“Because of our non-dependency on any specific vertical, we could achieve growth in the previous year and strengthen our position in the market.
– Dileep Kumar R, MD, Dirak India Panel Fittings Pvt. Ltd.
Dirak India, which can be classified under mechanical component manufacturing, serves energy distribution, communication and IT, HVAC, railways and industrial machinery verticals. In addition, vendors to these verticals as well as companies involved in fabrication are its target customers. Dileep Kumar R discusses about Dirak’s stable growth despite slowdown in some sectors like telecom.
Manufacturing industry in 2012Dirak India is one of the global leading companies in designing, manufacturing and supplying mechanical and electronic hardware particularly latches, locks, hinges, rubber gaskets and other industrial fittings. Since its inception in 1991, Dirak Group has registered more than 300 patents for hinges, latches, seals, and mounting systems and expanded into a global enterprise.
Manufacturing industry wasn’t in its best health last year. However, because of its non-dependency on any specific vertical, Dirak could achieve growth in the previous year and strengthen its position in the market. Last year, the company focused on marketing programs and developing.
Project delaysLast year, project delay by clients was one of the major challenges. Dirak had to support many of its long-standing customers by holding the planned inventory and wait for their clearances to ship. Many export projects were delayed by 2-3 quarters.
Developing new clientsBeing a components supplier, Dirak is heavily dependent on the manufacturing industry. During the slowdown, it focused on developing new clients. Secondly, Dirak increased its reach in the market through its own sales team and extended arm of sales representatives in most of India.
Dirak’s market approach The industry has improved from January this year. Dirak’s market approach continues to be same as last year. It’s now closer to the clients with more sales and application engineers in the field. Secondly, Dirak would like to broaden its client base and even the target segments.
E-Line solution will be a major focus this year. These are electronic locking systems which can be managed remotely through software. E-Line monitors and controls access to confidential data that are stored in server and data enclosures. Datacentres are one of the major verticals for this product group.Dirak started works on its manufacturing assembly line as its new initiative to be more competitive in India. This will eventually lead to exports and own R&D in the coming years.
Dirak in futureThere is tremendous potential for growth in Indian market, especially in infrastructure, power generation rail and telecom equipment. Interestingly, India needs a lot more improvements in these areas, which is an opportunity for Dirak.
No doubt, Dirak India will be a major manufacturing and R&D hub for Dirak Group. Its presence in Indian market will significantly improve.
