The Bangalore-based IBK Engineers Pvt Ltd (iBizKart.com) is known for providing high-quality industrial products of global companies like Bosch, Aventics, Epson, SKF, CarrLane, Diamond, Widia, Festo Pneumatics, Destaco, etc for various applications. It supplies products such as conveyors, hydraulics & pneumatics, power tools, aluminum profiles, roller chain, rollers, robots, etc along with complete technical know-how to its customers. In this exclusive interview with IPF, Raju KN, Managing Director, IBK Engineers Pvt Ltd, identifies automation and robots as the potential growth drivers for the company which is aiming to grow at 20-30% annually.

How do you see the journey of your company?
We started in 2014 with an aim to offer online sourcing solution for industrial products. Later, we shifted to offline business model. Over the years, we have added various industrial products of leading companies in our portfolio. We have witnessed consistent annual growth of 25-30% all these years (except in 2020-21 due to Covid). Few years back, we shifted to Peenya Industrial Estate to be closer to our customers. Besides representing multinational companies (MNCs) in India, we manufacture aluminium profiles, which we use for making work station, trolleys, display stand and other customised products.

How has been the market in the recent months?
We cater to capital intensive segments like conveyors, automation and robotics, which are required when expansion or new projects come up. We supply our products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and special purpose machine (SPM) makers. We provide technical support to our customers for pre as well as post sale.

This year demand has been robust so far. Many global companies are focusing on India to increase sourcing from the country for their local as well as global requirements. For aerospace and defence, we supply gigs and fixture components for overseas market and demand is growing for these products.

Robotics has emerged as a game changer. With manpower cost going up, companies are opting for automation and robotics. Companies are facing challenges in training and retaining people. Also, they have to adhere to high safety standards at the workplace. Considering these factors, robots are cost-effective for routine, monotonous job as they guarantee good productivity in a safe environment. Shift from manual labour to robotics is more predominate in segments such as auto components, electronics, mobile phone manufacturing, packaging, etc. We are distributor of Epson robots, which are cost-effective having return on investments (RoIs) of one year.

How do you see the robot market in India?
From April 2022, we have been appointed as the distributor for South India region by Epson for its Scara and six-axis robots. These industrial robots are most commonly used for pick-and-place or assembly operations where high speed and high accuracy is required.

We anticipate high demand for robots in India. For example, while in India a company sells 1000 robots in a year, it sells 2000 robots in one month in China. So there is a huge requirement of robots in India especially when India aims to become a global manufacturing hub with MNCs adopting China-Plus One strategy.

What are the challenges in the growth of robot market?
There is initial inhibition among the user while adopting robots. Once they witness first-hand benefit of the robots, they go for multiple orders.

How do you intend to take your growth story further?
We are aiming for 20-30% annual growth every year by adding annually 3-4 new products in the segments that we are presently operating in. We are looking at high-value products from global companies that offer multiple benefits to the customers.