Sluggish market conditions in some segments and an overall “wait and see” attitude from EPC companies has resulted in subdued order inflow, Schneider Electric Infrastructure Ltd said in an investor presentation.
Some stickiness is being experienced and also expected in the order backlog liquidation, the company further observed.
The company’s order inflow during Q2 (July to September) of FY21 was Rs.2,043 crore, down 30.6 per cent from Rs.2,943 in Q2 of FY20. This decline factors the “de-booking” of previous orders. Ignoring the de-bookings, the decline would have been lower at 11.7 per cent.
In H1 (April to September) of FY21, the new order inflow stood at Rs.4,524 crore, as against Rs.5,177 crore in H1 of FY20 – a fall of 12.6 per cent .Once again, without the de-booking, this fall would have been less severe at around 3 per cent.
This drop in orders, notes Schneider Electric Infrastructure, has been due to delay in finalizing orders by customers, especially in the MMM (mining, minerals and metals), mobility and O&G (oil & gas) segments.
Major orders booked by Schneider Electric in Q2 of FY21 included: GIS substations from Delhi Transco; Water MV solution, Suez; Medium voltage transformers, Adani Group; and, MV ring main units, BSES Group
Whitepaper
In an independent development, Schneider Electric, in collaboration with IDC, recently launched a whitepaper titled ‘Maximizing Business and Operational Resilience through Services’.
IDC (International Data Corporation) completed the field, digital, and consulting services survey of 1,403 respondents across multiple geographic regions and industries. This comprehensive study examined the current state and future needs of customers’ facilities and operations. One of the key findings in the study was that a large percentage of organizations are realizing significant benefits by partnering with a services firm.
The global survey findings indicated the following:
- Facility and business operations are intrinsically linked. Organizations reported experiencing problems with production, data security, and resource utilization that were caused by facility and operations issues.
- Protecting against cyber attacks, achieving sustainability goals, and extending operations to new locations are the top challenges facing organizations. The skills needed to accomplish these tasks are also identified as difficult to attract and retain.
- An overwhelming majority of respondents reported a positive impact from engaging a services firm. A key outcome of engaging a services firm was the improved resiliency and efficiency of organizations’ facility operations.
(Featured photograph sourced from Schneider Electric is for illustration only)