Kemppi bucked slowdown with innovation

June 17, 2013 8:10 am

Innovation is the key to growth for Kemppi which was the first to bring the inverter technology to the welding industry”
– Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra, National Sales Manager, Kemppi India
Amidst the economic downturn, Kemppi India has maintained 65 per cent year-on-year growth. It is on course to become the No 1 equipment selling company in India. Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra tells how Kemppi has bucked the trend during the challenging phase.
Welding industry’s link to steel consumption patternIndia’s per-capita consumption of steel has gone up by around 25 per cent in the last 5 years to 57 kg in 2011 against 45.8 kg in 2007. World Steel Association (WSA) data revealed that barring 2008, when India’s steel consumption dipped to 45.1 kg against a year ago, the growth in consumption was steady every year.
Notwithstanding the marked improvement, India still lags far behind the world average of 214.7 kg and China’s average of 459.8 kg. The average is worse when compared with other Asian peers like Japan and South Korea at 506.7 kg and 1,156.6 kg, respectively.
The Asian average stood at 238.8 in 2011. In the EU, it was 310 kg and in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) it was 212.3 kg. Per-capita steel consumption was 263 kg in NAFTA and 233.9 kg in the Middle East.
India’s total steel consumption in 2011 was 67.8 million tonnes, up from 64.9 million tonnes a year ago, the WSA said. China’s consumption was the highest at 623.9 million tonnes.
During the 10th Plan (2002-07), both consumption and production of steel in the domestic market had witnessed fast-paced growth. The momentum was maintained in the first year of the 11th Plan period. However, the pace slowed since 2008-09 mainly because of the global economic slowdown.The production of steel in India was 68.9 million tonnes, an increase of just 2 million tonnes over the previous year. However, like in 2010, it continued to hold fourth position among the major steel producing nations in the world.
The performance of welding industry in India is directly linked to the steel consumption pattern in the country.
This clearly indicates that the industry is in a stagnant mode, but there is a huge potential to grow. Power, infrastructure, and shipping segments have shown stagnation during the last year, directly impacting the welding industry.
Growth in 2012Kemppi as a group has grown over 12 per cent. It is to be noted that European economy was down by 0.5 per cent in 2012. Amidst all this turmoil, it has been a great achievement for Kemppi.
Kemppi India has grown by over 65 per cent year on year. It is on course to become the No1 equipment selling company in India. The company has bucked the trend during this testing phase in the country.
Kemppi and innovationKemppi works very closely with the customers. The whole endeavour is to bring joy in welding. Its products are designed to address the challenges faced by the welders. Its solutions are mix of equipment, software and services.
The idea is to make the customers use its strength to their advantage and increase their productivity. It develops products exclusively for segments where they get direct benefit from the equipment.
Kemppi has launched several products in 2012 which had brought tremendous market share. Its ArcQ welding management system is the first of its kind software which changes the face of welding. The grimy, mundane job of welding can be monitored by software and the user can have the data in real time.
Innovation is the key to growth for Kemppi which was the first to bring the “inverter technology” to the welding industry. Kemppi continues innovating.

Advertising

Your future advertising space? Our media data