Palletising products increase operational efficiency, on-time delivery hence, resulting more visibility on the shelf before customers. Based on this concept, LEAP India provides equipment pooling and returnable packages, efficiently reducing the number of labour requirements and time. Here, Sunu Mathews, Managing Director, LAEP India talks about the company’s growth strategies in India. He also explains what makes LEAP’s pallets different from others available in the market.

What’s your assessment of the palletisation industry in India?
Palletisation industry in India is at the evolution stage but it will evolve so quickly that it will gall up 2-3 stages of evolution at a time. The market is moving from hardwood pallet to softwood pallet which is a more sustainable wood and as the market is moving from horizontal space to vertical racking the pallet becomes even more important in the field of vibrant supply chain.

Organisations that used to use tarpaulins to store the products have realised the positives of pallet usage and with the advent of GST the goods will flow from one destination to another and palletisation is the only solution which will facilitate this ardent and cumbersome job of supply chain.

What are the major growth drivers?
The growth factors are the population of India, the increased consumption pattern of Indian population, the GDP growth, infrastructural upliftment which includes roads, streets, highways and flyovers, modern warehouse getting converted to large warehousing hubs, with horizontal space getting reduced and vertical space being explored to the maximum. All the government initiatives are being taken to make the business more transparent and easy to operate and one of the biggest beneficiaries is the supply chain function of any organisation.

What sort of growth you have witnessed since inception?
LEAP has witnessed 200 per cent growth on an average since its inception and LEAP is confident that 100 per cent or more growth will be there till 2021-22.

What’s your current target?
The current target for the year FY 17-18 is Rs 100 crore topline.

From Rs 37 crore revenues generated in the last fiscal to Rs 100 crore in current fiscal – isn’t it a difficult target seeing the current market condition?
We contemplate this situation as very optimistic and opportunistic situation for us. This is the time when others are talking about market conditions and not exploring new ideas and innovations, we feel this is an opportunity that we can get into major diversification and capture new geographies and new frontiers for growth.

What makes your pallets different from others available in the market?
We have all the differentiation from others based on quality. All our lumber is imported from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and the Poltics. These are strictly SPF material and offer superior grade. We understand the market of India, the climate and the moisture level at different part of the country. We prepare our pallets keeping these points into consideration. We make all our pallets on metal gigs which keep the alignment proper and we have the certification of international standards. We import specific kind of nails from Korea and food grade paint is imported from France and our vendors are trained to make our kinds of pallets and this makes us different than anyone else in the market.