Mumbai-based Prostarm Info Systems Ltd. is a formidable name in the UPS market. Established in 2008, PROSTARM has grown multifold to serve as a single point provider of power solutions in the power electronics segment. Armed with a proficient and strong team of 400 plus engineers nationwide, the company has done 1,00,000 plus UPS/Stabilizer /Solar installations in the range 1 kVA to 400 kVA across various industries and served 500 plus large enterprise level customers. With an assiduous strategist like Ram Agarwal helming the company, PROSTARM has ambitious growth plans. The company is continuously expanding its workforce, infrastructure and product range to become an INR500 crore entity by FY 2025, finds out MACHINE TOOLS WORLD in an interface with the young and dynamic CEO from the Power Electronics segment. The company is today in the top league of UPS manufacturers offering smart, reliable and energy-efficient power electronics solutions and empowering the digital transformation journey of the country. Excerpts:
Q. The UPS market is indeed on a growth trajectory. What are the stimuli that are driving the growth of this market?
In today’s digital age, businesses and consumers rely heavily on electronic devices and technology. Any power interruption or outage can result in significant financial losses, data corruption, and operational disruptions. The market’s expansion can be ascribed to rising need for clean uninterrupted power and defined backup in the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the country’s expanding digitalization. Furthermore, the government’s plans to improve power for the development of smart cities across the country will drive demand for UPS systems and Energy Storage Systems in the coming years. Furthermore, the government’s increased emphasis on Atmanirbar Bharat, Make in India Campaign, Digitization, and other initiatives are likely to drive growth in the country’s UPS and Energy Storage Systems markets. The growing demand for reliable power is a major driver for the UPS market.
Q. Which are the industry segments that are contributing to high growth?
Growing demand from varied sectors such as IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS); banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI); government, manufacturing, healthcare, oil & gas, railways, educational institutions, defense, aviation, telecommunications, and energy is driving the UPS market in India. Growing installations of high-end electronic equipment and machineries in industrial settings are predicted to drive up demand for high-end UPS. Furthermore, rising penetration of the IT/ITES sector in the country’s Tier II and Tier III cities is expected to drive demand for UPS systems in the coming years. As a result, the Indian UPS market is likely to increase by double digits in the near future.
Q. Precision and accuracy are crucial in machine tool / metalworking. What are your offerings specific to this industry?
The UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) industry plays a supporting role in ensuring precision and accuracy in the machine tool and metalworking industry. While UPS manufacturers do not directly serve the specific needs of machine tool and metalworking processes, their products indirectly contribute to maintaining precision and accuracy through reliable power supply.
Our offerings to the industry can be summarized as follows:
Quality and Stability: Our UPS systems are designed to provide consistent and clean power to critical equipment, including machine tools used in metalworking. Fluctuations, surges, or power interruptions can disrupt machining operations, leading to inaccuracies, machine errors, or material waste. UPS systems act as a buffer, protecting against power disturbances and ensuring a stable power supply for uninterrupted production.
Protection Against Power Outages: Power outages can cause significant disruptions and data loss in machine tool and metalworking processes. Our UPS systems act as a backup power source, allowing machines to continue operating or providing enough time for a safe shutdown. This helps prevent damage to workpieces, tooling, and machines, maintaining precision and avoiding costly rework.
Surge and Voltage Regulation: Electrical surges and voltage fluctuations can damage sensitive electronic components and control systems within machine tools. Our UPS systems are equipped with surge protection and voltage regulation capabilities, minimizing the risk of electrical damage. By ensuring stable voltage levels, UPS units help maintain the accuracy and reliability of control signals and feedback mechanisms.
Data Integrity and Equipment Protection: Machine tools often rely on digital control systems and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to achieve precise and accurate machining. Sudden power disruptions can lead to data corruption or loss, affecting the integrity of machining programs and operational settings. Our UPS systems provide continuous power during outages, protecting data and preventing the need for reprogramming or recalibration, thereby maintaining precision.
Remote Monitoring and Management: Our Advanced UPS systems offer remote monitoring and management capabilities. These features allow machine tool operators and maintenance personnel to monitor the health and status of UPS units, receive alerts for potential issues, and perform proactive maintenance. This helps ensure uninterrupted power supply and mitigate risks that could impact precision and accuracy in metalworking processes. While UPS manufacturers primarily focus on power supply reliability and protection, their solutions indirectly contribute to maintaining precision and accuracy in the machine tool and metalworking industry by safeguarding against power-related disruptions and ensuring consistent operation of critical equipment.
Q. How comprehensive is your range today? And what’s your differentiated offer to the end-user?
We have a comprehensive range of Power Electronic products which includes Industrial UPS, Servo controlled voltage stabilizers (air-cooled & oil cooled) 1-500 kVA, Solar Power Inverters, Lift Inverters, Turnkey Rooftop Solar Systems, Innovative Power Solutions for smart projects (including smart city, data centers, airports, etc.), Lithium-Ion Power Solutions and RDSO approved products.
We offer Enhanced Reliability, emphasizing the reliability and robustness of the UPS system. Highlighted features such as advanced battery management, high-quality components, and fault-tolerant designs that ensure uninterrupted power supply and protection for critical equipment.
