1 month ago
101
Leading global furniture maker Haworth International has decided to strengthen its presence in India by exploring new markets and setting up the second manufacturing plant at Sriperumbudur.
The ground breaking ceremony for the $8-10 million plant will take place on Thursday. It will produce some of the Zody, Fern and Aloha range of products for domestic and export market needs, Haworth Inc. President and CEO Franco Bianchi told the media.
“The expansion underscore our commitment to the Indian market and the Asia-Pacific region. The plant will become operational within three years,” he said.
Asserting that they are expecting a double-digit sales growth this year in the region, he said that localisation of key products, supply chain optimisation, implementation of new ERP system, onboarding new dealers, market expansion and investment in new showrooms were the strategic imperatives.
Talking about the expansion into Tier-2/3 cities, Asia Pacific Vice President (Sales) Praveen Rawal said that they are already present in five Indian cities.
“We will be adding five more cities – Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Cochin, Kolkata and Vizag by the year end and take it to 15 during the third year. Within three years, our plan is to be present in all the State capitals,” he said.
The $2.6-billion company has Global Shared Service Centres in Chennai, Kuala Lumpur and two in Europe. The Chennai Centre has a headcount of 126 people and witnessed a 25% jump in the last six months. The U.S. furniture maker is also contemplating to set up a dedicated GSS Centre in Latin America.
