Panasonic India will begin manufacturing consumer durable products for select local brands at its Jhajjar factory in Haryana, as part of its shared factory solutions initiative.
The company said it will not only manufacture products for strategic local partners but also help them attain efficiencies by reducing costs and enhancing the quality and durability of these products. Additionally, it will offer them IoT capabilities while “enabling capacity utilisation.”
Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia
In the first phase the company will make refrigerators and air-conditioners along with offering smart and connected capabilities to through its IoT platform Miraie.“ With the vision of fostering local manufacturing, we have unlocked shared manufacturing demand by opening up our state-of-the-art facility to local brands. We will enable our strategic partner brands to manufacture in India, reduce dependency on imports, drive up local consumption and exports.,” Sharma said.
Select range of products manufactured by Panasonic India for its local partners will bear ‘Engineered by Panasonic’ tag to provide quality assurance to consumers. The company emphasised that it will continue to maintain exclusivity of its proprietary technology for its own products.
The Japanese major has been ramping up its consumer products range aggressively in the past few weeks. “While many of our products launches, such as in the refrigerator segment, were in-line with our scheduled annual plans. At the same time we have also fast-tracked certain launches of new products, to meet the evolving needs of consumers. As consumer work from home, they are seeking convenience through products and features that can enable them to multi-task,” he added.
Replying to a query on expectations from the upcoming festival season, Sharma said the consumer durable industry has been witnessing positive signs since June due to pent-up demand. “Depending on various categories, I am optimistic that the industry will witness double digit growth in this festival season over the same period last year ,” he added.