Could you brief our readers about yourself? What's the success mantra of this wonderful journey?
I joined Hochiki Europe UK Limited in 2007 in UK and used to manage various European markets before being asked to open office and increase operations in India. I knew Indian markets well and have a background of working with a Japanese company Hitachi High Tech in India. This gave me the confidence to accept the offer to commence local operations.
I do not define or measure success. For me, I'm here to implement company's strategy and to achieve desired outcome keeping in mind the Japanese ethics.
Hochiki has been doing the rounds in the Fire Detection market; Please share your views with our readers of the Fire Detection market in Indian market?
Fire detection market is doing good in India. Its mainly in new builds across urban India. I see this market as a very immature market which has huge scope of improvement and that is why it should be considered as one of India's biggest growth sectors. Organising the fire detection market alone requires huge investment to boost employment which is the need of the hour.
What is the latest products launched by Hochiki? Could you brief us about their usage & how is it going to benefit the Indian markets?
Hochiki has launched its New control panel from 2 to 8 loops and 2 to 16 loops with coloured touch screen and various other excellent features. The control panel is approved by LPCB.
On Similar lines, we will launch our UL approved control panel very soon.
This year we will be launching a lot of new product which will be beneficial for the market in many ways.
What is the initiative taken by Hochiki to be the best in the Indian Fire Safety & Security market.
Every company wants to be the leader in its own space. What Hochiki believes is in its Research and development and its continuous growth in developing matured products. I see a lot of development happening in other companies also but various constraints have slowed down the growth of this industry. The scenario is changing fast and Hochiki has invested a lot in its R&D to launch better products in the industry.
Brief us about your Global presence & outreach? How is Hochiki positioning itself in the Indian Fire & Security market?
Hochiki is head quartered in Tokyo, Japan and is listed with Tokyo stock exchange in list-A companies. Hochiki has 4 factories in Japan which mainly take care of the Japanese market. Hochiki has a big European base which is head quartered in the UK. In UK Hochiki has two plants which take care of EN54 and a few UL and FM control panels and devices. We also have a factory in the US which takes care of various UL and FM devices and some EN54 devices.
There are various sales offices across the globe which include offices in Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, India, UAE, Mexico Italy etc.
Hochiki has positioned itself in the Indian fire market as a fire detection brand which has now introduced its intelligent emergency lighting system.
Could you brief us about the Fire Detection need in the Hospitals in India How will it benefit the Safety in Hospitals all around the country at the time of emergencies?
There is tremendous need for fire detection systems in all hospitals across the country. I have myself visited a few of the hospitals which are in dire need of such equipment. Surprisingly, the hospital owners must be forced and issuance of notices by the fire department to comply with law. The fire department has become strict with such hospitals which gives me hope that compliance will not be an issue in India in future.
We have experienced a lot of fire incidents in hospitals in India in the last 3 years. With advanced technologies and linking of systems via BMS and other technologies, the hospitals will be benefitted in saving lives and property to a great extent which will result in increased reputation, and many monetary benefits for the hospital.
What are your views regards to the latest developments in Smart cities projects and Safe cities missions? How is Hochiki going to help in making These mission & projects successful?
'Smart cities' is a very good concept and one good thing I have come out with is the emergence of a new idea of making Smart housing societies and smart sub cities. Builders must implement smart city concept from inception stages to assist the government to implement this programme effectively.
Government of India has agreed with many countries on smart city project. I feel that there are a lot of issues that need to be taken care of before we talk of fire detection. I see it a few years down the line. First things first.
What are the challenges faced by Hochiki in India & how are you going to out beat those challenges?
Every country has its own challenges so does India. Challenges and struggle are there in the entire process of business. Hochiki also has faced most of them but with education, patience that things are changing drastically especially in terms of laws and their implementation, professional service and out of the box thinking has enabled us to beat challenges in India.
What are the Future Plans of Hochiki for Indian and the Global market?
Hochiki has, in the past, and Hochiki will continue to invest the global markets and India is one of the most important part of international strategy.
Hochiki will continue to serve the industry by launching new products which will benefit the industry and humanity.
Needless to say, Hochiki believes in producing top quality durable products for the industry so that customers are benefitted, lives are saved, and cost of ownership of goods over 10 years is reduced with maintained effectiveness.