It was a wonderful interaction with Mr. Rohit Harjani. He has been a very methodical, meticulous and highly dedicated professional. Very Result oriented and highly networked, Mr. Rohit Harjani Joined Hochiki Europe (UK) Ltd. in 2007 as a Regional Sales Manager & in 2012 got promoted to Country Manager of the Indian Sub Content from last 15 years.Mr. Rohit Harjani started his career with Hitachi (2000 to 2005) before joining Hochiki – he always made it sure the Hochiki fits into the Indian market very well. It competes with all leading brands of the world and offers the most elaborate range of products in the Indian and world markets.
Mr. Rohit is Graduated from Maharshi Dayand Saraswati University with a majors in Economics, Management & Accounting – A fantastic human being spares his valuable time with our Editor n Chief Dr. N K Gupta shares his vision n path for future with Hochiki’s Enhanced Technological strategies….
Hochiki has always developed products that have impacted the industry. Besides offering the Wired EN and UL/FM fire detection ranges, Hochiki also offers the Firescape range of Emergency escape route lighting system which is an extra low voltage LED system. This product is very thoughtfully developed and can be used even in Green buildings due to very low power consumption. The Firescape Plus range is also on offer where fire detection and escape route device can be installed on the same loop. Due to certain difficulties of installation of products, Hochiki has also launched the EKHO range of wireless fire detection system which can be used with wired fire alarm system of Hochiki. This will give the industry a lot of flexibility, ease of installation, affordability.
Q. What product ranges do Hochiki offer in the Indian market?
We offer a wide variety of products in the Indian market
1) Conventional Fire detection: EN Range, UL approved range
2) Conventional Gas release panels: EN Range, UL approved range
3) Intrinsically safe range: ATEX approved
4) Beam detection : EN / UL approved
5) Flame detection: EN or FM approved
6) Aspiration detection system
7) Wired Intelligent Addressable Fire detection systems: EN54 or UL/FM
8) Wireless Intelligent Addressable Fire detection systems: EN54
9) Firscape and Firscape Plus Range of Escape route emergency lighting systems
Q. How is Hochiki positioning itself in the Indian Fire & Safety market?
Hochiki fits into the Indian market very well. It competes with all leading brands of the world and offers the most elaborate range of products in the Indian and world markets.
Hochiki products fit very well in real estate and commercial sector and have been very successful in recent years. The products fit very well in Industrial sector where the factories prefer Hochiki products because of the devices being robust.
It is extensively used in Hotel industry and with the wireless range the demand has shot-up further.
Q. Could you brief us about the Fire Evacuation Scenario that is at the very Priority need in the Hospitals in India.
Every building irrespective of compliance as per law must have escape route and an escape route evacuation system. As asked about the hospitals, I’m of the opinion that hospitals must have one extra planned escape route and a disabled refuge area for patients on wheel chair, hearing impaired patients and blind patients etc.
A refuge area can be defined as:
- A safe place for disabled to await assistance for their evacuation.
- An enclosed area of fire-resisting construction.
- Must be served directly by a safe route of exit.
I’m surprised to see hospitals in small towns with completely residential style construction and flouting norms which is very dangerous.
Q. Could Share a Brief on EKHO? And how is it going to be beneficial from installation point of view.
EKHO is the new intelligent addressable Wireless fire alarm range of launched by Hochiki. The range is by far the best that is offered in the market. Moreover, this range can be used as standalone or hybrid with wired devices. Hochiki control panel recognizes both wired and wireless devices and communicates with each wired and wireless device in similar fashion.
Wireless products save a lot of installation and wiring time which means saving a lot of money. At the same time, it gives the same level of authentic safety from fire hazard.
Wireless devices should also be used in areas where installing wires is not a possibility.
Q. What are your views regards to the latest developments in Hochiki R&D TEAM?
Hochiki R&D has been continuously working towards achieving company plans for product development. The team has been achieving the goals for past many years. Hochiki has the largest fire test laboratory in the world which is located in Japan. All of our products are developed in UK and Japan and then rigorously tested in our laboratory in Japan. The team offered to the market a new touch screen panel with 10k events, SD card slot, USB port and all latest features. We also offered a new sensor with Smoke, Heat and CO offering in a single sensor. Its an amazing product which is accepted well by the industry. The team will continue to develop some very good products in years to come.
Q. What is that one catch phrase that can be the ultimate selling point for your products?
WHEN YOUR REPUTATION MATTERS, USE OURS
Q. What are the Future Plans of Hochiki for Indian and the Global market?
Hochiki as a company is growing at a good pace. We have been investing a lot in our R&D and will continue to do so. With efficient products and new technologies that will be introduced in coming years, I hope that we will gain momentum in our visibility and will continue to offer the best quality products to the market.
We shall continue to offer newer technologies for Hazardous areas, Marine and Railways besides offering the systems of commercial, residential and industrial fire detection. We will offer our global range of Suppression release panels which needs advancement in India. In my experience the Gas release panels in India need upgradation and market must recognize and buy better quality panels.