It has been a tough year for the industry, and practically all businesses have shown zero revenue in their P&Ls for the initial few months. And for the rest of months, revenues have been dependent on which industry the business belongs to. Hotel, travel, and entertainment have been the hardest hit with other industries surviving on how strong their basics are and how innovative these companies are to sail through these hardest times.

Saying ‘tough times call for some tough actions’ is also quite true and these times call for companies to understand and introspect all parts of their businesses, even basics, take tough actions and sail through the storm even stronger.

With a 1.3 billion population, low penetration levels, and cheap labor, it’s hard to believe that the Indian Appliance industry lags behind its Chinese counterparts with an ocean gap between both their production and consumption levels. Whether we blame the government policies, corruption etc., a lot also depends on the industry itself. ‘View: Why Indians do not innovate” an article in Economic Times dated April 4th 2020 explained that the Indian industry is still led by not innovators but traders, but this must change Post-COVID days to strengthen our economy.

But what does innovation include when we talk about the appliance industry?

Tough times call for innovation in efficiency, automation (including, IoT & AI), value engineering, and customer-centric innovations so that your product is preferred over competitors- which can include innovation in design, features and most importantly, the quality. The above innovation cannot happen without an innovative culture within the company, its entire supply chain, its distribution network and the list can go on. It's up to us in the industry to understand this, take it as a challenge and be a part of this change.

With Indian and somewhat Western sentiments being anti-China, India has been presented with a golden opportunity to grab some share of China’s manufacturing of industrial heating elements. Major companies around the world are looking at alternative hubs for manufacturing, and India surely lies at the forefront of the options. Without the innovation culture, India may lose its chance and may get further bogged down by the post-COVID economic crises.

We, at Theeta, as a leading manufacturer of tubular heating elements, understand this need for change, and in a small way investing, encouraging and developing the innovation culture within our organization. We also see a major change in our own OEM customers in inculcating such culture within the supply chain. An example includes Bajaj Electricals' “Mulya” project where it is asking all its suppliers to participate in a Value Engineering Project, making everyone innovate in their own way. We all in the industry now must open our thinking horizons and start focusing on innovation. This is the only way to move forward.