Global components distributor Heilind is ramping up its presence in India. Having entered the Indian market three years back, it has witnessed steady growth in the country.
Founded in 1974, Heilind is one of the world’s leading distributors of interconnect and electromechanical products such as connectors, relays, switches, thermal management and circuit protection products, terminal blocks, wires and cables, and wiring accessories.
Sudeshna Das, senior executive editor of Electronics Bazaar caught up with Martin Kent, president, Europe and Asia Pacific, Heilind Electronics Inc., to understand his views and the strategies being adopted by the company for the Indian market.
EB: What is your opinion about the Indian components distribution market?
I see the Indian components market as a great opportunity for Heilind as the economy has strong internal growth plus the country is attracting inward investments from international companies. This creates two big opportunities for Heilind. The first is being able to support existing customers who set up operations in India, and the second is being able to generate new customers for Heilind with local Indian companies. We look forward to building long and mutually beneficial relationships with all Indian customers.
EB: How do you want to position your brand in India?
Our company is the industry’s pre-eminent interconnect distributor, with the largest inventory of connector products in North America. I want to position our brand in India exactly the same way as we have done in other Asian countries, in North America and in Europe.
Heilind is focused on interconnect and electromechanical products with a strategy of carrying inventory in depth and breadth, selling to all customers irrespective of their size, having no minimum order quantity (MOQ) or minimum local value (MLV), and offering a range of value added services. At Heilind, we pride ourselves on our foundational ideals of deep inventory, flexible policies, responsive systems, knowledgeable technical support and unsurpassed customer service.
EB: What are your target application market segments in India?
Heilind’s philosophy is to sell to all market segments and, therefore, we do not have a particular focus. However, Heilind identifies the key market segments that have the best growth potential in each region within each country. Often this means our focus in one region can be different from our focus in another and, eventually, we are still covering all the different segments.
EB: What is your growth strategy for the country?
Our growth strategy is based on a twin approach of continuing to invest in sales and marketing personnel plus offering customers the opportunity to purchase via the Internet, through the Heilind EStore.
EB: What is unique about the way your company does business in India?
Our uniqueness is our focus on interconnect and electromechanical products, and our approach to carrying a very wide range of inventory on these products to ensure that we can service the majority of our customer requirements from stock. We also work closely with our key suppliers to ensure we introduce their new components to our customers and support them with inventory investment on all these products.
Besides warehouses in North America, we now have warehouses in Singapore and Hong Kong. It helps us to ensure faster delivery and service in India.
EB: From the perspective of a distributor, what are the challenges and unique advantages of the Indian market?
The major challenge is the size of the country, in that you need to invest in all of the key areas. But that is also the unique advantage since the growth potential is probably one of the largest in Asia.
EB: What is your unique and innovative approach to supporting both OEMs and contract manufacturers?
Heilind offers the same service to all its customers, whether they are OEMs or contract manufacturers, and whether they are large or small. All customers are important to Heilind and we offer them the same unique approach as I have previously detailed — large inventory, no MOQ or MLV, direct sales or via the Internet, and everything supported by a range of value added services.
