“In India, we are planning to grow greater than 25% in sales and lead the Indian market as the number one player in the control cables segment” highlighted Mr. Richard Lee, CEO, Asia Pacific at Lapp Group and acting Managing Director of Lapp India Pvt. Ltd during the interaction with team WCI. Going forward Mr. Lee gave us the synopsis of strategic and business operations at Lapp India, its business growth and expansion, detailed us about their innovative brand ÖLFLEX® and at last giving his thoughts on Indian wire & cable scenario. Below are the dialogues.
Wire & Cable India: Lapp Group is the pioneer in introducing the concept of “Total Solutions in Electrical Connectivity” in India with its unbeatable range of products. What are your key strengths, which helps you to retain the same?
Richard Lee: Lapp India, being a part of the global conglomerate has the advantage of leveraging advanced support from all other Lapp companies in terms of technical expertise, innovation and R&D requirements. The excellent German quality and engineering backs Lapp cables. We have been extensively investing on R&D, enabling us to come up with wide range of around 40,000 products. Lapp India has a strong focus on three factors that drives our success:
• Unbeatable Quality- We use pure copper and never compromise on raw material inputs. Our products are in conformity with VDE Standards that are harmonized with IEC (International Electric Commission) and are more stringent than the IS (Indian Standards).
• Reliability- The reliability of our brand ensures that when a customer buys a product he buys peace of mind. Reliability helps us gain a competitive edge in the market.
• Speed- Efficient customer service is very important for the success of our business. We believe in delivering high efficiency in customer service. Lapp lays a strong emphasis on speed and implementing lean manufacturing has helped us to generate products and services for the customers within shortest time.
Additionally, the vast knowledge of application gained over the years has also helped us to provide an edge over other players in the market.
WCI: With your broad array of around 40,000 products Lapp holds a key position in the market. So what are the strategies behind?
RL: We believe in providing world class technology to our customers and are on the helm of innovation to cater to this requirement. Our global vision is to dominate the control cable business and lead the Indian market as the number one player in the control cables segment. Lapp’s vast range of products also include glands and connectors, hence it is not just about cables but everything around them too. Moreover, we are increasing capacity to focus on verticals like renewable (solar and wind), building connectivity solutions and instrumentation cables for process industries looking at the emerging opportunities in these markets.
WCI: Lapp’s most innovative product ÖLFLEX has achieved what the industry thought for a long time was impossible. Kindly take us through the journey of its development?
RL: In the 50’s, the upswing in industrialization led to a huge demand for cables and conductors. Faced with this challenge, Oskar Lapp asked himself a simple question: “How can I optimize the current method – the time-consuming manual inserting of single cores and switching strands into the outer sheaths?” His answer: to invent the first industrially produced flexible, colour-coded signal cable – ÖLFLEX. ÖLFLEX derives its name from Öl – meaning Oil in German and Flex – for flex cable. So therefore, ÖLFLEX means an oil resistant flexible connecting and control cable. In 1959, ÖLFLEX was the very first control cable to be designed with colour-coded wires. The first branded cable in the world, ÖLFLEX connecting and control cables, are some of the most widely used in the world.
ÖLFLEX is Lapp’s flagship brand. It is a brand with which we (Lapp) are largely synonymous with worldwide. We are trying to do the same in India, where we have had significant presence for the past 12 years. Many of our customers know “control cables” as ÖLFLEX; our pursuit to make ÖLFLEX a synonym with control cables continues. Apart from making the conventional ÖLFLEX cables as made in Germany, we are also making ÖLFLEX cables suited for the Indian market. We have made variants to comply with Indian standards.
Lapp reinvented ÖLFLEX launching two new versions of its connection and control cables, ÖLFLEX Classic 110 and Smart 108; both tried and trusted names for over 50 years. The new arrivals from Lapp promise greater versatility, performance and efficiency.
WCI: Lapp Group has inaugurated its new service and logistics center in Ludwigsburg. Kindly throw some light on this?
RL: Lapp Group’s new service and logistics centre in Ludwigsburg is the most modern facility of its kind. Its patented transport technology and automated high-rise warehouse has set new standards within this sector. We have invested over 50 million Euros in our new service and logistics centre – the biggest single investment in the history of our company. Multiple benefits that we will gain from this centre are as follow:
• Customers can now receive one single shipment containing every product in their order, as opposed to multiple packages from different locations. The result: shorter delivery time.
• The new service and logistics centre also offers considerable advantages to employees, who are now able to work in an entirely dust-free environment. And all workstations are ergonomically designed to reduce the stress placed on the operator’s back.
• This emphasis on a single location given over to cable drums has eliminated the need for countless internal transport journeys. Annual savings are estimated at 750 HGV journeys each year, which in turn means an annual CO2 saving of around 155 tons.
WCI: Kindly give your views on India’s role in Lapp’s global business and your future plan for the same?
RL: Lapp India is our second largest company, the milestone set here in terms of business and the success garnered in retaining our position in the market acts as a benchmark to gauge our performance to a great extent. Our achievement in Lapp India sets an example for our companies located on other countries worldwide. India has rich pool of skilled talents and resources. In India, we are planning to grow greater than 25% in sales and lead the Indian market as the number one player in the control cables segment. Further, expanding our operations in India has been a key focus for us, mainly due to promising growth opportunities presented by the country. We are closely observing the sector, be it rail, energy, utility, on the basis of which we are developing or procuring products that can serve the needs of respective sectors.
WCI: At last, your thoughts on the Indian cable industry its opportunities and challenges?
RL: The competition in Indian cable industry has got tougher with foreign players eyeing the market. There is an increased growth in awareness in the market to differentiate between quality products and counterfeit products. Improved lifestyle affluence, demand for improved quality, better designed products and understanding of safety standards has made the customer expectations very clear.
With cabling being a necessary component across industries, manufacturers produce multitude of cables such as power cables, fire safe cables, single cores, multi cores and data cables. According to global industry analysts, Inc the wire and cable industry is expected to generate USD 113.9 billion by the year 2015.
As far as opportunities are concerned, infrastructure, energy, mining, power, oil and gas, metro railways, cement industry and steel industry have immense potential and would emerge as the highest contributing sectors of the economy in future. There is a strong focus on cables, which can survive in extreme conditions like high voltage, extreme temperatures, heat resistant, which can be used for special applications. In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis for implementing green energy projects such as solar, hydel and wind. But each of these renewable sources demands that specific requirements have to be met in terms of cabling solutions.
The housing sector/building and connectivity solutions would contribute to the major push in demand in the cables industry. Intelligent cabling solutions for buildings in terms of fire safety and fire survivability is the need of the hour.
Now talking about challenges, while the cabling industry has gradually moved from unorganized to organized segment, the unorganized players still continue to hold 35% of the wire and cable market in India. This market scenario poses a challenge in terms of identification of quality cables. Primary challenge faced by companies in this industrial sector is the mindset and culture issues. Cable business is a very old industry; it is essential to bring-in energetic, fresh minds with a dynamic approach towards work to build up the momentum. Effective supply chain management and logistics are also an important factor for ensuring a smooth business.
