The Relay Finder!
Published on : Monday 30-11--0001
Finder is near synonymous with relays and a vast range too – just how many major product lines and types?
Finder is now more than 62 year old and is known for its high quality and innovative products worldwide, especially relays. Finder mainly has 15 major product categories for primarily three different applications – Control, Protection & Energy Saving.
In total we produce more than 12,500 different types of products. Also we boast of having maximum number of approvals than any relay manufacturer in the world.
The company also has other related products like SMPS, Presence Detectors, Dimmers, etc. What is this range?
Apart from relays with wide range of coil voltages and contact rating up to 50A rating, we also manufacture other product ranges like SMPS, panel thermostats, filter fans, space heaters, surge protection devices, energy meters, timers, special contactors, etc. We also have a dedicated line of energy savings products for industrial as well as commercial infrastructure use like PIR motion sensors, time switches, dimmers, staircase timers, light dependent relays, etc.
How has the technology for these products evolved over this period? What is the Finder USP?
We at Finder believes in continuous improvement in our products with respect to technology up gradation, compact and user friendly designs, performance enhancement and customer satisfaction. For example introduction of diagnostic features like LED for coil indication, mechanical push button and flag for contact indication, pluggable fuse in the slim relay’s socket, thermal pre-alarm and external fuse in SMPS, NFC enabled setting in timers, time switches, PIR motion sensors etc has helped our customers a lot to streamline their maintenance cost and production downtime.
Finder USP is obviously its compact and innovative designs, high quality and operating cycles of its products. We have continuously improved our products based upon the customer’s new requirement and demands.
Are all these products compatible with major automation protocols and platforms?
Yes, Finder products are made to be compatible with major automation protocols. For example our PIR motion sensors are compatible with major building automation protocols like DALI & KNX.
How does the company manage such a huge inventory? How fast is the delivery mechanism?
As we have more than 12,500 types of products in our basket we have a state-of-the-art automated inventory management system to ensure faster deliveries from our huge warehouse to meet the ever increasing production and demand.
Most of the fast moving items are available ex-stock, and we guarantee delivery within 2-4 weeks time for non fast moving items.
The Indian customer is highly cost conscious even in high quality products. What is the experience on this count?
The Indian market is divided into many categories of customer where decision makers are not always able to spend time on selecting the right mix of technology and price. Hence the demand for automation components and solutions diverge depending on the type of customer and their reliability needs. Our target segment in business is in the application areas that demand a higher degree of performance consistency and electrical life. Therefore, to satisfy their need Finder product’s cost are not only optimised but also customized without compromising on the quality.
What is the nature of the company’s activities in India – any manufacturing or value addition happens locally?
We have standard products which are manufactured out of our four plants in Europe, for which we are maintaining relevant inventory in India in own dedicated warehouse and also with the distributors in the major industrial centre and cities in India. Further we have a strategy of continuous value addition through our technology support & customized assembly or integration if needed.
How strong/effective is the after sales service?
We have standard and mostly non serviceable items in our product basket. But we have our own team of technical engineers and dealers across the country to provide any technical support, new technology introduction and commissioning support to our customers.
What are the company's achievements? Especially in terms of breakthrough product launches?
Since the introduction of Indian subsidiary in the year 2013, we are continuously growing in terms of total sales volumes and brand awareness. Our footprint in India includes various applications in conventional and renewable power, cement, steel, water and utility, power distribution and plant as well as machine automation segments. New product launch happens each year in different categories; same is shared with our customers through mails, direct contacts, exhibitions, etc. For example the new range of ultra-slim relays and SMPS (power supplies), and PIR based motion sensors are now widely used.
What are the future plans, especially with the government emphasis on Make in India?
With the introduction and formulation of new government policies, major manufacturing hubs are looking India as the best place to invest in. We certainly have future plans to invest here and manufacture locally. Right now we already have 4 fully automated and huge manufacturing units across the Europe in Italy, France, Spain and Germany. Everything manufactured in Finder is in-house right from marketing and research to manufacturing and quality control.