"We Are A Formidable Yet Quality Focussed Brand From China"
"Never rest on our laurels, make more progress" is the business philosophy of Hongfa. True to their philosophy, Hongfa is the leading relay manufacturer in China, and is ranked number one in the country and fourth among global relay manufacturers. Hongfa has an annual production capacity of one billion relays. Mr R A Gotur, director - India operations, Hongfa Electroacoustic Co Ltd, speaks to Jesus Milton Rousseau S of 'Electronics Bazaar' on their India operations and how they hope to attain the pole position in the Indian relay market.
EB: When did Hongfa start its direct operations in India? Why?
Hongfa started its direct operations since July 2008 to delve deeper into the Indian market. Hongfa has perhaps the widest range of products that any relay manufacturer can offer to Indian companies. And of course, there is no major impact in India due to the economic slowdown. Therefore we are in a unique position to offer custom-made solutions in a cost-effective manner for Indian customers. We have developed excellent sales and application support operations in all the major cities spread across the country to achieve more market share in India.
EB: What is the USP of Hongfa products?
Our USP is 'highest quality products at cost-effective prices, delivered on time every time'. Because of this Hongfa has booked orders in India till December 2010 for few fast moving relay series. We also have orders for sugar cube relays till December 2011 across the globe.
EB: The general perception is that 'Chinese goods are of low price and low quality'; what is your opinion as Hongfa is a Chinese product company?
The general perception that 'Chinese goods are of low price and low quality' does not apply for the relay manufacturing industry because the relay is a very sensitive part in any application and should meet stringent quality norms. Though Hongfa is a Chinese company, it has always given top priority to quality and has got all international approvals on quality systems. We have maintained the number one position amongst Chinese relay manufacturers for the last 16 years and are ranked fourth among global relay manufacturers depending on annual reports and total turnover by a few Chinese magazines namely 'China E-paper & Electronic Engineering' & 'Product World Magazines'.
In fact, Hongfa products have been exported to 67 countries across the globe, which is another reason that proves our high standards. Hongfa is one of the highest quality manufacturers and is regarded as one of the best in the world by many international brands for whom we offer OEM and product support. We hold our head high in esteem, as a formidable yet quality focussed brand from China.
We have 5 manufacturing facilities in China: Xiamen, our firm's headquarters, Donglin factory, Jinhai factory, Jinghe factory and Zhongjiang factory.
EB: What is your share in the Indian relay market?
Hongfa's share in the Indian relay market is presently around 12- 15 per cent and is on the rise.
EB: What are your marketing strategies for the Indian relay market to reach the number one position?
We use a four step formula. Firstly, a highly data driven approach, which means we analyse each customer's requirement and provide critical data consistently from all markets to our research and manufacturing teams to ensure that our products are in line with changing and demanding market scenarios. This enables us to compete well in the market and be ahead of others. Secondly, we offer innovative solutions for value addition, meaning our extensive R&D and testing facilities enable us to innovate and re-engineer solutions for complex customer issues and problems at all levels of manufacturing.
The localised technical support and services enable our engineers to lend a helping hand to customers during critical mission scenarios. Thirdly, greater value addition to distributors for medium & low volume just in time (JIT) deliveries, that is, we offer our customers JIT deliveries with cost-efficiency benefits especially for the small and medium manufacturers segment. This provides greater value addition as an efficient inventory management at the process/assembly lines. And fourthly, we do contract manufacturing for other brand names. We sell sugar cube relays and few specialised relay series as piece parts to the relay manufacturers in India. They assemble and stamp their own brand names and promote the brand to end customers in India and overseas.
EB: Do you have special pricing for Indian customers?
Yes, Hongfa has special prices for Indian customers which depends on volume, quantity per shipment, payment terms, etc.
EB: What are your target verticals in the Indian market? Please name some of your well-known customers in India.
We serve power electronics, consumer electronics, telecom and automotive segments, smart meter applications, UPS, invertors, control panels and power management companies. Hongfa is also targeting industrial automation, medical electronics and defence applications. All major power, automotive and telecom companies are our customers.
EB: What are your best selling and unique products?
Hongfa is a leader in power, automotive and telecom applications. We are the largest manufacturer of Sugarcube relays. Hongfa's leading products are Latching relays for metering application, Hermetically Sealed relays for defence and aerospace applications, SSR and Power Module, relay socket, contactors, electronic switches such as TACT switches, micro switches and metal dome. For a few series of Hongfa's automotive relays the lead time is around 54 weeks, because of the great demand of that particular specialised relay type series.
EB: What are the various certifications of Hongfa?
All Hongfa products have international certifications like UL,VDE, CSA, CUR, TUV and CQC, and also quality systems including ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, GJB9001A and IECQ QC 080000. Hongfa has also been honourably awarded 'high quality products exempt from National inspection' and 'National Export Oriented Enterprise of Automotive Components' by the Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. This is the only company which has been awarded with these honours in the Chinese relay industry. Hongfa's Chinese testing centre is the biggest relay testing and analysing laboratory with the most advanced technology in the country. The centre is approved by CNAS, American UL as WTDP lab. It has also been approved by Germany's VDE as TDAP Lab - as the only one in China and sixth in the world.
EB: What are your future plans for the Indian market? What are your investment plans for India?
Hong Fa is planning to expand networks across the country by opening branches and distributors to strengthen and speed up response time. We will be increasing the manpower in due course. And if demand and volumes grow for fast moving relay series in India, we will also open up manufacturing facilities/R&D activities in India to cater to our customers. We may set up our own manufacturing facility for few relay series production lines like the fast moving relay type: Sugarcube relays, signal and few automotive relays and other future potential segments.
EB: What are the various products of Hong Fa?
Hongfa's products are: signal relays, power relays, automotive relays and modules, solid state relays and power modules, latching relays, hermitically sealed relays and relay sockets.
Hongfa also produces low voltage devices, such as temperature controllers, electric switches and sensors, etc. Hongfa produces more than 130 series and more than 30,000 standard specifications with an annual production capacity of one billion pieces of relays.
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