Finder India strives to offer optimized switching solutions to its customers

Dr. Ashish Manchanda Managing Director,
Finder India Pvt. Ltd.,
– A subsidiary unit of Finder S.p.A., Italy.

Q. Please brief us about company’s global reach & latest initiatives?
In the last almost 60 years of its History, Finder has taken it global Sales footprint to 21 Countries with a direct presence as a subsidiary and at the same time expanded its base of distribution network to more than 50 countries. With the outside Italy revenues on the rise, Finder is now characterized by a strong international outlook and high export achievement.

With respect to manufacturing also Finder has stepped beyond the headquarter Italy where the main production plant is situated in Almese near Turin, north-west Italy. It has now production plants in other parts of Europe also including, in Saint Jean de Maurienne, south-east France. The most recent plant in Valencia, Spain, complements the existing organization both in terms of the plant’s manufacturing process and emphasis on product quality.

Q. What are the market opportunities for your company’s products in India? How do you plan to position these products?
Indian market has the potential growth segments in the varied dimensions. Steel, Oil & Gas, Conventional Power Generation, Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy, Water Treatment, Chemicals & Fertilizers, Automotive, Railways, Building Infrastructure, Traffic Management and many other areas are demanding a higher degree of Automation and Controls. Although the market is divided into three major categories in India where selecting the right levels of technology and price for automation components and solutions vary.

Our target segment of business is in the application areas that demand a higher degree of reliability and electrical life. We at Finder has decided not to launch any separate class of products with reduced features for Indian market, but rather work out on bringing out better efficiency to reduce cost for the customers. In India there are a selected few player only in the business of automation components, which are not compromising on the reliability in terms of manufacturing competence, innovation drive and solution oriented customer focus. For example, Finder is one of the few European Manufacturers of both the Relay and the Socket under one flag. Majority of the players are either manufacturing relays or the sockets and not both together.

Q. What is your marketing strategy for India?
The Extensive FINDER PRODUCT RANGE is designed to meet the requirements of a variety of application areas in Indian Market, such as: factory automation, process automation, building automation, machines automation, traffic controls, lightning controls, motor management and generally wherever power or signal switching is needed. The selection of relay and switching technology in Automation & Controls domain has certain challenges as often out of the various technical parameters few of them are missed out while designing the control system which either leads to higher cost or technical mis-match. These factors as well as the right selection criteria is being showcased by our technical sales team, website and the product managers.

To manifest the representation of the company through its products i.e. Solid, Reliable and High Quality, this brand image is being showcased via Industry Exhibitions, technical newsletters, E-mailers and press release in trade magazines, which has led to a good number of related enquiries and subsequent business from the Indian industry. Finder products are distributed through exclusive agents and local distributors who are able to offer technical solutions and logistics services in different parts of the country thus making the customers utilize the complete product basket and high-turnover items can be delivered to customers quickly. The company’s activities go well beyond products. There is a series of services aimed at advanced, selective customers. To this end, sales staff is kept constantly abreast of product developments, new applications and product use. As a result, OEM’s, end-users, industrial groups, installation and system design engineers have been able to take advantage of.

Q. Is there any plans for expansion & new investment in India to cater the demand of the industry?
The basket of Finder’s components and solutions are now increasing in complimentary directions for a control cabinet designer, who can find many other useful products for their applications, for which a greater degree of support and service network is being planned in India.

Q. What is the top line product range & Is there any plans to launch new products?
Finder S.p.A. is now a 60 year old company with pioneering range of products in Industrial Relays and Timers. The range of relay includes Interposing as well as Power Relays in Electromechanical and Solid State Technology. The current ratings of Finder’s electromechanical relays start from the gold plated contact versions which can handle a few mA and goes upto 75 Amp. In solid state relays the 50 Amperes range has been recently added. These relays are used in a wide variety of applications including DCS & PLC Automation Panels, Electrical PCC & MCCs, Machine Controls, Material Handling, Railways, Solar, Telecom, Automotive, Power Electronics, and Building Automation etc.

Last but not the least, Finder has since the beginning been a leader in the European Building Installation segment with its innovative range of Modular Contactors Staircase Timers, PIR Movement Detectors, Presence Detectors, Time Switches, Light Dependent Relays, Electronic Step Relays and Dimmers, which has been Saving Energy on a host of different lighting installations inside and outside the buildings.

Q. What is your vision for your company?
Finder India strives to offer optimized switching solutions to its customers’ in India so as to add value to their control system design.