Do you think ‘life cycle cost analysis' is being accepted as a key parameter for the evaluation for pump buyers? How do you as a pump manufacturer view this issue? Are you helping your customers understand the importance of this subject?
The concept of product life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is a good idea and should be considered as a key parameter before buying products especially those with a longer life cycle and higher initial costs.
However, when it comes to buying products, Indian buyers in general do not take into account LCC possibly due to lack of adequate knowledge and awareness about the impact of lifecycle costs.
As a manufacturer of durable engineering products like pumps, we feel it would be sensible to calculate the LCC before a buying decision is made as it will help buyers ascertain the long term cost benefits of one product over the other. We try to educate our customers about the significance of lower LCC of our products. Energy costs are the major contributors to LCC as far as pumps are concerned and this can be reduced by choosing energy efficient pumps.
What kind of pumping innovations has your company introduced in the recent times? Typically, how important are R&D activities at your organisation? Can you share the percentage of your R&D budget in terms of the annual turnover?
We have recently developed solar pumps which work perfectly on solar energy even in the remotest locations of rural India. This is a revolutionary initiative which has the power to transform the Indian agricultural landscape. We believe this will in the long run prove to be breakthrough in an energy starved country like India which can save huge amount of grid electricity.
Moreover, these pumps can function 24x7 as they can work on both solar energy as well as electricity from grid\non-grid sources. R&D is integral to our organisation with a team of dedicated professionals who work exclusively on the development of new products. Our annual budget plan for R&D is about five percent of the turnover.
India's trillion dollar infrastructure development - from roads & highways to seaports & airports, from dams & irrigation projects to homes & factories, from nuclear & thermal power plants to electricity grids - requires a pump of some kind or other. How would you evaluate the situation being a manufacturer of pumps? Are you catering to all of these sectors?
The government has allocated huge amounts for basic infrastructure like roads, ports, power, homes etc. which will definitely generate new demand for pumps as well. Further industry, agriculture and irrigation are focus segments where a large number of pumps are used across the country and these will be our thrust area for future growth. With steady growth of all the above sectors will drive the business in the coming years for the pump industry in India.
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