“We help users of energy to reduce waste and minimise losses”

ElMeasure India Pvt Ltd offers energy management solutions to a wide range of industries and service segments. Accurate measurements, setting standards of distinction in quality, customisation and after sales service are its strengths. In a conversation with Srabani Sen of Electronics Bazaar,Babu TK, CEO, ElMeasure India Pvt Ltd, talks about the company’s growth plans and strategies to stay ahead of its competitors.

EB: What has your growth been like in the last two years? And your turnover for the FY 2012-13?

Our growth has been steady despite the slowdown and we did close to Rs 300 million worth of business during FY 2012-13. We expect to grow at about 50 per cent over the next two years as several new products are slated for release. We are rapidly expanding our horizons to provide a wider range of products, services and solutions. Anticipating future demand, we are working on the development of a series of products with multiple wireless communication options, especially Zigbee, Wi-Fi, smart card GSM and GPRS.

EB: What are the products ElMeasure manufactures at its facilities in Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Dehradun?

Our manufacturing plants are fully automated and equipped with the latest technology to manufacture a wide range of monitoring and control products for energy management.

We manufacture a wide product range that includes BEMS (building energy management systems) with complete automation and control features. To complement it, we manufacture products like prepaid energy meters with an option to integrate process parameters along with electrical parameters and protection. Besides, we manufacture power distribution units, multifunction meters, digital panel meters and control products such as compact demand controllers with four relay output and four-row LED display meters with auto scaling, etc. Recently, we have launched a unique product, Gen Duos, a generator monitoring unit with a dual display system—a mechanical counter for energy and an LED display for basic parameters.

EB: Tell us more about your marketing strategies for India.

We focus on industries and other major users of energy to help them reduce waste and minimise energy losses. Our strategy is to promote the concept of energy management and explore application areas in power utility. This also involves educating the customers. We spend time with customers to understand their manufacturing processes, and the challenges and problems they encounter to enable them to save energy by appropriately leveraging our products and solutions.

We also believe in providing prompt and effective after sales support. This develops our relationship with customers and nurtures a sense of mutual dependence. About 80 per cent of our products are UL/ETL certified and, hence, the export market is promising.

EB: How do you reach out to your existing customers and to new ones?

We have sales professionals located in major towns and cities in India and abroad, who are in regular touch with our customers. Our marketing team also publishes a biannual company newsletter called ‘ElNews’ that carries the latest developments like new product launches, future plans and information on the latest trends in energy management. We have a CRM package designed in-house to monitor sales, product, service and delivery performances.

We participate in all major exhibitions in India and overseas to reach out to new and prospective customers, and to create awareness about the need for energy management and the numerous benefits that customers can derive from it.

EB: What are your expansion plans for the next five years?

A growth strategy has been chalked out for ElMeasure for the next five years. We have acquired three acres of land at the Hardware Park at Devanahalli near the Bengaluru International Airport. Our plans are to come up with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility measuring close to 3716 sq m (40,000 sq ft) in the first phase, which is expected to be completed in the next 18 months.

EB: What is ElMeasure’s USP that keeps it ahead of its competitors?

The USPs of our products are quality and innovation. Our customers will always vouch for the quality and reliability of our products. The energy management solutions we provide have helped thousands of our customers in India and abroad to save energy and improve their profit margins.

We have an in-house R&D facility recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) for both hardware and firmware development, which is in sharp contrast to many of our competitors. This has enabled us to rapidly translate our ideas and concepts into products and customised solutions. Our R&D team has developed world class products and we can boast of being No 1 as far as product range and quality are concerned. Our products have obtained trade marks, CE certification and UL certification. One independent review agency has shortlisted us as one of the 20 most promising utilities technology solutions providers for 2013.

EB: ElMeasure has transformed itself from an energy meter manufacturer to a solutions provider. Tell us more about this evolution.

ElMeasure has been a leader in measurement and control applications, with regard to product and technology. Expanding our horizon meant that we needed to look beyond metering and that is where we find ourselves today. Our first endeavour was to create building energy management systems (BEMS) for industries, commercial and residential projects. Building energy management systems are the fusion of energy management systems and building management systems. Using the technology initially developed by an associate Japanese company, our BEMS team focuses on improving the technology to suit the Indian market and enable us to compete in it. Towards this end, we have designed an aggregator with storage and intelligence built into the device.

EB: What energy management solutions do you offer?

ELNet is ElMeasure’s Microsoft Windows-based energy management software, designed with a client-server-based architecture to allow the user to view and generate reports on multiple PCs within the LAN. The software is very user friendly and easily configurable. A unique feature we provide allows users to integrate their existing meters (irrespective of the brand), thereby reducing costs. The variety of real time data display screens, trending of historical data and many standard reports are the main features of the ELNet software. Energy billing systems are a standard module to generate electrical bills for shopping malls, commercial complexes and residences/apartments. Another key feature of the ELNet software is that it sends alarms to the user via an SMS or email when unusual events are detected, if users pre-configure the high/low threshold limits for the electrical parameters.