has decided to invest in a third factory, the opening of which is estimated to take place in 2022. The planned third factory will add another 8,500 square meters to production capacity.

The customers of Incap India are globally operating electronic device manufacturers, who may be established in Europe but have production facilities in Asia. Factory has deliveries to all over the world. Hundreds of different products are being produced in our Tumkur factory – among them are power supplies, inverters and UPS, fuel dispensing systems, boards for LV/MV drives and other industrial electronic products.

 

EMSNOW:  How did Incap India weather the pandemic? What did you learn and how did the company respond to the crisis?

Current crises have brought out lessons for production companies regarding planning the production as well as communicating with clients and keeping the team spirit. While people all over the world could move their work to home offices, it might not just work for every sector – one cannot take a production line or test machines home with them.

While the crisis brought more sick-leaves, delays in delivery of materials and customers who started scheduling their orders, Incap’s team created a comprehensive crisis plan, with main emphasis on flexibility of the production. Our main goal as an agile, flexible and efficient company, has always been providing a fast service depending on changes in the market. Therefore, we see a strength in adjusting our production capacities as necessary, according to varying quantities and varying product mixture.

Therefore, we did a thorough mapping of our business and production and definitely suggested this to all other businesses as well – even without the crises. This has allowed us to first solve urgent problems related to our stakeholders or technology while also concentrating on necessary precautions in production and offices, and keeping our stakeholders informed about our activities and plans.

 

EMSNOW:  India has gotten a lot of attention recently as a geography for electronics manufacturing after some false starts in the past couple of decades. Why do you think the industry is now ready to open for business in India?

First, as already mentioned, it is important that Incap India is located only 65 km from the airport and the city of Bangalore, the center of India´s high tech industry. Bangalore is widely regarded as the “Silicon Valley of India” or “IT capital of India” because of its role as the nation’s leading information technology exporter. Indian technological organizations are headquartered in the city and as a demographically diverse city, Bangalore is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India.

Secondly, in a longer perspective, we see the strong market growth trend continuing. The increasing need for sustainable energy solutions, medical equipment, emerging 5G and IoT ecosystems and the proliferation of electric vehicles contribute to the demand growth. That is why, in order to meet the growing demand, we have been increasing the production capacity in India. One expansion project has already been finalized and the second one is close to being finalized and the third factory project is proceeding as planned.

 

EMSNOW:  What are the main challenges the industry faces in India going into 2022?

Component availability situation in the market continues to be challenging, and the emerging energy crisis in China might make the development more difficult to foresee. We are working closely with our suppliers and customers to keep adequate inventory levels to mitigate the risks.

 

EMSNOW:  What are the main opportunities? What market sectors will be most successful?

In a longer perspective, we see the strong market growth trend continuing. The increasing need for sustainable energy solutions, medical equipment, emerging 5G and IoT ecosystems and the proliferation of electric vehicles contribute to the demand growth.

 

EMSNOW: What is Incap’s focus for 2022? What market sectors and customer profile are going to be the target?

In the longer term, the growth in electronics manufacturing services is driven by the growing use of electronics supported with megatrends such as digitalisation. The transition to Industry 4.0 and 5G technologies and the growing environmental technology sector will offer new market opportunities for the EMS industry. Population growth and the aging population will also open up opportunities in for instance health care technology. The EMS industry is highly fragmented and offers potential for consolidation.

 

EMSNOW: How is Incap weathering the storm of material shortages?

Both raw material and supply problems will certainly continue to some extent this year. At the same time, investments have already been made in this area and new variables are being added – no matter if it’s the coming of the Chinese energy crisis, changes in the course of the pandemic, and so on.

The availability of high-quality labor continues to be a problem throughout the world, especially in the West. To deal with the problem, solutions need to be found and automation needs to be addressed.

 

EMSNOW: How are you adapting to the supply chain disruptions?

Incap India has done a thorough mapping of our business and production and definitely suggest this to all other businesses as well – even without the crises. This has allowed us to first solve urgent problems related to our stakeholders or technology while also concentrating on necessary precautions in production and offices, and keeping our stakeholders informed about our activities and plans. 

 

EMSNOW: What challenges does Incap India face in regard to workforce?  What strategies have you had to use to attract and retain workers?

We have been really grateful to have a strong interest in working in our company. Therefore, Incap India has been able to attract many talents and hopefully does so in the future. In order to attract and retain workers, we put a lot of emphasis on our team spirit, team events, and training, and conduct regular educational company events for our team.

 

EMSNOW: Is there anything else you would like to say to EMSNOW audience?

Incap made a decision to make an investment in a third factory in Tumkur, Karnataka. The construction project was started in the third quarter of 2021, and will be finished by the end of 2022. The factory construction will be carried out in line with sustainable building principles paying special attention to efficient use of energy and other resources. The value of the investment is approximately EUR 4.2 million.