R&M inaugurated its state-of-the-art production hub in a sprawling facility in Bangalore last year. What's been the progress since then?
R&M started its Indian operations in the year 2005. From past 13 years, we have witnessed a lot of developments in structured cabling market. By analysing the current go-to-market strategy for India, we have invested in setting up a state-of-the-art production facility which is the largest in our group, as well as Customer's Experience Center in Bangalore. We also invested in the world's best manufacturing lines and fibre assembly units. We are planning to purchase more equipment to increase the capacity of the facility. In terms of man power, we have created employment opportunities by moving from 60 to 300 head counts and are planning to double the number by end of 2019. The current production facility is running on 500,000 man-hours which will be increased to 750,000 man-hours.
How do you see the evolution of the Indian manufacturing market for the last 4-5 years?
India is very vibrant market in terms of industries and manufacturing sector. Industrial manufacturing is one of the major growth contributors for Indian economy. With the flagship initiatives and schemes of Indian government like ‘Make in India', placed the country as a feasible manufacturing hub. This drive helped to promote healthy environment and boosted investments from global giants to set up their production facilities in India. Overall, there is a huge surge in Indian manufacturing sector and this continuous further as the sector is booming.
How was the last financial year (FY) for R&M in India in terms of business and overall growth? How are things in the on-going FY?
FY 2018 has brought good amount of business for R&M in India. We were active in Smart cities, Metro Rail projects and city surveillance projects. Indian telcos are gearing up to survive the upcoming 5G era and reframing their network backbone with fibre cabling. We would foresee business coming from telcos in the on-going year.
How much does the India operations contribute to the parent company's kitty in terms of percentage?
India is a strategic market for R&M. Currently, Indian market marks six to seven percent of our total global share. We are aiming to increase this figure to 10 per cent in next five years.
Do you see exporting out of India?
We see India as a business advantage in terms of exports with less price brackets. R&M's Bangalore facility will be acting as a global manufacturing hub for domestic as well as abroad countries.
There is an increasing pressure on manufacturing companies to keep their prices low in a highly competitive market. How are you reducing costs at the manufacturing level?
R&M believes in catering high quality products and tech savvy solutions to the clients. It maintains Swiss quality products at the best competitive price range.
Tell us about your future expansion plans. Where do you see R&M India five years down the line? Would you also look at inorganic growth in India?
We are planning to expand our current production facility and bring in more sophisticated assembly units which can increase our manufacturing capabilities as well as capacity of the unit. We will be deploying more global lines in operations by 2022. R&M is always open for partnerships and will be looking forward for acquisitions. We are also planning to increase our channel reach locally and globally.
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