Honeywell looks for wider footprints

Vimal Kapur, the newly appointed managing director of Honeywell Automation India, is eyeing the small and medium businesses to widen his company's footprints in the country.

Honeywell is a Rs 512 crore company providing integrated automation and software solutions that improves productivity, enhancing comfort and ensuring the safety and security of homes and business premises. Kapur now plans to cover mid-sized organisations like four star hotels, multiplexes and retail organisations, besides the home segment.

"Our coverage so far was limited only to the large enterprises in the commercial segment. The commercial segment accounts for 25 per cent of the market, the rest being residential. Our plan is to cover the complete 25 per cent commercial segment and also diversify into the residential segment," he said.

The company's current client list includes TCS, Wipro, Hyderabad Airport and the Delhi Metro.

Honeywell already has a complete range of products that include video door phones, water valves and other similar offerings for these segments. The focus will be to reposition these products for the segments through a better reach.

"Currently, we have 300 sales people, 100 integrators and 100 channel partners, we will increase each of these by at least 20 per cent," he said.

Besides the SME and home segment, Kapur is also keen on tapping the auto manufacturing industry for its Automotive on Board (AOB) business where it already has customers like Tata Motors and Hyundai (through a tier I supplier).

Kapur points out that with General Motors and Volkswagen setting base here a huge market opportunity for AOB business has opened up as "they will need to start designing their cars here soon."