We offer UPS systems that are scalable and adaptable to varying power requirements. Provide modular UPS solutions that allow for easy expansion or addition of capacity as the end-user’s power needs grow. Additionally, flexibility in terms of installation options, such as rack-mounted or standalone systems, can cater to different user preferences and space constraints.
Highlighted features like high-efficiency power conversion, power factor correction, and intelligent energy management capabilities. Energy efficiency is increasingly important for end-users aiming to minimize their environmental impact and optimize energy usage.
We offer customization options to meet specific end-user requirements. This can include customizing UPS system parameters, form factors, or integrating with specific applications or equipment. Providing tailored solutions demonstrates a commitment to addressing unique needs and delivering optimal performance.
Q. Poor quality of grid power is a menace. What are the solutions you offer for power quality management?
UPS systems are designed to provide backup power during grid power disruptions, such as voltage sags, surges, or complete outages. By utilizing a UPS, sensitive equipment and systems can be protected from the adverse effects of power disturbances. UPS systems can offer different levels of power conditioning and protection, ranging from basic standby UPS to more advanced online double-conversion UPS.
Voltage Stabilizers ensuring the connected equipment operates within their acceptable voltage range.
Power conditioner that includes features like voltage regulation, harmonic filtering, surge protection, and isolation transformers to provide clean and stable power to connected equipment.
Surge Protection Devices (SPDs) such as surge suppressors or surge protectors, are installed to divert excessive voltage and prevent it from damaging sensitive equipment. SPDs can be deployed at various levels, including at the main electrical panel, subpanels, and individual equipment.
Isolation Transformers: Isolation transformers can be used to protect sensitive equipment from poor power quality and to provide electrical isolation between the grid and the connected devices.
Power Factor Correction: Power factor correction techniques, such as capacitor banks or active power factor correction devices, can be utilized to improve power factor. By correcting power factor, electrical systems become more efficient, reducing energy losses, improving voltage stability, and enhancing overall power quality.
Q. Today everyone prefers clean and green energy. What’s your contribution to sustainable development?
Companies’ innovation strategy is advancing our commitment towards sustainability, reliable and smart power solutions across various industries. It innovates by confronting current issues and anticipating future ones, while paying close attention to its surroundings and translating energy sources into sustainable solutions. ProstarM operates, designs, and constructs state-of-the-art technologies with a focus on sustainability. The goal is to provide sustainable power solution while also empowering digital transformation across India.
Q. How do you help in digital transformation in the country?
The key to the digital economy is regulated, reliable, uninterrupted, and sustainable power. UPS systems are designed to provide backup power during grid power disruptions, such as voltage sags, surges, or complete outages. By utilizing a UPS, sensitive equipment and systems can be protected from the adverse effects of power disturbances. UPS systems can offer different levels of power conditioning and protection, ranging from basic standby UPS to more advanced online double-conversion UPS. Our priority has always been to create innovative and customized solutions to address the specific needs of Indian industry. By assuring last-mile service and support, Prostarm has become the go-to partner for both traditional and new-age companies looking to transform into digital enterprises. Going forward, we have already developed a robust portfolio of smart and intelligent products that will greatly contribute to the mission of a digital India.
Q. You are a front-runner in the UPS market. What are your competitive advantages?
Prostarm has always been a single-point provider of power solutions in the power electronics segment. It brings clean, efficient, reliable, and affordable Power Storage solutions across businesses of every size and sector. Our focus has always been to develop innovative and customized solutions to meet the specific needs of Indian industries by driving the Make In India campaign.
Q. Tell us something about your manufacturing facilities and capabilities.
Prostarm in its 15 years’ journey has emerged as a single point provider of power solutions and product in the power electronics segments. Prostarm houses 3 factories in India – 2 in Pune and 1 in Mumbai – with a leading-edge production facility of approx. 51,000 Sq ft equipped with one of the best infrastructure in India. We have a strong presence across 22 cities and 170 districts across India, from Jammu to Chennai and from Ahmedabad to Guwahati and more.
We have strong team of 500+ Engineers nationwide and done 100000+ installations across sectors. We have done installation for UPS/Stabilizer/Solar in the range of 1 KVA to 400 KVA, which marks our diverse range of products it caters to more than 25 types of industries right across BFSI, Heavy Engg, Automobile, Heathcare, Railway, Defence, Navy, Food Processing, Automation Industry, ITs, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas, etc.
Q. What are your benchmarks for quality?
Quality is quintessential for any PROSTARM product and our QC Team is mentored to check for the desired quality right from the stage when raw materials/components are taken into the store till the time the product gets packaged and dispatched.
Q. Are you eyeing at the export market?
We have ventured into the export market recently and are slowly making inroads into neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, to start with. In furtherance of our vision, we have positioned our POC in Dubai and Africa. We plan to spread our wings into other countries before the end of this Financial Year.
Q. Do you offer anything for the upcoming EV segment?
We are working towards this segment and in near future PROSTARM will also be a part of EV segment.
Q. How do you envision the future of Prostarm?
Today Prostarm has a strong presence pan-India across 22 cities, in more than 170 districts with a team of about 400 employees including 300+ service engineers. This portrays our last mile reach capability and higher customer centricity.
Prostarm has ambitious growth plans. We are constantly expanding our workforce and infrastructure to further bolster our market penetration & become a Rs.500 crore entity by FY 2025.
