In his new role as Technical Solutions Manager for LAPP’s Industrial IT division, Uthaya Sivanathan aims to bring automation engineers and IT teams together for the common goal of creating robust and reliable IIoT devices
A leading supplier of cables and connectivity solutions, LAPP Australia, is further expanding its Australian offering by adding Industrial automation and IT solutions, products, and expertise to benefit local customers.
To manage this new department and bring solution expertise, LAPP Australia has appointed experienced industrial automation engineer, Uthaya Sivanathan, as its new Technical Solutions Manager for its Industrial IT division.
The appointment was announced by LAPP Australia's Managing Director, Simon Pullinger, who said Uthaya brings the right skills, experience, and customer responsiveness to the new role, which complements LAPP Australia’s 5,000 cables and associated cable accessory parts locally stocked for immediate despatch across Australia, in addition to 25,000 product lines delivered from Germany within two weeks.
“The key is understanding the needs of both sides, and finding a solution that both are happy with. It’s crucial to independently verify that IoT devices and their connectivity meet requirements such as cybersecurity, resilience, availability, and service life,” he says.
In his previous role as a senior engineer with major container terminal company, Patrick, Uthaya was responsible for controlling heavy machinery over various network connectivity options. Uthaya was able to translate the automation requirements and collaborate with the IT team to achieve mutually beneficial goals.
“I plan to build on these skills in my new challenge with LAPP Australia. I’m excited to work for a company that is highly renowned globally, and that has been going from strength to strength since establishing a full Australian subsidiary five years ago,” said Uthaya.
“In my previous role, I had the opportunity to work with non-technical people with a huge range of different skill sets, which has taught me how to explain complex subjects in a way that the end user or customer can easily understand and see the benefits.”
“In my new role at LAPP Australia, I hope to help customers select the right equipment for their projects. From network switches to industrial PCs to automation sensors, there are so many factors to consider when selecting the right product for the job.”
Mr Pullinger says Uthaya will lead the Industrial IT division with a focus on providing a consultative approach to customers. “With products like our standard cable ranges, customers can look at the features they need and buy straight from the website – but for Industrial IT and automation systems there are complex requirements, and having an expert to fully understand each system is a major asset. Uthaya is ideally qualified to provide the right advice, and I’d like to formally welcome him to the LAPP Australia family,” he said.