From its humble beginning in 1979, Bohmen Industries today offers a wide variety of position switching devices catering to various industries. Post-Covid, the company is seeing a good demand due to a reduction in competition from the unorganised sector as well as a definite aversion for cheap imported alternatives, reveals Abhishek Bohra, Partner, Bohmen Industries.

How has Bohmen Industries grown since its inception?
Bohmen Industries was founded in 1979, as a manufacturer of position switching devices which were primarily being imported then. From its humble origins, today it offers a wide variety of such devices catering to each and every process industry, manufacturing exclusively at their plant at Bhayander, Thane. The team is capable of producing approximately 150,000 devices a year and this capacity is under augmentation.

Are you seeing a pick-up in demand in 2021-22? What is driving the market?
The market has definitely revived post Covid and this is seen in existing customers as well as in new acquisitions. Demand is up due to a reduction in competition from the unorganised sector as well as a definite aversion for cheap imported alternatives which held sway in certain segments.

What were your key learnings from the Covid pandemic? What changes have been brought about in your company and in the industry due to Covid?
The biggest learning for a small SME like us is to ensure continuity of management of affairs especially post the second wave. A number of our associates ran aground due to the unfortunate loss of the founder or proprietors and managers. Having a core team with adequate backup is very critical now and we are already taking steps to ensure this in the near future.

Which new products & solution have you introduced in the market in the last 2 years? Do you plan to launch new products in the near future?
We have developed coach equipment for the railways which have gone live. We do have a number of products in the development stage which were put on hold in 2020-21, but should resume this year.

In the last one and half years, the government has announced a number of initiatives like Aatmanirbhar Bharat, PLI scheme, redefinition of MSMEs, etc. Do you think these initiatives will benefit the industry?
Ease of registration under the new MSME setup has made a lot of us aware of our rights as vendors and at the same time, put the onus on medium & large customers to ensure they follow the rules in the true spirit of the law. Financial arm-twisting, which was a bane of many SMEs, is slowly fading out due to this. ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ slogan is driving the manufacturer’s preference for Indian brands and, as I said earlier, is helping avoid unnecessary business practices.

Sustainability and environment awareness are growing in the industry. How is your company gearing up for this trend?
Digital is the new medium for communicating, invoicing, payments, collaborations and developments. We wholly support this trend and are utilising some of these to reduce our environmental footprint. We have stopped printing catalogues, as soft copies are eco-friendly and convenient to distribute, access, modify and so forth. As far as possible, we use digital payment methods to pay our vendors as well as to charge our customers.