ENGINEERING SERVICES ARTICLE

Subscribe now to ensure you don't miss our articles

Engineering Design for the Indian Market - Six Key

Points to Consider

If the responsibility of redesigning your product for emerging markets like India rests on you, this article will give you

valuable insight into factors that will ensure a successful and smooth market entry.

India’s increase in population, change in lifestyle, rapid economic growth, and preference for a foreign brand has led to the demand for high quality products. The last two decades has seen companies like Borg-Warner Cooling Systems,

Danfoss, Grundfos, Vestas, Harburg-Freuden-berger, GEA, Alfa Laval, Tesco, Schwing Stetter and ABB benefit largely

in India.

However, companies like Enron, Aiwa, Kelvinator and Daewoo have invested but struggled to penetrate the Indian market. Even the leading global brand, Apple, fails to make it among the top brands in India as per an article in ibtimes.

** A study of their business strategies reveal that they were less successful in satisfying the Indian consumer and became

an example of how not to design products for the India market.

If you are designing products for the Indian market, we suggest you take the following factors into account.

Cultural Blend

Some of even the technically superior products and equipments have

failed to survive in the Indian market as they did not adapt to the

usage pattern of the Indian customer. McDonalds, for instance,

launched its first chain of fast food joint in India in 1996. Considering that more than half of the population was vegetarian and their menu

mostly contained meat, the fast food chain was an epic failure.

From an industrial perspective, a high through put machine built for a

European market can be simplified to meet Indian market demand, the latter which may be relatively less when compared to the

European region. Localizing the machine to suit the work styles,

conditions and usage pattern to synchronize with the cultural style of

the Indian industry can make all the difference. A third eye

perspective during the product design stage from the native region

and industry can save a lot of money and time during the design phase.

ENGINEERING SERVICES ARTICLE

Government Regulations

Setting up business in a foreign land is far from easy. To ensure that you don’t have legal disturbances, and that you

benefit from the regulations, you need to be well informed about the legal system. In some cases, the central laws can be

quite lenient, while the state laws could be quite strict and vice versa.

Environmental Protection Act and the severity in implementation can vary from state to state in India. The use of a

material could be banned in one state while permissible in the others. You have to be aware of these regulations before

you begin designing your equipment. You will need to make suitable arrangements to accommodate changes in your

design itself.

Industrial Standards

Unlike consumer products, industrial products are bound to interface with other machinery and equipments, and with

various tools in customer’s factory. To bring about consistency in the machines in order to facilitate smooth interaction

among the various buyers and suppliers, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has listed standards specific to the

respective industry. If your equipment is not compatible with the existing machinery, physical changes have to be made at the design stage itself to make your machine compatible. For some industries, stringent tests are undertaken to ensure the

safety of equipment as per Indian standards. Hence, you must look into the parameters that the tests deem necessary and

you should prepare your equipment at the design stage accordingly.

Competitors' Footing It is important to understand the hold your competitors have in the market. One suggestion is to benchmark their products'

performance, capabilities and features against your product. Since these companies have already overcome the obstacles

in that corresponding segment and they have a longer local market presence than you, your product should be

competitively priced, offer better customer services, product variants, after sales support, warranty terms, and features if

possible. India being a price sensitive market, it’s advisable to come up with product variants to address multiple markets.

Manufacturing Ecosystem

A well designed product which is required to import all its components and raw materials is not a viable option in the long

run. It is vital to consider the manufacturing ecosystem from the point of view of availability and accessibility of the raw

materials, standards in raw material, and the manufacturing processes including their limitations.

You should also check into the vendor and supplier base and their capabilities to meet the demand, transportation and

logistical barriers. Importing resources merely adds to the overall cost of the product. Also, supplying spare parts to the

customers immediately in case of failure could prove to be a challenge.

After sales and support

A high performance product not backed by reliable after sales support will

not fare well in any market. Customer satisfaction and a healthy relationship

are mandatory for the success of any company. Problems have to be resolved

in a timely and cost-effective manner. For this, you will need to set up a team

that is easily accessible to your customers. You will also have to localize spare parts and provide a local supplier who can attend to the issue without a

hitch.

Barry-Wehmiller International Resources 8020 Forsyth Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63105 (314) 862-8000

info@bwir.com www.bwir.com

ENGINEERING SERVICES ARTICLE

** www.ibtimes.com/articles/165953/20110620/apple-google-facebook-infosys-tata.htm The writer is handling the business operations for the European Market and provides engineering and design consultancy

for the countries strategizing to enter emerging markets like India. You can reach him at vivek.maladkar@bwir.com or

the below contact number for any queries.

Vivek Maladkar

Manager Business Development – Europe

Email: vivek.maladkar@bwir.com Office: +44-11-58882522

www.bwir.com