Daikin India: Turning Adversity To Advantage

Daikin India is the first Japanese AC company to take this pioneering & leadership stride to invest in India with a view to give prominence to – ‘Atmanirbhar’ India (self-reliant). Sensing a big manufacturing opportunity in India and an endorsement for the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ vision, Daikin India chose Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, India as one of the hottest next destination to set up its 3rd manufacturing facility. Daikin India values the current regulations introduced by GOI as it paves the way for global manufactures to drive the Indian market with future ready products and build customer confidence, which otherwise was spoiled by Garage Manufacturers, selling sub-standard machines. 

K J Jawa, Chairman & Managing Director, Daikin India said, “The 3rd factory investment is an essential part of the long-term growth strategy & aiming to expand and balance our global manufacturing footprint to best serve customers worldwide. One important pillar of our long-term strategy is to operate with an agile and flexible set-up that enables us to react quickly to the market requirements, establish further production capacities in the growth region of India with high-tech production capabilities – and all this makes Sri City factory strategically very important for us.” 

This 3rd factory of Daikin will serve the explosive domestic & international demands with its cutting edge India-manufactured products. In line with Daikin’s aspiration to achieve Net Zero CO2 emissions by 2050, the company will work on developing climate friendly Acs for markets such as West Africa, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Middle East, South America and East Africa. 

By tapping into India’s powerful manufacturing ability and combining it with the ingenuity of Daikin’s Japanese designs, the brand broke through. “We designed a product range to suit India’s extreme temperature range – as high as 56°C – by following Japanese processes adapted to Indian requirements,” Kanwaljeet says. “Through effective marketing, distribution, brand building and customer engagement, we made ourselves noticed on every street corner, Kashmir to Kanyakumari, to more than 1.3 billion people.  

“Today, we’re No.1 air conditioning brand in India and we did it riding on the back of India-made products across a network of more than 12,500 dealers. We have three factories. We have three R&D centres. We have 2,000-plus direct employees. We are the thought leader, and now, we’re working to enhance skills at all levels. When I joined, it was regarded as a strong engineering company,” he says. “Through our effective localisation crusade, we became a marketing company.”  

With 7% AC penetration, India offers a huge potential for growth of air-conditioning, subject to they being eco-friendly and carrying the hallmark of future technologies in the near future. India has gained a respectable manufacturing reputation and that can change the world dynamics in the next decade giving Daikin India the edge to produce for the world. Tomorrow we could have many more factories across India, that are purely export driven and serving countries with tailored made HVAC, Refrigeration & Air Filtration products. 

The Indo-Japanese brotherhood has been gathering steam lately, thanks to unique investments in manufacturing, R&D and skill development. One such skill initiative is JIM (Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing). This collaboration bore fruition in Nov 2016, through a MoC (Memorandum of Cooperation) signed between the PMs of India and Japan, Mr. Narendra Modi and Mr. Shinzo Abe, wherein a new resolution was set aside for select companies to develop institutes that could train Indian youth on Japanese manufacturing practices.  

Our journey to Thought leadership is strengthened by Our pledge to upskill & train the youth of India and that finds conviction in the demand that exists in the industry for qualified workforce. Daikin India is proud to establish Daikin Japanese Institute of Manufacturing Excellence (DJIME) supported by 20 Centre of Excellence (COEs) to train Indian youth on Japanese manufacturing practices. A skilled workforce is indispensable to the working of any industry. Through DJIME & COEs, we aim to skill 1,50,000 youth so that they are industry-ready and can start contributing productively to the Indian manufacturing future. 

‘The favourable Indian business environment, coupled with world class infrastructure, manufacturing capabilities, talent pool, robust consumer demand and support from both the state and central governments, etc., will certainly pave the way for limitless growth,’ assures, Yoshihiro Mineno, Member of the Board, Daikin Industries Limited, Japan. 

Under Daikin’s Environmental Vision 2050 we are tackling challenges associated with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. Through the development and spread of products & services that contribute to energy conservation and the mitigation of global warming, Daikin aims to reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Earlier this year, Daikin India was awarded the National Energy Conservation Award, for developing efficient and environmentally-friendly residential air conditioners.  

Disclaimer:

The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.