Currently, what is your market share and what is your strategy to increase the same?
We are a national brand with a pan India presence. At present we sell through 2000 retail outlets and approximately 60 distributors. We are planning to increase this number by 20-30 percent next year.
Elica PB India has set up a manufacturing plant in Pune, Maharashtra. How much have you invested in this plant? Any specific reason why Pune was chosen as a location for manufacturing?
Our plant in Pune is spread across 70,000 sq feet. It has a capacity to manufacture roughly 1000 pieces of chimneys, hobs, and cook tops per day. Around 500 pieces of chimneys and hobs are manufactured per day. And the investment is close to 60 to 70 crores. We are originally working from Pune because we have expertise here and most of the other brands are also working here.
What is the manufacturing capacity at present and how much are you utilising?
It has a capacity to manufacture roughly 1000 pieces of chimneys, hobs, and cook tops per day. Around 500 pieces of chimneys and hobs are manufactured per day.
Please tell us about your plans to expand the manufacturing as well as enhancing the existing product portfolio.
We believe in offering the usable and required features to strike a balance between the quality and price. We believe in offering quality, functionality and consistently adding innovative features and upgrading technology. This is the thumb rule that we adhere to. Our product of any range assures you of quality without compromise.
The Company aims to revolutionise the kitchen hood industry in India with new products and technology. This implies having a strong focus on innovation coupled with a long-term R&D attitude and an infrastructure to support it. Tell us what is Elica doing on this front.
We have launched Split Chimneys, Elica Deep Silence (EDS3) and this year we will be launching one more version of EDS3 which will be a more affordable variant. Elica will also be exhibiting a new range in Italy during April 2018. We are planning on getting that too in India very soon. Basically, every year the brand has new technological innovations to offer and which Elica in turn transfers to India. Our R&D is based out of Italy. We pump around 12 percent of our sales revenue in network expansion and advertisement.
Today, you are a successful entrepreneur. What is your mantra for success?
I believe in keeping things simple and fundamentally clear about what you want and with a friend's response to customers and trade partners. All this can be a mantra for success.
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