Incorporated in the year 1985, Efftronics Systems Pvt. Ltd today has turned into a commander smartifying infrastructure, especially across the public sector. Having set off on its journey by pioneering LED based display systems in India, the company has come a long way – being home to 730 people and pioneering the development of Internet of Things solutions for Railway Signaling. Well before the advent of cable TV revolution, Efftronics with its moving display advertising solutions introduced its users to a WOW effect, and has carried away that reputation ever since by innovating smart LED lighting & Digital Signage, and growing to offer Smart Buildings and Smart Cities solutions. The company has also made inroads into data capturing, providing insight to the customers using data captured, and in turn helping them make informed business decisions. With everything under its belt, from concept to product, installation, maintenance, and services, Efftronics today is a turnkey, one-stop-shop solution provider. CIO Insider got to talking with the company’s founding CEO Rama Krishna Dasari. Let’s dig in.

In conversation with Rama Krishna Dasari, CEO, Efftronics

The smart infra-tech industry in India is blooming and it has no intention to slow down. The industry is flooded with new and experienced companies. What makes your approach unique?
It stems from our design thinking process, which involves ideation, creation, production, scale up, installation and maintenance and continuously adds value by improving versions. This thinking led us to creating a unique infrastructure capability. Today, we have a full-fledged DSIR recognized

R&D center with 100 plus engineers working on multiple projects. Efftronics is a CMMI Dev Level 3 Ver 2.0 appraised and ISO 9001:2015 certified company owning a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility following 5S and 6 Sigma principles. This is in line with our belief that product & process innovation leads to company’s growth. In addition, we have a robust customer support system, which is present across 135 locations criss-crossing India. We create products that bring us customers who end up in long lasting relationships!

Efftronics specializes in data acquisition systems and safety embedded signaling solutions. Tell us briefly about the technology applications of your solutions.
Efftronics’ products are designed and manufactured to ensure safe passage of trains by digitally detecting non-compliant actions of Loco Pilot/Station Master. Over the last 20 years, we deployed a robust Data Logger (DL) system in Indian Railways, and have been continuously adding features and more value, year after year. It’s indeed equivalent to a BLACK BOX of an aircraft. DL diagnoses the problems of signaling, provides documentary evidence of accidents/incidents in minutes, and records driver errors. In a way, DL brought about a cultural shift in the operations and maintenance of signaling systems. Besides preventing accidents, DL provides train arrival and departure times without human intervention. Our DL is located in almost all 8000 rail stations pan India.

highest Safety Integrity Level-4, this product is designed with triple modular redundant architecture. It is validated by Third party agencies like Jadavpur University and ERTL Laboratory. Another innovation that differentiates Efftronics is in Smart LED lights. After seven years of relentless R&D, we developed LED lights that last for 10 years, carrying a warranty of five years.

As an indigenous brand that has made several iconic contributions to the public sector, how has been Efftronics’s contribution towards creating employment?
Efftronics has practiced Makein-India and Atmanirbhar ever since its inception in 1985. We have been a pioneer in attracting local talent and maintaining a work culture that is local, while keeping pace with the latest and the best practices and adapting to the futuristic technologies like ML, AI, Deep Learning and many more, using the latest communication platforms over the years like BLE, GPRS, and WiFi.

Over the last 35 years, your company must have been through a lot of implementation challenges. Could you tell us one of those exciting stories?
Sure. One of the nail-biting challenges was related to the development of Solid State Block Proving by Axle Counter. This product was developed according to the European safety standards. The reliability and safety of this product is of paramount importance, as it controls the train movements. Banking on extensive research, the product was developed for ceaseless 24x7 operations for more than three years. Today, six years after we deployed this product, it continues to run 24x7 with no reset operation in multiple stations across the country. This gave us a lot of faith and confidence in our process and systems at Efftronics.

What is the future roadmap of Efftronics?
Our quest for adapting to newer technologies continues. We are looking at Asset Management, CM, and Predictive maintenance big time for large format industries and organizations. This will bring in cultural changes in terms of how the assets are managed and utilized. Our new solutions in Asset management will improve the availability and reduce the downtime of Assets.