Mr Ravindra Bhatia, Managing Director, Nutech Jetting Equipment, responded to the IPF Questionnaire, talking about the Nutech Group and its progress over nearly three decades. Excerpts:

What is the company's history? What is the vision of the company?

Nutech Jetting Equipment was launched in 1984 with a small capital but a revolutionary eco-friendly technology to use the power of water jet as a tool to descale tubes and pipes of heat exchangers and condensers in petroleum refineries. This method was soon adopted by other large process industries as it tremendously increased their productivity without the use of harsh chemicals. In 1986, Nutech started manufacturing high pressure water jetting equipment up to 10,000 psi pressure with 60% import content.

Progressively, the import content reduced to 20% even as pressure increased to 15,000 psi. pressure. By 1993, the company increased the service fleet of high pressure water jetting equipment to 30 and was servicing the pan India market.

In 1994, Nutech launched small high pressure cleaners in the market, and also started supplying machines under private label to other companies. In 1995, the company was selected to launch the Taski range of floor and carpet care systems in India by Unilever, and later these were co-branded as Taski & Nutech. In 2001, Nutech made an agreement with Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) to sell them for the first time in India, a range of high quality manual cleaning tools under their brand Taski. In 2003 Nutech launched its own range of floor and carpet care machines under the brand Partek, and also launched a limited company with DustBuster brand to give more thrust to specialised floor care services as there was a big vacuum in this field due to increase in demand. In 2009, Nutech launched the Railway Services Division to provide soft services to the Indian Railways. These include train exterior and interior cleaning, platform cleaning, track cleaning and on-board cleaning services. In 2010, Nutech held 60% market share of industrial cleaning services in Indian process industry with a fleet of over 350 equipments. The response time to start a job in certain parts of India is within 2 hours. In 2010, we launched a new venture under the Amulya brand to provide staffing solutions to the Indian market. In 2011, we came up with a new brand "Spic & Spa", a revolutionary service for cars wherein we provide doorstep car detailing salon, and are now trying to expand this through a franchise network also.

What are the products you offer? What sectors do you focus on the most?

We offer service to high-end specialised cleaning needs. With over nine years of institutional experience, Nutech has created the world's best range of smart cleaning machines and smart cleaning tools under the new brand Partek. The whole idea was to offer customers a diversified range, which complements their style and offers value for money. Partek range today is not only the largest representative range for all segments in the Indian market but also the best, having qualitative superiority. All our products and systems are eco-friendly. Davy is a new brand created to offer customers with low cost cleaning and hygiene products, there-by offering excellent values for money proposition. DustBusters offers comprehensive floor maintenance services through a combination of European technology and a dedicated service team.

What is the USP of your products in a rather crowded market? Why should the customer opt for these?

We offer the best quality product and also ensure that all our processes and end products are environment friendly and in no way lead to environmental hazards. Fair and honest in conducting our business, we understand the customer's changing needs and constantly satisfy them by effective research and development. Also, constantly strive to achieve the highest possible standards in our day-to-day work and in the quality of goods and services we provide. We impart proper training to customers on site, and provide after sales service support with regular audit of property and follow-ups with refresher training support.

Do you have technical collaboration with companies abroad? What gives your products the technical edge over the others?

Our products are designed and manufactured keeping Indian conditions in mind at world class factories located in India, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, USA and Japan meeting ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 quality systems so that customers get the best. All products are of premium quality. We are pioneers in many technologies that are offered to the Indian market.

What about pricing? How does the cost of ownership over the life cycle compare with competition?

We offer competitive prices in comparison to super brand companies. If we compare the cost of ownership over the life cycle of our product, we provide durable products working perfectly in the long run. Also regular audit of our product is done by giving timely services, which ensures that the life cycle of the product is maintained. We ensure that consumers get a minimum life of 10 years of each machine they buy.

How strong/effective is the distribution network?

We have a strong and efficient nation wide distribution network, which is one of the most important assets for us, and also a high-quality agent force. We work across the spectrum of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, providing holistic solutions that drive revenue and profit success. Apart from segments like healthcare, hospitality, industry, retail, food and beverages, infrastructure projects, NGOs, and government including railways, airport and municipal corporations, Nutech caters to the vast chain of Building Service Providers who are today the backbone in the growth of very important soft services to these sectors.

Is there any breakthrough product launch that has made a difference to the company?

We have recently launched many new products. Some of these are:

• Partek Super Disc 140 HDS - used for floor cleaning, diamond polishing and crystallisation on stone floors; also for dry foam carpet shampooing with foam generator
• Partek Super Disc BP - first time launched in India, with unique features like a chargeable master battery power and no trailing cord, and an in-built water tank
• Partek Stone Line 140/240 - also a first time launch in India, for floor cleaning, diamond polishing and crystallisation on stone floor, scarifying and sanding on wood floor, and
• Partek Pronto - a unique machine for fast cleaning of carpets, another first time launch in India

Besides, there are many more products that have been launched and made a difference to the company.

What are the company's landmark achievements?

There are several since inception. We have launched high pressure water jetting equipment up to 40,000 psi, specialised components for the defence sector and contract cleaning services to process industry. With Partek, Davy and DustBusters brands we cover most price points as well as service requirements and are in the process of extending the services across the length and breadth of the country through a network of franchisee operations.

How is the present business environment, given that there is intense competition in the market, both from domestic manufacturers and MNCs. Do you see any consolidation?

The present business environment is very buoyant and there is enough opportunity for each quality player in the market to have its share. However, the customer should be aware about some companies who are trying to just trade with substandard quality products without any back-up service. Their aim is to earn quick profit and then exit from the market scenario. It is because of these dubious companies that the market gets affected. A quality manufacturer will always ensure a good value proposition to the customer with a long life cycle of its products backed up by efficient after sales services at the door step of customers.

What are your future plans?

Our future plans are to expand our network of distributors in India and introduce complete range of eco-friendly cleaning products with unique delivery system for the first time in India. Another major effort we want to do is in skill development of base level cleaners, machine operators and supervisors through our forthcoming venture under the name of Nutech Institute of Technical Studies (NITS). We believe, trained grass root manpower is an asset of any organisation and there is so much scope to develop this segment in India. We plan to train over 1 million people all over India in the next 10 years to make a sizable effort in this direction.