Is it expensive?
The Indian market is cost sensitive and automation obviously is an investment, which Indian mindset may hesitate to do. Speaking on it, Prabhu mentioned, "Indian customers do not want cheap automation. Instead, they look for value for money solutions. They evaluate automation solutions based on initial investment, its ease of maintenance including after sales support, increase in productivity and what competitive edge the system will offer"

Adding a different dimension to the discussion, Bhangle said, "Expenditure can be evaluated based on investment returns ratio (IRR). One has to calculate the payback period to make any decision. Any invetment with payback period less than two years is considered as good investment in our company." However that should not be the only criterion for decision making. "Sometimes in a special case, we also consider the  intangible benefits to go ahead with investments, which are more than two years payback period," he concluded.

END