Automation seems to be the name of the game in the textile industry today. The gradually rising labour crunch has meant that technology in the industry is more focused on automation. With this focus on automation, can sensors be far behind? One Coimbatore-based company that has been silently making a name for itself in this field is Dappr.
In an exclusive chat at the company’s booth at the recently concluded Texfair 2019 trade show held in Coimbatore, Mr. Srinivasan, CEO of Dappr Inc., gave an overview of the company’s products, their application areas, their competitive edge and the company’s future plans.
He said: “Dappr was established with the main objective of catering to all types of industries, basically wherever sensors are required. We want to develop a wide range of new generation sensors which will also be cost effective. We have applied the European technology with the idea of offering such quality standards at Indian prices.”
Stating the key reason for choosing to produce sensors, he observed: “When it came to sensors, we saw that almost every industry was heavily dependent on European companies and some Asian companies. There was a vacuum existing when it came to Indian brands. I can’t exactly pinpoint the reason for the Indian brands not being able to make deep inroads into the market. So, we saw an opportunity there. We strive to be a full-fledged, well-organized, world -class, professional solution provider when it comes to sensors.”
According to the CEO, the textile industry constitutes about 20% of the company’s total sales revenue. He said: “The products that we have developed till now have been received very well. We have been supplying them for over a year now, and I am happy to state that our clients are extremely satisfied with our quality standards. While most of the Indian companies don’t offer warranty for more than one year, we are perhaps the only sensor company from India which is offering a 2-year warranty against any manufacturing defect. That shows our confidence in our product.”
Going into details regarding the application areas of sensors, he said: “As mentioned before, wherever there is automation, sensors are required. It could be the automobile industry, engineering, pharmaceutical, food and processing, dyeing, rubber, cement, bottling, packaging, textiles, machine tools or elevators. Almost every industry is grappling with the issue of shortage of labour and are therefore moving towards automated solutions. And for that automation we are there with our sensors. So, the potential is huge.”
Three types of products
The company is presently offering three types of products namely, inductive proximity sensors, photo electric sensors, and tower lamps.
Going into details about the products he commented: “We have already done the soft launch of these products. We are using the Texfair 2019 platform for a formal launch. As mentioned earlier these products are running successfully in several industries. Further, we have received excellent feedback for our products, while receiving a plethora of enquiries for dealerships and agencies to represent us. Dappr Inc. is already exporting its products meeting the market demand across Indonesia, Nepal, the UAE and Bangladesh. Some of the countries where we are planning to expand are Vietnam, Thailand, Iran, Qatar, Egypt, Mexico, Turkey and the US. With our high-quality standards, we are sure we will be able to cater to the needs of even the most discerning customer globally.”
He added: “So far as inductive proximity sensors are concerned, we offer an array of selections across 192 variants. In photo electric sensors we have more than 10 variants. Dappr tower lamps come in different configurations such as single stack, multi-stack, etc. And in some cases they are customized based on the customer requirement.”
Going into details regarding the strong team behind the company growth, he said: “We are an agile and a competent team and our strength is that all of us have over 20 years of hardcore industry experience behind us. Whether it is production, R&D, or marketing, we have the necessary experience.”
Throwing light on the sales channel that the company is looking for, the CEO remarked: “We are not going through the direct marketing route, for we want to focus more on product development and research. We are appointing dealer-distributors and agents. Those who are interested in partnering with us can contact us.”
European quality and Indian price
When asked that, given the fact that there are several European, Japanese, Korean as well as Indian companies offering these sensors, what makes Dappr’s solutions stand out, Mr. Srinivasan stated: “Yes, we agree there is competition. However, you need to remember that only a handful of Indian companies have been able to achieve the quality standards of the European products. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, Dappr is interacting with the market in an organized manner. We want to position our brand in the mid segment. Our products are as cost-effective as the European, Japanese as well as Korean products.”
Finally, rounding off the interaction, the CEO disclosed that Dappr Sensors is targeting the status of a key global player by 2023.