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Fivebro for quality pumps & solutions in water management
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Saturday, 30 September, 2006, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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wn as Fivebro meets the component needs of hundreds of Water treatment , Waste water treatment and other Engineering Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs) who manufactures Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems; Water treatment plants, soft drink and coffee vending machines, utility equipment like boiler, chilling plants and hydro-booster system etc. These componetnts helps the customers to standardize their system engineering and offer cost competitive and reliable systems to their clients. In a short span of 5 years this company from Doshion Ltd group has grown in leaps and bounds. Nishit Doshi,
Managing director, spoke to Meghanadan S. of Food & Beverage News on how the effective marketing of components is done in an emerging industry like water management. Excerpts:
You are a leading distributor and component seller in India. How did it all began and what factors influenced the growth?
Our parent company Doshion Ltd, a 220 crore ISO: 9001 water systems management enterprise, is one of the fastest growing in water treatment industry. Water is required in every segment. Our job is to make a complete engineered system to treat any kind of non-usable water and make it suitable for the specific needs of the industry. Pumps are one of the vital engineering components that are required in the water purification system. Same as with valves, pipes & fittings, which are required to transfer, pressurize water and other fluids. While dealing with all these customer segments we realised the need for having a specific organised company that will be distributing world class quality components throughout the country sourced from the international market. We found out that the Indian manufacturers are not able to match the international quality and specifications for the applications needed. That's where Fivebro came into existence in 2001, as a truly engineering & component distribution company in India.
Our objective, apart from sourcing the products, is to offer solutions to the industries and address their applications needs. Apart from Mumbai, we have set up offices at Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkatta, to provide backup with quality service and support for all our products. We are the Indian representatives of Ebara Corp, Japan, one of the biggest pump manufacturers in the world. In the valves , pipes & fittings section, we represent the Italian company, FIP.
What are your main activities and strength?
Our job is to identify the technologically advanced products. We distribute products only for which we have exclusive rights to India. We basically adopt the product and make sure it is not just a trading activity. Our job starts from brand building that starts with mailers, seminars, exhibition participations, advertisements and so on. Then comes logistics - making the products available to the customers at the right time at the right place, and standardization of the products. And finally, educating the customers in selecting the right product for their specific applications. Marketing and after-sales services also form a vital link in the process.
Do you have any plans to manufacture the products? How does innovations happen in Fivebro?
We believe for us, manufacturing will not give a big advantage. Before 1990 India was a closed economy. The level of customs duty was as high as 100%. The time was good to step into manufacturing because entry of foreign companies was also difficult. But economic environment has taken a U-turn now.
Further Indian manufacturing technology is still not up to the mark as far as the equivalent products available internationally. Machinery manufacturing and technology is highly automated with systems like six sigma/kaizen etc. Although India has low labour cost advantage, but we strongly believe this is not a distinct advantage, when it comes to manufacturing high-tech engineering products. Foreign companies are specialized in manufacturing and they strive to be better in that. This is where they are scoring over us, viz, finishing, quality controls, perfection /automation/standardization and documentation. In India we are still lag behind on these parameters. So with the reduction of import duty from the earlier 100% to 12.5%, now it is advantageous to import as it gives, inter-alia the required flexibility. As a distributor today, we are able to market up to 15 to 20 different world renowned products, serving varied needs of our customers. This has helped us in growing at such a pace.
How advanced is water management in India? What is your offering to the same?
Water management is mainly an engineering process. A number of components such as pumps, pipe fittings, valves , separation technologies are involved in this process. All that we get from our customers is a input conditions and outlet parameters expected.The designing & engineering of the system is done by Doshion, and we are into the distribution of the complete components involved in the system. We also cater to various other applications like pump requirement for boiler applications or chiller application etc.
Water management in India is up to the mark compared to the companies abroad. Basically, the Indian manufacturers absorb the technology at a faster pace. Now days leading EPC and Project companies like Mitsubishi, Kawasaki are now take the help to get their systems manufactured in India.
Being an importer of products, you claim to provide products with a very competitive price. How is it possible when you have to face the un-organised manufacturing sector?
To start with, we identify the product which has some unique features in it. We normally don't go for conventional products like metallic valves and certain other components. For example, we distribute valves, pipe fittings of polymeric material and sheet metal robotic welded pumps, which are unique in their own way, offering distinct advantages to water treatment industry. There are very few Indian companies manufacturing water treatment components of these quality standards.
Today, the people's mindset has changed. They have even started counting downtime costs and checking energy efficiencies. Quality, reliability and customer support are some of the areas we score over the un-organized sector.
Are there any new products in the pipeline? Also any expansion plans?
A specific information-updating cell formed in our company tries to find out new opportunities and new products, which are needed by the market. Every year, we try to introduce two or three new products into the market.
As far as expansion plans are concerned, after a period of time when our volumes reach a certain level, we may think of setting up a joint venture manufacturing company in India. We are looking into various possibilities.
Do you promise a lower cost component supply then?
Whether product prices would be cheaper or not would be decided in the ongoing process. But at least having a manufacturing base here will reduce the transit time, which is a big issue. Maybe, the price can be kept low to that extent.
What are your impressions of the pump industry?
It has a very bright future. Nobody could imagine that the pump industry is growing at such a pace. Today, the growth is best in infrastructure. Pumps are required for every activity in this sector, even for the metro railway.Food and beverage industry is directly connected to the population. More and more people go in for modern lifestyles, accepting mineral water, juices and various
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