Pidilite Industries Ltd, makers of the Fevicol brand of glue, is quickly transforming from a family-run business to a quasi-professional set up.
Since the past two years there has been significant hiring of professionals at senior management levels, Mr Prabhakar Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Global Fevicol Division, Pidilite, told Business Line .
He also hinted at some sort of consolidation and the evaluation of Southern India for future business possibilities.
Going professional
Started in 1959 by Mr B.K. Parekh, who continues as Chairman, Pidilite has grown in size and scale, making its professionalisation inevitable.
The company is going where many Indian firms, such as Dabur to Marico, the Mahindras and Tatas, have gone before. Though the families still take significant decisions and retain strategic control in these firms, it is professionals who run the organisation at an operational level.
“A greater management bandwidth is required to handle a company after it achieves a certain size and scale,” says Mr Jain, who joined the organisation two years ago.
The shift in hiring pattern is also taking place at the entry-level for managers. The company has started recruiting graduates from institutes such as MDI Gurgaon, IIM-Indore and Symbiosis Pune.
“We have not yet gone to the IIMs as we are a manufacturing company and aspirations of students there are different,” says Mr Jain.
The company prefers technically skilled applicants for the sales force. In all, it has 4,000 employees and 1,200 sales personnel. “We plan to soon provide tablets to the sales force to enhance their performance,” says Mr Jain.
Market leader; innovation
Pidilite has a market share of 40 to 50 per cent in the industry and as a market leader, Mr Jain says, the company is geared to leading any innovation. “We try to ensure that at least 20 per cent of our turnover comes from new products,” he says.
The interior design space is changing fast. Homes are changing, becoming more standardised with modular fittings. Fabrications are moving from on-site to off-site and mechanised units.
There is a shift happening in the urbanisation, says Mr Jain. “So we are on our toes in keeping up with customer needs for new products.” The products have a shelf life of 12 months on an average, says the maker of Fevicol, the brand synonymous with glue in India.
New products
Pidilite plans to launch about 10 new products this year, most of which will have specific use, such as Fevicol Marine, a glue that works in water, a treatment for termites, a wood polisher to provide better colour to furniture, thermal insulation in the roof, green and energy efficient products.
The company has 40 manufacturing units spread across. As it sprang from a single product to multiple units through smaller job working units, the management addressed the issue of capacity in the growing business incrementally.