Of late, the camera and image processing sector has found its unique position in the smart device sector. From being merely an image-capturing utility, it has come a long way in easing the decision-making process at every step of a transaction. In other words, embedded vision-enabled cameras are the new lenses with brains. Leveraging the edge networks, they can process the captured information instantly thus reducing time lapses, a critical parameter in certain industries that require maximum functionality with minimal overhead to service a specific application in no time. e-con Systems, a pioneer in manufacturing Embedded Vision EOM cameras says it is the future of the imaging industry. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Maharajan Veerabahu, Co-Founder & Vice-President of e-con Systems.

1.Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

e-con Systems was founded in 2003 to enable machines to see and understand the world better. The company is a pioneer in embedded vision systems for a wide range of products. It is an end-to-end OEM camera solutions provider for product companies looking to integrate camera modules into their devices.

In the past two decades, e-con Systems have come a long way, with revenue turnovers amounting to more than 200 Crores. It is headquartered in Chennai, along with a sales office in Bengaluru and 535 employees in total. e-con Systems has a worldwide presence through distributors and representatives.

2.Kindly mention some of the major challenges the company has faced till now.

India has always been known as a significant exporter of software services, but designing high-quality hardware products such as cameras from scratch was a completely new territory to foray into. In addition to the difficulty of getting acceptance that an Indian company can create such products, we did not have much guidance as well.

From foraying into this new territory and eventually becoming experts and masters in the industry, it has been quite a learning curve for us, but our continuous effort and hard work have found rewards. Today, e-con Systems are at the top of our clientele's preference and reference lists.

3.What is your biggest USP that differentiates the company from competitors?

Our biggest USP lies with 2 things

1.It's a world-class R&D company in the cameras and imaging sector. With that, e-con Systems has consistently created products that are a first in the world, e.g., USB 3.0 UVC cameras, GMSL cameras, and an embedded stereo camera, among others.

2.e-con Systems has been in the industry since 2003. In these two decades of operations, it has served customers across more than 90 countries. It boasts of more than 300 product design wins, and has, to date, shipped more than 2 million camera units. Currently, the company has a catalog of 122 products.

4.What sets e-con Systems apart from the competition is its commitment to quality and service.

e-con Systems is an expert in designing camera hardware. We work with ISO-certified processes in manufacturing their products and offer 5 to 10 years of product support, in addition to 3 years warranty on our products.

5.How is embedded vision camera/AI/Robotics evolving today in the industry as a whole? What are the most important trends that you see emerging across the globe?

 Embedded vision technology is allowing machines to process data and information about the physical world. It is finding applications in almost every other field, from farming, manufacturing, navigation, healthcare, dentistry, food delivery, traffic management, retail services, et cetera.

As the world moves towards more sensing and automation, technologies such as the Internet of Things, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence technologies will become more commonplace. There will be more research and development, new products, innovations, and improvements in the fields of embedded vision systems and robotics.

6.How is your company helping customers deliver relevant business outcomes through the adoption of the company's technology innovations?

e-con Systems works with customers in various industries, identifying the relevant data that requires the collection and offering embedded vision systems and modules that can be integrated with the customer's designs. A successful fitment of a vision system with the product is called a design win. To date, e-con Systems has secured more than 300 design wins.

At e-con Systems, every department seeks to see how they can add value to the customer. Be it customizing the product according to the customer requirements, designing the complete product for the customer to enable customers to work on their core work, working on manufacturing forecasts, and finally providing knowledge about their industry to enable customers to make better decisions.

7.How do you plan to revolutionize the Indian market and what are your plans to tap the market?

India has been a sleeping giant when it comes to hardware design, development, and manufacturing. Traditionally a software super giant, India always had the potential on the hardware side with world-class engineering talent. The lacking part was the ecosystem and infrastructure which will happen only when there is a focus on this.

We have seen two promising things take place in just the last few years:

1.There are so many startups that are trying to make hardware in India from scratch and are attracting good funding. This includes a host of automation, robotic and medical startups.

2.There is an increased focus on Make in India and a lot of steps taken to encourage hardware manufacturing and export from India.

We expect the Indian hardware product industry to flourish on this note and they would be the ideal customers for our camera modules.

8.How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

We believe that we are stepping into the hyperloop of growth. It's going to be a fast-paced growth of the industry and with that the company as well. Only ten years ago, there were just a handful of products that had embedded camera systems in them.

Today, their use is widespread.  From cars, doorbells, phones, and even vacuum cleaners, the machines around you that are going to have vision sensing are increasing exponentially. With over 15 years of experience and products in this domain, e-con Systems is poised to make it big in this space.

9.What would you advise aspiring candidates stepping into this innovative industry?

For aspiring candidates, apart from all the knowledge that they gain from their books, engineering classes, and coding, we would ask them to develop a passion for cutting-edge technology and product development.

There is a lot of technology R&D to be done before solutions are created and this requires a creative, problem-solving mind that can apply the knowledge acquired during college.

Hardware product development requires focus, attention to detail, and learning the process. You will be creating products that have a long life and will be used by thousands of people around the world. Be prepared for that grind.