The 33 year old company has grown at 25 percent annually for the last 5 years and eyes to extend its domestic and overseas markets through broadening of product portfolio, overall capacity, and pan-Indian dealer network.
“Avocab has crossed revenues of INR 500 Cr in the last couple of years. The product portfolio has diversified at a fast pace in the recent years and would continue to expand in sync with market demand and our own capacity expansion. We have now added few special cables like fire survival cables, solar cables, and instrumentation rubber cables in addition to the existing range of high-voltage power cables and control cables,” said Mr. Abhivandan Lodha, Director – Sales & Marketing, Avocab – by Chandresh Cables Ltd in a recent interview with Wire & Cable India.
Wire & Cable India: Can you please brief us about your company and its evolution over the years?
Abhivandan Lodha: Chandresh Cables Ltd is into manufacturing of Avocab brand of electrical cables. This company is almost 33 years old and is based in Gujarat. We have a couple of units and our range is up to 33 KV. Besides, we manufacture all kinds of special cables, viz. instrumentation, control, fire survival, solar, housing wires, etc. The company is growing at a healthy pace of over 25 percent annually for the last 5 years. Our presence is pan-India and we have stock points and sales offices in every corner of the country. Besides strengthening its domestic presence, the company is also expanding overseas. We believe in quality and have been competing with the top-notch brands across the world.
WCI: Please tell us the size of your company. Also, introduce us to the product range with installed capacities. Do you have any plan to expand your portfolio in the near-term?
AL: Avocab has crossed revenues of INR 500 Cr in the last couple of years. The product portfolio has diversified at a fast pace in the recent years and would continue to expand in sync with market demand and our own capacity expansion. We have now added specialty cables like fire survival cables, solar cables, and instrumentation rubber cables in addition to the existing range of high-voltage power cables and control cables.
WCI: Tell us about the USP of your products. Also, tell us your marketing strategy to beat the competition.
AL: In Avocab, AVO stands for the three fundamentals of electricity, viz. Ampere, Volt, and Ohm. It is a purely quality based company that believes in giving the client the best possible product. In addition, the company believes in providing quality services in terms of customized solutions and fast delivery of products. We understand the requirements of the client and give them solutions accordingly.
As for the marketing strategy, there is a simple philosophy of being very genuine to the client. We commit to the client on the basis of what he expects and what we can offer. We don’t give any false commitments. If we know that we are going to deliver the product in 15 days, we don’t say we would do it in 3 days as it would result in postponing the delivery. And as I said, we also give the customers customized solutions, for example, if the client wants customized drum lengths, we would give them customized drum lengths instead of giving them standard ones. This helps in saving the cost of the client in terms of the reduced number of cable joints and also increases the quality of the overall installations.
WCI: Can you tell us about the current technological trends in the cable and wire industry? How does your company performing to conform to these trends and quality standards?
AL: There is now increased awareness in terms of spending for quality. People now don’t look forward to saving money. For example, earlier customers used to go for aluminium cables instead of copper, which is not the case now. People are increasingly opting for copper cables for critical installations, in places like hospitals, high-rise buildings, and metros. Besides, there is a trend of increased usage of cables like fire survival cables that may sustain up to 900 degree Celsius or beyond for three hours. These cables are definitely expensive but people are spending on them. These trends show the awareness is increasing, which made us pitch in these kinds of products.
WCI: Please tell us about your manufacturing units.
AL: We have two state-of-the-art manufacturing units, both based in the state of Gujarat. Our second plant was recently commissioned with machinery from Germany and Taiwan. Besides new machines, we have continuously been doing constant improvisations in the units in terms of better equipment from the best suppliers across the world. We have just got a line from Niehoff, Germany and the production has already begun on it.
WCI: What do you think about the growth of the Indian wire and cable industry?
AL: The growth of the Indian wire and cable industry is an exponential one, which is true also if we analyze our sales. The steady growth in sales is the reason why we have increased our capacity in recent times. I therefore see a healthy, double-digit growth for all good cable companies across India. The de-growth is highly unlikely if things are done in right way, especially in the next 2-3 years. There is already lots of infrastructure spending by the Government, sure to translate into bigger demands for the industry. In terms of both revenues and tonnage, we are to witness a double-digit growth for all good cable companies.
WCI: Taking the growth story of the Indian wire and cable industry, what are your expansion plans on those grounds?
AL: Avocab is ready for the tenfold growth in the next three years. The segment that shall support us in this growth is the high-voltage and extra high-voltage category along with the electrification required for the mass housing projects across India. We are definitely going ahead with our expansion plans in two ways. One is increasing the capacity by putting up new plants, and second is by improving the types of machinery which are there in terms of their efficiencies. We are already in process of getting high-speed machinery.
WCI: Being relatively a new brand name, what kind of market strategies do you adopt to weather competition with well-established companies?
AL: We are doing a few things. Firstly, we are increasing our presence across India by appointing more number of dealers in various states. The extended network of dealers would enable us penetrate more markets by spreading awareness of the brand and availability of various grades of cables with us. Secondly, we are getting ourselves enrolled with and approved by all the major electrical organizations across the power sector. Recently, we have taken approvals from PGCIL, NTPC, and enrolled ourselves with all the big agencies like the government electricity boards, airports, and railways. Our product is being supplied everywhere. Thirdly, we are going ahead with the full-fledged marketing campaign to enhance brand visibility across the digital media. In fact, in addition to highlighting the brand, we are also educating the audience in terms of adopting right electrical practices in households and various industries. The response so far has been very encouraging for the digital campaigns with people appreciating the initiative.
WCI: Your product portfolio is quite broad. Which of your product is the biggest in terms of capacity and sales?
AL: Our company started with power cables which still happen to be the biggest contributor to our revenues. Power cables and control cables are contributing majorly. But in the last couple of years, we have seen increasing trend and sales in house wires and fire survival cables. Those products are picking up and giving tough competition to power and control cables.
WCI: How important is it for you to control quality?
AL: The kind of industry we are in, it is a crime to make a product which is not as per the quality norms. We cannot afford to commit mistakes in terms of manufacturing or testing processes. It has thus been made clear to everyone in our entire organization to put the focus on maintaining the quality standards. We are doing our best by educating our team members in various standard practices. The teams are exposed to standard literature of testing and quality control processes, enabling them to see why quality is of utmost importance and how they can ensure it. We are also ensuring that our product gets type tested at regular intervals with all the premium organizations like CPRI and ERDA that serve as checkpoints for us.
Besides, we have been making solar cables for three years. We are TUV certified and are now in the process of getting more international accre-ditations. Our laboratories are also as per the international norms for the testing of solar cables.
WCI: What are your expectations from your company in the coming 2-5 years?
AL: Definitely, we are expecting a tenfold growth. Currently, we are around INR 500 Cr. The way the industry is growing with healthy growth indicators, we are expecting to harness the trend to our maximum growth. As I mentioned earlier, the focus shall be on high-voltage category, house wires and specialty cables.
WCI: Any final words?
AL: Avocab as a group has always believed in the ethical and traditional way of growing the business. We don’t believe in drastic changes in order to chase a growth target. Our concern has mainly been focused on delivering the quality product to the market. We believe in quality driven growth. I am sure in the times to come our company shall be considered amongst the market drivers in our category.
