Roughly 30 percent of France-based Schneider Electric’s revenue came from the Asia-Pacific region in 2018. Another 30 percent came from North America and Western Europe, respectively, with the portfolio ranging from voltage distribution products to solutions for automation, energy storage and smart building infrastructure.
Behind the firm’s global clout is its ability to make use of local resources and meet local demands, a quality that is also playing out in South Korea, said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, CEO and chairman of Schneider Electric, in a recent interview with The Investor during the Aveva World Summit 2019 in Singapore.
“As (Schneider Electric) is going international, we need to make sure of the use of local resources, because there will be more pressure when we go forward for localization,” Tricore said.
Headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, a suburban town west of Paris, Schneider Electric has been open to various localization efforts through mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
In Korea, Schneider Electric announced in September last year that it would create a joint venture with KTE, a Busan-based electrical panel maker dedicated to vessels and power plants.
The launch of Schneider-KTE, a maker of smart voltage switchgears, is aimed at addressing demands from Korean corporate clients such as builders of energy-consuming plants and smart buildings.
“More local customers are asking for local contents,” Tricoire said. “We are operating on the local base (in Korea), and therefore we can provide Korean integrators on EPCs with a lot of local contents.”
Schneider Electric also boosted its presence in the Korean market by making use of local resources — acquiring Korean electronic overcurrent relay maker Samwha EOCR in 2002, decades after it launched operations in 1975.
Being a multinational firm, Schneider Electric has a sales network that allowed Schneider Electric Korea’s EOCR products to reach out to sales channels of over 20 countries.
“Korea is a big exporter and companies are going global,” he said. “We are a natural partner for Korean firms because we operate globally.”
There are signs that Korea will be in the spotlight for Schneider Electric’s expansion scheme, given “obvious places” of the Korean industry where the company has collaborations for industrial digitization, he said.
Moreover, Korea is likely to be the next destination for Schneider Electric’s smart factory — which already operates in countries like the US, Mexico, China, France, India, Indonesia and the Philippines — as Korea’s EOCR production line in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, adopted a modular production system in 2013.
This comes in line with the nation’s initiative to create 30,000 smart factories and 10 smart industrial zones by 2022, by injecting 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion).
When asked about his views on the government-led initiative, Tricoire said, “I think it is great that the government is encouraging the digitization of industry and innovation of the industry. We are not directly dealing with the government, but operate directly with customers in Korea.”
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries. With global presence in over 100 countries, Schneider is the undisputable leader in Power Management – Medium Voltage, Low Voltage and Secure Power, and in Automation Systems. We provide integrated efficiency solutions, combining energy, automation and software. In our global Ecosystem, we collaborate with the largest Partner, Integrator and Developer Community on our Open Platform to deliver real-time control and operational efficiency. We believe that great people and partners make Schneider a great company and that our commitment to Innovation, Diversity and Sustainability ensures that Life Is On everywhere, for everyone and at every moment.
#SchneiderElectric #Schneider #SchneiderElectricnews #SchneiderElectricIndia #SchneiderElectric #SchneiderEcoStruxure
Media Contact
Company Name: ABC Private Limited
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: Send Email
Phone: 8745857610
Country: India
Website: https://www.schneider-electric.co.in/en/