Emerson’s Test and Measurement business, formerly known as NI, celebrates 25 years of innovation and growth in India. Starting with just three employees in 1999, the company now boasts a robust team driving advancements in R&D and sales, impacting sectors like aerospace, defense, semiconductors, and energy.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: Can you share key milestones and impacts of NI’s 25-year journey in India?
Mr Baskar: Emerson’s Test and Measurement business, formerly NI (National Instruments), started its India operations in 1999 with only three employees and in a couple of years, we set up our R&D centre. Since then, we have expanded to a team of around 400 employees that focuses both on R&D as well as Sales and are headquartered in Bangalore. The R&D centre addresses our local market needs and also builds products for the global market for NI. Our Sales team predominantly focuses on our GTM strategy here in India and expanding our business here.
Our journey in India has been characterized by continuous innovation, strategic partnerships, and a strong commitment to customer success. We have seen phenomenal growth over the years, marred by some challenging periods like during the covid years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NI reshaped its Go-to-Market strategy, fuelling growth in specific sectors like Aerospace, Defense, EV, and Semiconductor. Currently, NI serves a wide customer base including ISRO, DRDO, TATA, Intel, and various academic institutions.
TimesTech: How has NI enhanced efficiency and reliability in semiconductor testing and measurement?
Mr Baskar: NI’s comprehensive, connected approach leverages a common software, hardware and data platform to drive engineering efficiency across the semiconductor value chain and our Semiconductor Test Solutions scale from Lab to Production from Modelling & Simulation to Validation & Characterization to High Volume Manufacturing to tracking Quality & Reliability.
For example, NI’s modular PXI & software connected workflows accelerate the time to market during validation & Characterization and our flexible Semiconductor Test System (STS) that integrates NI’s PXI platform, TestStand software, and LabVIEW into a compact unit, with optimized space and reduced power consumption, have accelerated test development, enhanced debugging, and increased parallel test efficiency, significantly lowering the cost of manufacturing test.
The modular approach of NI’s instrumentation allows comprehensive test coverage from DC to mmWave frequencies, supporting a wide range of devices including analog, mixed-signal, 5G, and RF components. This flexibility and enhanced test throughput have improved overall productivity and reliability in the semiconductor industry.
NI provides solutions to all leading semiconductor companies like Intel, Texas Instruments (TI), Qualcomm, Analog Devices (ADI), etc., along with other international and Indian semiconductor companies. We understand that Semiconductor technology requirements outpace traditional test coverage approaches and our continuing investments in semiconductor manufacturing test platform and analytics software, help build solutions that meet our customer’s evolving business needs at every step of the process. With testing support for analog, mixed-signal,5G, and RF, we’re uniquely qualified to help our customers bring new products to market faster.
TimesTech: What are some innovative applications of NI’s systems in aerospace and defense?
Mr Baskar: Aerospace and Defense applications spans multiple dimensions from sustainable commercial air travel to defense modernization efforts to ensuring weapon systems are safe & reliable to establishing footholds on other planets and the ecosystem necessary to support them. NI has made significant contributions to all the above through innovative applications and use of our products & systems across operational domains like air, land, sea & space, across Test Domains like Physical, Electrical & Electromagnetic Tests and across all the phases of engineering and sustainment lifecycle from Research, Prototyping to Simulation, Modelling & Validation to Manufacturing & Production Test to Deployment, Maintenance & Operations.
One notable example is the collaboration with NASA’s Stennis Space Center to develop the NASA Data Acquisition System (NDAS). This system, based on NI’s LabVIEW software, enhances rocket propulsion testing by providing a flexible, extensible, and modular framework for data acquisition, which improves consistency and reduces errors across various test facilities. Our software-defined radios (SDRs) have been used to create advanced drone defense systems by companies like SkySafe that develop rapid-prototyping solutions to address emerging drone threats efficiently and cost-effectively. In India, our products and systems are used by various Govt and private defense and space organizations.
Additionally, NI’s automated test equipment (ATE) systems are employed in testing and maintaining sophisticated aerospace and defense electronics, new RF and wireless technologies, ensure compliance with regulatory mandates, and sustain legacy equipment, thus reducing overall costs and risks for defense organizations.
TimesTech: How has NI streamlined testing processes and accelerated product development in electronics and energy?
Mr Baskar: National Instruments (NI) has significantly streamlined testing processes and accelerated product development in electronics and energy sectors through its advanced software and hardware solutions. NI’s modular PXI systems and software platforms like LabVIEW, VeriStand and TestStand provide robust environments for rapid prototyping and automated testing. These tools enable engineers to efficiently design, test, and validate electronic components and systems, significantly reducing the time and cost involved in product development.
In the energy sector, NI’s solutions like Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation and grid simulation systems facilitate the testing and validation of smart grid technologies and renewable energy sources. This ensures stability and reliability in energy production and distribution. Additionally, NI’s asset monitoring and condition monitoring solutions help in minimizing downtime and enhancing the longevity and performance of energy infrastructure.
Overall, NI’s intelligent and innovative test platforms provide the flexibility and scalability needed to meet the evolving demands of the electronics and energy industries, ensuring efficient development cycles and high-quality outcomes.
TimesTech: How will NI’s integration with Emerson benefit current and future projects?
Mr Baskar: The acquisition of NI by Emerson completed eight months back, advances Emerson’s position as a global automation leader and expands its opportunity to capitalize on key secular trends like nearshoring, digital transformation, sustainability and decarbonization. NI has become a new segment within Emerson called Test & Measurement segment bringing NI’s portfolio of software, control and intelligent devices that expand Emerson’s Boundless Automation Vision into Test & Measurement field, expecting to accelerate Emerson’s revenue growth aligned to its 4-7% through the cycle, organic growth target.
Since NI’s founding more than 45 years ago, the technology landscape has changed tremendously, and we have actively evolved and enhanced our products & offerings and how we support our customers & partners. Joining Emerson represents an exciting new chapter for us – with a deep bench of talent, an impressive roster of customers and our strong combined innovation engine, we are well-positioned to work closely with Emerson’s broader business, continue to invest in NI software-centric test and measurement technologies that are helping customers use test as a strategic differentiator, driving innovation and enhancing business performance.
TimesTech: What emerging trends in automated test and measurement is NI focusing on, and how is it preparing for future challenges?
Mr Baskar: In our recently concluded NI Connect 2024, we spoke about our commitment to NI’s comprehensive test approach, and our vision for intelligent test. Our software-centric, modular hardware approach to test is our unique value proposition and a differentiator for our customers. To prepare for future challenges and emerging trends, we plan to harness the power of AI in test and measurement and to continue our commitment to innovate on our industry-leading NI products. Through our innovative, secure and expert-led approach, we will revolutionize intelligent test across the industry.
By emphasizing flexibility and scalability, NI is enabling engineers to adapt their test systems quickly to accommodate evolving technologies and standards. Furthermore, NI is leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance test automation and predictive maintenance, ensuring optimal performance in dynamic environments.
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