Kusam-Meco will launch products to meet new applications: Chandmal Goliya

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Kusam-Meco will launch products to meet new applications: Chandmal Goliya

Kusam-Meco will launch products to meet new applications: Chandmal Goliya

Interviews
Sep 18,20

In this IPF interview, Chandmal Goliya, Director, Kusam Electrical Industries (Kusam-Meco) discusses the need to focus on R&D to develop quality products and the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s future plans.

Kusam-Meco will launch products to meet new applications: Chandmal Goliya

Kusam Electrical Industries Ltd (Kusam-Meco) is one of the pioneers of digital multimeters and clampmeters in India. At the helm of the company is Chandmal Goliya, Director, Kusam Electrical Industries Ltd, who has more than 50 years of experience in the field of electrical & electronic test & measuring instruments. In this IPF interview, he emphasises on the need to focus on R&D to develop quality products and also discusses the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s future plans.

What makes Kusam Electrical Industries products so popular among the customers?

Kusam-Meco, a four-decade old company, is a leading player in the field of electronic test & measuring instruments in India. The company pioneered the use of digital instruments in the 80Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s when Analog instruments were mainly used. Thereafter, Kusam-Meco introduced more digital instruments in the Indian market. Today, the company has the highest safety multimeters and clampmeters in its range which no other company in India offers instruments with such high safety.

Users get carried away by big foreign brands but big foreign names do not mean that the products are superior. Discerning customers who have used our instruments have become our customers for ever. We are also an ISO 9001-2015 qualified company. We have a well-knit distribution network of dealers all over the country. The company provides after sales service for all our instruments. In some cases, we have provided service to customers even after the product has been used for over 20 years. Perhaps, we are the only company in the test and measuring industry to have ISO certification for after sales service in addition to marketing.

Kusam-Meco products have features which are unparalleled and not available in many instruments of even foreign brands. High safety UL listing, compliance to safety CAT IV category, heat resistance-fire extinguishing polycarbonate cases, HRC fuses in UL multimeters, splash proof construction are some of the features not available in other brands. We are equipped with world class calibration instruments for most of the instruments marketed by us thereby ensuring their quality. Our products provide accurate readings which have same repeatability over a period of time unlike other makes whose readings drift with time.

How serious is the concern about imports for the electrical equipment industry?

With many opportunists in the market who introduce cheap or duplicate goods in the market, customers fall an easy prey to cheap priced products. With the Ã¢â‚¬Å“L1Ã¢â‚¬Â purchase policy in many organisations, such companies get encouragement to supply low quality unsafe instruments. Sometimes it results in accidents causing loss to property and human beings. Recently, due to poor quality of monitoring of Earth Resistance, there was a huge fire in a power station in South India. This could have been avoided if they had not compromised on the quality for low cost product. Hence, users should not compromise on quality just for a few rupees in cost which in the long run results in huge losses and disruption in work.

In the electrical industry, although there are many companies manufacturing heavy industrial products, products needing advanced technical expertise are less. This makes our country dependent on foreign countries. Such technology involves high cost in R&D activities and after investing heavily, those companies would not like to part with their technical know how easily. Hence, we will have to rely on imports till such time that our country also is able to keep pace with other countries in technology development.

In recent weeks, Indian Government took a number of steps to curb imports (in particular from China). Will these help manufacturers in India?

The measures taken by the Government of India to curb imports will help local manufacturers to increase their share in the market. But it will not help to upgrade their technology. Unless the manufacturing conditions related to labour laws and land reform are at par with China, we will never be able to compete with them in Indian or international markets.

Will these steps lead to an increase in prices of electrical equipment?

Yes, the prices will increase due to the restrictions imposed by the Government of India.

What is your outlook for the industry for 2020-21?

The outlook for the electrical industry for 2020-21 is not very encouraging. Due to lockdown and closure for 3 1/2 months and later on limited operations, the output will be very less compared to the past year. To boost the growth, the government should give practical help to industries, particularly MSMEs - which are the backbone of the economy - and not just make announcements without the MSME sector getting the benefits.

What are your short- and long-term growth plans of the company?

Our companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s is putting all-out effort to grab whatever opportunity is available so that the operations of our company work smoothly. In the long term, we will try to provide customers with still better products and better service so that our customers stay with us for long time. We will also introduce new products meeting the userÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s new applications.