R A Gotur, Director-India Operations, Hongfa Electro acoustic Co., Ltd. talks here about Indian market opportunities, Hongfa products and services for customers….
How important is the Indian market for you?
India has the third largest GDP among the emerging economies with predicted growth of at least 5.5 % in 2013 – 14, and 6.5% to 7% by the next fiscal year 2014-15.This is potentially attract to companies for all applications such as Hongfa products. Hongfa believes that India will continue to make rapid strides in the last couple of years, the quality of engineering & technology has improved tremendously. Also lot of Global companies are investing in India and particularly Global R & D centres in all metro’s Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi etc.Today all the Global organizations have benefited from the huge professional & skilled engineering manpower available in the market.
What are your strategies for building Hongfa Brand in India?
Already all most all the customers are well aware of Hongfa product wide range & quality. Besides advertising to create brand awareness, we also build credibility for our brand and wide range of products by sharing our knowledge and time. At Hongfa, we strongly believe in nurturing the future pillars of industry and in sharing our knowledge with the community. Also we actively share our technological knowhow by participating in exhibitions and through Magazines.
How do you support your distributors? Mention top two distributors.
We support & communicate our distributors on a daily basis with regard to marketing, technical enquiry, logistics & sales support. We visit our distributors regularly and provide onsite technical & commercial support during their customer visits. Having a close relationship with our comrades and being in the battle field together, helps us to understand and identify the growth in the market and spot emerging sources of business. Also we ensure our distributors well versed in our existing & new products information in advance.
As for the business concerned Hongfa distributors are doing well particularly Saboo Components LLP – Mumbai ( Formerly Vikas Electro Sales ) & Millennium Semiconductors – Pune is doing excellent business and also provide good service & technical support to Hongfa customers.
How do you look the competition in the market? What challenges do you face with customers doing business?
There is very stiff competition in the market with similar products from OMRON, TYCO, PANASONIC, Goodsky etc. We are able to aggressively perform since we have wide range of relay series segments and we are able to deliver high quality products and competitive prices with JIT (Just in time) terms.
Within a span of short time we are able to enter with major companies in all segments. Hongfa commitment to quality and value pricing has helped us immensely.
India is very price sensitive market and we are constantly facing the price pressure from our customers and also from our distributors, and this is common scenario globally as well.
What are your support and services in the industry & how do you reach out to your customers?
Hongfa is committed to the customers for supporting & providing services in every stage such as Design, Protocol, Pilot and regular production. Hongfa believes in customer satisfaction, product quality assurance, Technology support and provides this with adequate systems & processes in place.
We maintain close relationship with our customers. We are following regular direct visits, telephone, Skype, through our Distributors, advertisements and also through Hongfa website etc.
Will Hongfa plan any set up for manufacturing facility in India, as the Indian government is currently offering innovative incentives to boost manufacturing in the country?
At this movement, we do not have any plans for any manufacturing facility but we will definitely keep an eye on this development.
What is Hongfa share of the relay product in Indian market ?
Hongfa’s share in the relay market is around 18 % and has been on the raise consistently.
Tell us about e-commerce platform to offer online system?
E-Commerce platform to offer online facility will become a norm than the exception in the time to come. E-Commerce CRM will be used as strong tool for e-services, e-marketing, e-selling & e-analytics. This will help to speed of the business and decision making process to all customers.
Are there any future plans for the growth of your business in India?
We have aggressive plans for future growth in India. We identified few areas where Hongfa will focus for future growth – Power Electronics, Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Light, Smart meter segment & add manpower in due course. We aligned our strategies and resources in these areas to reach target and are our plans for future growth.
Your comments & suggestions for Electronics Maker magazine?
Electronics Maker is a comprehensive Magazine providing a fine perspective of the electronic industry and covers a wide range of products & services.It reaches the depth of Electronics industry in india and provides the detailed news ,features, interviews, Technical & current trend reports both in India and globally.
I thank you EM for giving HONGFA a platform to speak to a wider audience through your media & present ourselves in good light. Today EM is one of the top electronics magazine in India and is been revered for its contribution to industry. I wish them all success on behalf of Hongfa.
