With a turnover of ₹ 175 crore this year for the Indian entity, NORD Drivesystems Pvt Ltd is a strong brand in India as well as globally. The company plans to capitalise on the infrastructure opportunities and support the same via its products and solutions, according to P L Muthusekkar, Managing Director, NORD Drivesystems Pvt Ltd.

What is the purpose of participating in CONMAC 2018?
We have been working in Nepal with a strong partnership for the last four-five years. We have been doing business through our channel partners and this has been doubling our growth all these years. Nepal offers immense potential for growth as the market is untapped by many of the large industrial players.

The main reason behind participating in CONMAC 2018 is to implement more focus on road construction and related activities. Going by the feedback received on Day 1, there is an immense opportunity for infra building and we are looking forward to supply our products for the same.

How do view the current Indian manufacturing scenario?
If you see, the Indian manufacturing sector has been growing positively in certain markets since the last few years. Our products go into various sectors such as road construction, material handling, steel, cement, food, chemical, pharma, airport etc. Some of these sectors have definitely come up in the last year because of many reasons such as government policies etc. For us, it is a boon from a product point of view and we are looking forward to cater to these sectors in the coming years.

What kind of market share do you have in India?
Currently, we own 15 per cent market share for gear boxes and motors. We have 40-50 kilowatt geared motors which constitutes a major chunk of our business. It’s basically for material handling applications and logistics in food and beverages; so, there is an ample opportunity. Also, the airport industry is doing well in India and we do have our presence in 20 of those airports. Many larger expansions are expected as new greenfield airports are coming up.

What is your annual turnover when it comes to Indian market?
Currently, our turnover is ₹175 crore this year for the Indian entity. Globally, the turnover, because it is on a larger scale, is € 700 million i.e. close to ₹5,600 crores. The market share in India givs us third rank in the gear motor business. I would say, we are growing at a much faster rate than our competitors at 30 per cent.

Does Nord’s international products find their place in Indian market?
Yes! We do sell our international products in India. 90 per cent of our products are assembled at our plant in India. All of the Nord’s products are made available for Indian customers.

Pricing is a strategy implemented by every company and the same is with us; different products have different prices, depending on the markets in which they are made available. However, product wise, it is absolutely the same as the products that are sold in India are also made available globally and vice-versa. However, unfortunately, we do not have a manufacturing facility in India but we do assemble our products such as motors, gearboxes and various frequency drives here.

Do you source parts from domestic manufacturers for your assembling process?
We are a global firm and we do global sourcing. As a global company, when we source something from India, it is termed as global sourcing. For us, localisation is equal to globalisation. So, if you say ‘local sourcing’, then I would say that we do make use of localised parts for our assembly process; it comes up around 14-15 per cent.

What is the criteria before opting for local sourcing?
It all depends on project requirements and availability. Some of the suppliers who source us their products globally have their plants in India. So, we do have local tie-ups with them and those products having already passed the quality test will make it bit easy for us to integrate them in our products.

What kind of pricing strategy have you adopted for Indian market?
Indian market is price sensitive but along with that it is a quality-driven market. However, the Indian audience is more inclined to buy products at a low price. So, to assist the Indian customers in choosing the right solution and application, we do provide solution engineering for them. We simply do not wish to sell our products only on the basis of prices. We make use of one of the best-in class German technology for solution engineering. We deeply study the application in question and give appropriate solutions to the customers. When such actions are implemented, pricing becomes a secondary for the customers. Product efficiency, lower power consumption, longer oil change intervals, etc., gets prioritised over price.

It is like in olden days, after every 2,000 km, cars had to be taken to service station. But, today, the new generation cars are serviced yearly or after they cross 15000 KM. Same is the case with Nord’s gear boxes, with longer oil change intervals, maintenance periods and the shutdown being very less, it is like ‘fit it and forget it’.

What makes you different than your competitors?
Apart from the products and solutions, we also provide customer support for those products by responding to customer feedbacks, and taking care of its customer at each step.

The Indian market is a very flexible market. One moment it goes up and the other it comes crashing down for various reasons, it could be because of government policies, currency rates or market situation. In such situations, there is a ramp up of customers, the large OEMs suddenly demand 200 pieces of a product; and we successfully deliver those 200 pieces in that particular month itself. This is why the OEMs value our relationship with them; that is the kind of support that Nord offers. Other suppliers may not be this flexible. I would say, that makes us a bit different (good different) from the rest of our competitors.

Pricing is a strategy implemented by every company and the same is with us.
P L Muthusekkar, Managing Director, NORD Drivesystems Pvt Ltd.