Pune-based Aar-Em Electronics already has a majority of the market share in the UPS market through its 'Champion' brand systems but now it has moved into solar-based LEDs to not only spread its business wings but also dispel darkness from India's remote villages, reports Huned Contractor

If ever an example was needed of how business can be seamlessly integrated with corporate social responsibilty, Aar-Em Electronics Private Limited in Pune is the one to turn to. For many years now, the company has consistently used its domain expertise in the production and sales of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to bring light to the non-electrified villages in Maharashtra and elsewhere. While the government has got its own ambitious plan to pull the remotest villages in India out of their darkness, Aar-Em Electronics has been going the independent way to do its bit, often investing huge sums of money and manpower to create solar stations and install outdoor lights and bulbs in homes.

Established in 1989 over 15,000 sq.ft area with a capacity of making more than 5,000 UPS units a month, Aar-Em Electronics is better known for its 'Champion' brand with its product group of UPS, Sine Wave UPS and inverters. With its wide range of UPS products in different KVA ranges that are used to control voltage surges and provide back-up power of a few minutes to many hours in home PCs to extended LAN systems to telecommunication equipment to critical medical units, Aar-Em Electronics has, in the past five years, installed more than 2 lakh small UPS systems across homes and offices apart from about 8,000 UPS units required for major manufacturing or monitoring operations.

Elaborating about how the company came into being, Ranjit Mohite, the company's managing director, says: "We got into the UPS business at a time when the PC market was just beginning to find its feet. In fact, there wasn't a market for UPS systems because people were yet to come to terms with computer operations. But when the users realised that erratic power supply could make expensive computers go kaput, they started looking around for a solution. Since then, the market has just kept growing." The UPS idea was further consolidated when Mohite went to Hong Kong for an electronic equipment exhibition. "I saw some very superior quality UPS systems there which were not only efficient but also lighter in weight. Therefore it was decided to sub-contract the making of small UPS systems of up to 1 kVA to a company in China and this arrangement has continued since then," Mohite adds.

In terms of domestic manufacturing, the company uses its two plants in the Hadapsar Industrial Area to make customised UPS systems and inverters. Considering, however, that there now are many MNCs that have entered this sector, how does the company keep its head above water? Replies Mohite: "Our biggest strength is our after-sales support that extends across India." Without dropping names, Mohite gives an example of an MNC that tried hard to grab all its clients through a price war but was unable to sustain this initial advantage because it could not provide service. "The UPS user will want instant service even if he is just using his PC at home. Therefore long-term survival calls for attending to the maintenance and repairs of the UPS immediately," he says. Some of its clients include Bajaj Auto, Atlas Copco, BHEL, Cadbury, Hyundai, HDFC Bank, LIC, MTNL, Mercedes Benz, Finolex, etc.

With its 45 service stations across the country and a team of more than 80 field engineers spread far and wide, the Champion brand has been able to keep most of its competitors far behind. In fact, it is the servicing arm of the company that fetches it a major portion of its revenue. One such example is of a five-year contract with Indian Oil Corporation to maintain its UPS system at 1,150 petrol pumps in India. And now with the an increasing dependence on UPS systems at toll booths, ATM centres and healthcare facilities, Mohite says that the demand shall continue to grow in leaps and bounds. "We have been steadily growing at the rate of more than 15 per cent year-on-year," he informs.

However, the drive to explore new pathways has now led the company into the production of solar LED street lights, ideal for use on roads and pavements along with schools, parks, factories, etc. And this is where the company's corporate social responsibility also comes into the picture. One of the projects which made international headlines was the adoption of a village called Mohri, located about 100 km from Pune. Inaccessible except by foot, Mohri had never seen electricity and life for the villagers came to a standstill after the evening hours. With Aar-Em Electronics' intervention, each of the houses was fitted with solar-based lights. "We even gave them a television set," Mohite recalls.

In another case, the company installed a solar-based water filtration unit at Sindh-Nanchiwadi, a small hamlet about 30 km from Pune, to be able to provide the villagers with clean drinking water as against the silt-ridden water that was drawn from the well. And now, the company has moved into the education arena with a unique project started in Mahalunge and Daund near Pune where students from Class I to V are able to make their learning interactive with the help of specially designed computer remotes that not only help them mark their attendance in school but also respond to quizzes and games as projected through a computer. "It's a one-of-a-kind project and we are hoping that the government steps in to replicate it on a much bigger scale across the country," Mohite says.

Speaking about how he has successfully been able to combine the social and the business missions of his company, Mohite says that it comes out of his belief that the future belongs to tapping renewable energy sources on a large scale. "We have taken a strategically planned step to be able to cater to the future needs in the power sector.

And while doing so, we have also included the bigger picture of what the villages and its people need. The MNCs may keep ramping up their operations and may eventually match our servicing strength in another three to five years but our first-mover advantage and the fact that for us it is more than just business will keep us several leagues ahead," Mohite says.

(Contact: Mr Ranjit Mohite, Managing Director, Aar-Em Electronics P Ltd, 17-B, Hadapsar Industrial Estate, Pune - 411 013. Tel: 020-26871716. Email: champion@vsnl.com)

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