Eaton has a range which can encompass the hydraulic, mechanical and electrical power, and we can offer entire system solutions,"says Nitin Chalke, Managing Director - India, Eaton. Excerpts from the interview.

Could you tell us about Eaton and its product range?
Eaton is a power management company and our interest lies in different businesses. The products from our hydraulics business are used in construction equipment, our vehicle business manufacturers products that go into passenger cars and commercial vehicles and products from our electrical business are used across the industry. There are some key segments on which we focus and construction is one of them. India is investing in infrastructure growth, and though the investment has slowed down a bit, we expect that it will pick up because the long-term story of India?s growth and the requirement for creating infrastructure is very strong. All the end users who are equipment manufacturers are our customers, be it large players who are making equipment like backhoe loaders, excavators, motor graders, transit mixers, dump trucks, etc, or smaller ones.

What is Eaton?s advantage?
We are one of the rare companies which can offer entire system solutions to the customers. We have a range which encompasses the hydraulic, mechanical power and electrical power, and that is Eaton?s advantage. There are many cases of successful product development we have done with our customers and that is our strength in this market. We are a global company; we have reach and experience of working with global companies. As more global companies come to India, all of them are already our customers and know Eaton very well. Eaton?s global manufacturing, distribution and service network puts us in a unique position where we can not only become a supplier to them globally, but also meet their aftermarket requirements.

What are the technical value adds you have introduced over the years?
We are working on efficiency, reliability and productivity improvement through our own processes and products, be it the LifeSense hose, the Q-Amp steering or the joystick control, the range of products from JEIL, a Korean company we recently acquired, or some of our transmission products. In filtration, we have some interesting products and we also offer some very high performance clutches.

How cost-efficient are your products?
Most of our products in India factor in the cost points. Our steering unit, transmission for six-speed and nine-speed and other filtration products we offer, all of them go through a proper process called PROLaunch. Sustainability is built into and is a part of our PROLaunch process. When we design a product, we look for its sustainability and environmental impact. That is part of the assessment process. So, our products will be more efficient, will have less manufacturing footprint and in a very short span, they do more. They are more efficient and consume less power.

Which marketing strategy have you adopted to stay in the market?
We know that India is a competitive market. To compete here, you need to first understand the customer?s expectations very well. So, the important thing is how connected you are with the customer in the market place; and that is a part of our Voice of Customer exercise. When we do that, most of the feedback is captured so that we can introduce a product which is in line with customer expectations.

Could you describe your dealer and distributor network?
We have a vast dealer and distributor network. In hydraulics, we already have distributors and service centres spread all over India so that we can cater to our customers very quickly. In addition to that, on the electrical side, we have a huge distribution network, over 300 distributors all over India. We also train our distributors to handle some basic maintenance requirements, after sales requirement, refurbishment or modernisation projects which can be done.

What are your future plans?
Both our business and services have grown quite well this year despite the difficult economic conditions. We would like to grow in emerging markets and that includes India. So, we are looking at different ways in which we can accelerate growth, on the organic as well as the inorganic levels. In addition, we have a very large professional service centre in India which acts as a global support centre for Eaton.