COMPANY PROFILE

WIRING DEVICES

Anchored to Change

India’s largest wiring devices company is soon going to take on a new avataar

Within another 12 to 18 months, the Anchor we know will no longer be the same. While its ownership changed hands around a year and half back, with the Shah family deciding to sell its controlling stake to Panasonic Electric Works of Japan (earlier known as Matsushita Electric Works), now it’s the internal structure and orientation that is being given a new look. And, all these changes are going to drastically impact the way the company does business with its channel partners and presents itself to its customers.
Most significantly, Anchor’s scattered logistics infrastructure will soon become more lean and mean. Its over two dozen stocking points will soon be replaced with four regional hubs, one each in the north, south, east and west. These hubs will maintain inventories and be managed by a logistics service provider, who will be responsible for deliveries to the trade channel. And the branch offices, which are actually doubling up as stocking points, will be designated as sales offices and they will henceforth focus entirely on sales.
Meanwhile, the company’s newly installed on-line order processing system is gathering steam. The system, which will eventually link up all sales offices to the proposed hubs, is cutting down order acceptance and delivery time to such an extent that it will have a direct bearing on the businesses of dealers. Says Kailash Didwania (kailash.didwania@anchor-world.com), PMP (product, marketing, planning) head–wiring devices, “The benefits are many. First, the on-line system has reduced order placing time from the earlier 22 days to real time; second, it has reduced the working capital requirements of dealers; and third, the inventory information is constantly updated, resulting in intelligent stock holding.” According to him, this system has the potential to reduce inventories at the dealer levels by as much as 50%, because now they need to maintain stocks only for one month against the earlier two to three months.
The next great shift is going to come on the branding front. Going by the line-up of new product launches that the company has planned for the coming months, it is evident that the globally acclaimed Panasonic brand will now be more visible in India’s electrical markets. The first to be introduced under the Japanese brand will be the home-automation range consisting of video door phones, fire alarms and security systems. All these are scheduled to hit the streets in the next couple of months, beginning with major metros in west and south India including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. “Also in the pipeline is the Panasonic Full-2-Way system for building management, which will enhance energy conservation in buildings,” informs Didwania. Full-2-Way is an energy management system which brings about substantial savings in energy by programming the switching on/off of lights, air-conditioners and other appliances in the premises. A range of top-end switches targeted at the premium buyer, will also be launched soon under the Panasonic brand. In fact, the testing processes are underway in the company’s laboratories in Japan.
The company’s product development process has been accorded greater importance with the deployment of a 5-member team from Panasonic Japan, which is leading a group of 30 technical personnel engaged in product design, modification and improvement. Asserting that design plays a very important part in Panasonic’s scheme of things, Didwania cites examples of how improvements are being made to the quality, appearance and durability of its products. For instance, the non-modular urea-based Penta switch is now being made using polycarbonate which is break-resistant, has a finer finish and offers smoother operation. Its circuit breaker too has been upgraded for its load-bearing capacity after extensive tests in Japan.
All this will, however, in no way undermine the importance of the flagship Anchor brand, and new releases under this name will continue. In fact, more wiring devices and lighting ranges will be introduced in this financial year to cater to every available price point. They will swamp the market and outshine other brands, and leave a lasting impact on the minds of the consumers. “We are already very well known in the wiring devices sector with strong brands like Anchor Penta, Roma and Woods. Besides, Ave and Rider brand will continue acquiring market share under Anchor’s umbrella,” says Didwania.
With a host of established brands in its kitty, and with more to follow, it is but logical that brand management becomes a key function within the company’s overall marketing strategy. After all, every brand has a distinct character and value; and is developed to target a specific consumer or a particular market segment. But, with multiple brands coming from a single source, it becomes all the more important to ensure that trade partners do not underestimate the importance of each of them.
The appointment of a brand manager within the company, besides involving Contract Advertising, one of the country’s top-five advertising agencies, to look at the growth of all these brands holistically is a clear signal that Panasonic Electric Works is getting more aggressive in capturing a bigger chunk of the consumer’s mind share. Didwania also confirms that the company has earmarked a budget of Rs 20 crore for brand promotion activities, which is a 100% increase over the previous year’s allocation.
To encash the benefits that will accrue from these changes in structure and presentation, the trade channel is also going to be re-organised. According to Didwania, while the regular range of products will be routed through the existing dealer/retailer network, the home automation range will be marketed through select service-oriented dealers. “The latter will be selected on the basis of the relationship they have with specifiers in their respective areas. Besides, they should also have the capacity to manage an after-sales service programme, as this is a very important key to success in selling home automation products,” he explains.
The company also plans to strengthen the existing network; the number of stockists that service the 7,000-odd dealers will be increased from 250 to 400. “To tackle big projects that include multi-storey building complexes, infrastructure etc, we have a dedicated project-sales team,” informs Didwania.
The fast emerging ‘organised retailers network’ is also being leveraged to the hilt to gain greater interaction with homeowners, and drive volumes. “For our Panasonic brand, we are looking at modern retail formats that include HomeTown, More, Reliance Retail and HyperCity. We have already created a separate division within our company to service these outlets.” According to Didwania, these outlets have very special needs because of their huge operations and ability to reach out to a larger number of buyers. For instance, they require day-specific deliveries and customised packaging such as a particular packaging size or colour, bar codes, and shrink packing for better visibility.
For Anchor, it’s like turning over a new leaf. “From a family-owned organisation, we are now turning into a systems-driven professionally run company,” avers Didwania. “The acquisition has brought with it a lot of technology infusion, be it on the manufacturing side, the design side, or in systems and services, and even daily operations.”
Didwania is aware of the all-round expectations from dealers that have arisen as a result of this change. Now, meeting these expectations is a challenge that he and his team are gearing up for.

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