What kind of support do you provide to your India operations from the global headquarters?

Mirko Merlo: Our Indian operation is pretty much independent compared to other markets. Everything that you would consider ‘business as usual' is driven and coordinated by our people in India. We do support the India team when it comes to business development as well as when there are challenges that go beyond the regular. Also, we play a role during development projects or global projects where one or more partners from different countries are involved. For example, when we develop something with a global company, chances are that we have already done something similar. So rather than re-inventing the wheel, we provide support with aim to give something better than what we have already done. Another place where we help is in terms of providing technology which is not available on the local level either because it is a super special application or because it is an extremely challenging operation, where they need some extra expertise. I would say that on the ‘80:20 rule', they are capable of handling every request that they receive from the customers. In fact, India is supporting other countries in Asia, which is a good thing from an Indian perspective.

Pawel Duzniak: Additionally, I would say that the main support is to develop local knowledge. We try to be as close as possible with our customers and the closest you can get is when you have local support with strong knowledge. Transfer of knowledge is a big support from the global headquarters. As Mirko said, in cases of complex projects, experts from global headquarters get involved. However, the main strategy is to be as local as possible.

At present Walter Tools India imports majority of its standard offerings from its parent German manufacturing facilities. Any plans to increase localisation in near future?

Pawel Duzniak: Of course, we can't say what the whole development is going to be in the next two years to three years from now. It depends very much on the development of our business in India. We may consider increasing localisation when the volumes will produce a kind of economy of scale where it makes business sense.

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