Deceuninck Focusing on Holistic Growth
What are the emerging trends in the fenestration industry, and what are your latest offerings?
The fenestration industry is slowly moving towards standardisation which will help make better quality windows/doors at a faster pace. Automation in window production has started with couple of companies investing in high output CNC machines for production. Emphasis on quality of profiles and hardware has increased. Energy conservation and noise reduction is being considered as a key factor in the use of UPVC windows. Importance of right quality of installation is being talked about though very little is being done in this direction. Deceuninck has various products to suit the industry. Zendow 70mm series for high thermal and acoustic performance; Everest max 60 mm series for good quality standard windows at competitive prices; 70mm sliding systems for high quality sliding windows and doors and new Bella 60mm sliding window systems for project market. We also have the high performance Lift and Slide System for large openings. New products are also on the anvil to penetrate further into the Indian market.
Currently, there is a slowdown in real estate market; how are you strategising your approach in such a scenario, and exploring new markets which can open business vistas in the long run/coming months?
The slowdown in the real estate market has actually helped us rebuild, recoup our strategies for the Indian market. Bigger projects were delayed but the smaller ones continued to grow. We feel the key for growth is smaller projects which our fabricators can complete in 3-4 months and recover their monies and grow faster. This means they need to hold stock of the profiles and hardware. It’s easier to estimate or forecast requirement for a bigger project. Smaller project means lot of variations in Inventory. To cater to this flexible demand we set up our own warehouse in Chennai. In February we decided to move to a bigger warehouse which can stock nearly 600 tonnes of profiles. Currently we have around 200 tonnes of profiles in stock in various colours and shades and an additional 250 tonnes are on the way. By the beginning of the 1st Quarter of 2014-15, we will have stock of 400 tonnes ready to help our customers cater to varied demand.
Although Indian consumers have developed a strong inclination towards quality, they are still price sensitive. Since your products fall in the premium bracket, how do you synergise the cost-quality proposition- since price plays a big role when it comes to sales voulmes?
Deceuninck understands this very well and has a long term strategy to gradually increase the sales volume. Our systems have various advantages over competition when it comes to cost. Window cost is a combination of profiles, hardware, glass, labour, fabricator margin and taxes. Our increase in inventory means fabricators don’t have to import containers, pay import duty and stock more material. Their working capital gets blocked in this way. They can now pick materials required for their projects in phases from us. Our products have features like pre-inserted gaskets, co-extruded gaskets which are weld-able. This reduces labour time by nearly 12%. Time is money. It results in a lot of savings to the fabricator. We are one of the few who offer our own hardware. As our buying capacity is much higher than individual fabricators we are able to offer good quality hardware at an economical price than our competition. However education is the key. Educating the customer about quality, performance and functionality of the product is very important to make the whole thing work in synergy. We have been participating in number of exhibitions / events to do this.
There is a lack of standardisation in Door & Window sizes and specifications in our country, and people usually get them as per their own understanding. On the other hand, in the Western countries, one gets to see standardised Doors & Windows all over. What efforts are you initiating to bring standardization?
Product customization is also an important issue to prosper. Are you providing customized products and solutions?
All our products are of tropical mix which is needed for a climate like in India. We offer 10 years warranty of laminated profiles. Weld-able gaskets mean faster production and better sealing at the corners in case of windows/doors.
Lack of quality workmanship is a major issue in India, and a poorly applied product can damage the manufacturer’s reputation. How do you ensure this requisite? Do you nurture certified trained applicators?
Deceuninck offers extensive on-site training to all our fabricators by our well trained Engineers. In addition we do routine audit of our fabricators to ensure proper quality production. In 2014 we will be launching a new programme – CE Certification which will help our customers in making windows not only suitable for India but also to export to Europe.
