Rosendahl Nextrom is the global leader in manufacturing technologies, factories, systems, equipment, and services for the battery, cable, wire, and optical fiber industries. The company is a customer-focused entity constantly working to anticipate their needs and meet them in advance. The company has recently appointed Mr. Pankaj Priyadarshi, as the Managing Director of Rosendahl Nextrom India, as well as the Global Director for Business Development in the Fiber Optics segment for Rosendahl Nextrom. In a recent conversation with Wire & Cable India, Mr. Priyadarshi shared his plans in his new positions at Rosendahl Nextrom India, the company’s USPs, current scenario of the fiber optics industry, upcoming developments, market footprint and clientele of the company.
Wire & Cable India: Congratulations on your new role as the Managing Director of Rosendahl Nextrom India! Could you share your upcoming plans for the company’s further growth in India?
Pankaj Priyadarshi: India is already among the fastest growing economies in the world. India’s GDP is currently placed fifth and is expected to double in the next four years. There is an aspiration to transform India into a developed economy in the next 25 years. So, we expect a lot of spending on infrastructure to develop power, housing, internet broadband, transport, etc, all factors which directly and positively influence the industries we work with. At the same time, environment, quality and safety standards are evolving in India, and Indian industry aspires to be counted among the best. So it all matches with our aspiration to be there for the customers, and to make them successful with our world’s best technology and products. India features a lot in our growth discussions.
WCI: According to you, what are the USPs of the company, which make it a leading choice in the wire and cable industry?
PP: Rosendahl Nextrom is a very customer focused and innovative company. We try to understand the customers’ business well through deep engagement with them, and our product management and R&D centres always work to make a difference to our customers’ business results. So, we occupy the global leader position in the mind of the cust-omers and are constantly working to anticipate their needs and meet them in advance.
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WCI: Kindly tell us about the current scenario, importance and future of the fiber optics industry in India and globally.
PP: The world is becoming increasingly and seamlessly connected, and all this happens through fiber optics as the most viable technology. The explosion of social media, entertainment, education, healthcare, mobility, factory management, civic services, and knowledge management are all bandwidth-hungry and always demanding better customer experience and services. The backbone to deliver this will remain fiber optics in the foreseeable future. To become a developed economy, India has a lot of catching up to do to improve its per capita optical fiber deployment, which is a good measure of broadband internet penetration in everyday life. With a young and increasingly aware rural population, there is a lot of work going on to connect our villages and Gram Panchayats. Bharat Net is the largest rural broadband conne-ctivity program in the world, and there is still a lot of work to be done. So, we believe that the demand for fiber deployment in India will remain very strong in the coming years.
WCI: Could you tell us your future plans as Rosendahl’s Global Director for Business Development in the Fiber Optics segment? How do you aim to fortify the company’s fiber optics business on a worldwide scale?
PP: I have had the unique opportunity of handling different roles, where at different times in my career I was a project planner, project approver, purchaser, and user of the manufa-cturing equipment. This has helped me to develop deep insights into the requirements of the optical fiber and cable manufacturers. Fiber optics is a rapidly evolving field – the technology and cost economics are constantly changing. Today many manufacturers are saddled with legacy equipment that either cannot be upgraded or requires great cost and effort. So, the customer is faced with decisions involving capex spend, total cost of ownership and future-proofing. At Rosendahl Nextrom we are anticipating these questions and taking a forward-looking view to develop technology platforms that are efficient and capable of upgrading to keep pace with evolving technology. We are encouraging our customers to invest in these platforms, which keeps them perpetually competitive.
WCI: Could you tell us about the recent or upcoming developments at Rosendahl Nextrom India?
PP: We will strengthen our existing engagements to remain the undisputed technology leader. We will be introducing the latest, cleanest, and world’s leading Nextrom tech-nology in glass preform and fiber manufacturing. We will work closely with our customers on business economics and use that wisdom in our designs, with a special focus on opex reduction and operational excellence.
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WCI: Kindly elaborate on the Indian and international presence, clientele, market share of Rosendahl Nextrom.
PP: India is one of the key markets for our brand Rosendahl with a long-standing tradition. Rosendahl has been active in the Indian market since the 80s and has successfully delivered over 200 different production lines to India. The brand Nextrom is synonymous with the development of fiber optic manufacturing solutions. We were already around when the first MCVD and fiber draw towers were supplied in the early 80s. We have developed solutions for VAD, OVD, PCVD preform making technology, high-speed fiber draw technology for the largest ever made preforms, and by far the most advanced optical cable tubing and stranding machines. In India the first draw towers established in the late 90s were Nextrom-made. Over the years we have provided our equipment to most of the leading fiber and cable producers in China, Japan, Korea, India, CIS, MEAST, Europe, North and South America. For over 20 years, we have maintained our own subsidiary in India, which includes a dedicated sales and service unit to provide excellent support to our valued customers. We are committed to further strengthening our on-site team to enhance our services for our partners.
WCI: Would you like to add anything else to this interaction?
PP: We are very proud to have been involved in India’s techn-ology growth for over two decades and helping our Indian customers to successfully compete in global markets. We have always been very impressed with the creativity and enterprise of Indian users; they keep giving us challenges to solve, and that always keeps us in thinking mode. That probably explains why our customer relationships are so strong.
