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Avanish Singh Visen is the Director & Chief Executive Officer at DCJ GROUP and has more than a decade of industrial experience in various industrial sectors like automotive, IT, home appliances, polymer, and fenestration industry, primarily in supply chain operation and sourcing management. He had served different industries in various key positions, including companies like Lenovo, Videocon, Mahindra, Tafe, etc. Visen says that for him each customer is a person with diverse needs and requirements, and each one is treated as a partner effectively, reliably, and honestly. With a smile and motivation to do his best, he gives each client the highest level of service. Visen is a highly accomplished professional with 18+ years of experience in operations, supply chain, and business management. He has nearly one decade of experience in the uPVC fenestration Industry alone. WFM Media had a soulful interaction with Avanish Singh Visen, who spoke about the demand and market for façade and fenestration products in India, major milestones achieved by Encraft as a brand, the brand’s product lines, and selling strategies, their manufacturing and warehouse facilities, dealer networks & after-sales service, and about their future programmes.

How do you perceive the Indian market as of now when it comes to windows, doors, and façades?

Over the past 15 years, India has witnessed exceptional growth in the real estate sector. More urbanization, construction of smart cities, and changing lifestyles due to the emerging middle class are a few factors that have given a push to new building technologies and materials. uPVC (unplasticised polyvinyl chloride) is one such building material that has gained attention, as a replacement to other traditional materials, uPVC is low maintenance yet effective material in making windows and doors.

The constant evolution of designs and trends has opened many attractive, affordable, and energy-efficient solutions for doors and windows. The past few years have already witnessed the usage of several alternate materials other than wood. uPVC has been one of the prominent materials used widely, however, the industry is expected to witness the next level shift with innovation in design, functionality, and the introduction of new trends and colors. 2022- 2023 will bring the trends that will not only enhance the look of the house but also will make the interiors more spacious, ventilated, and functionally unique. Due to the global emphasis on green building standards and sustainable construction methods, the trend of energy-efficient windows is also steadily increasing. Other benefits such as reduced dust, noise, and improved thermal insulation are also propelling the growth of well-insulated windows in both residential as well as commercial sectors. Recyclable material like uPVC is, therefore, a very good fit in the windows and doors segment compared to other more popular traditional materials. The residential market is expected to offer the best growth opportunities for the country’s window and door producers, due to a combination of favourable housing trends and consumer preferences for customisations, efficiency, and high quality. But in the future, it will come to all cities and houses.

How has the brand Encraft evolved in past few years of Indian existence?

Encraft is a market leader in manufacturing uPVC profiles in India. With a countrywide presence, the company provides customised solutions in windows and doors to suit the harsh climatic and environmental conditions anywhere in India.

The company's supply chain and manufacturing facility are well equipped to meet the growing business needs of our consumers globally. Encraft has the largest network of dedicated fabrication partners who were well trained and well equipped with all the knowledge to help consumers get the best doors and windows solutions.

Our client-centric approach has helped us in building a reliable customer base. With a vision to create desire by exploring the boundaries of fenestration solutions, we have combined 40 years of know-how in the window industry with advanced technology, high-tech machinery, and a strong local presence to ensure maximum satisfaction to our customers.

Innovation always remains as key as people are looking for more customised doors and windows solutions and manufacturers are therefore challenged to manage more designs, constantly upgrade their profiles with the latest trends, and support a robust supply chain. We deeply collaborate with our customers and partners which allows us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And we don't settle for anything less than excellence in every facet of the business from stem to stern and we are the first company to be ROHS compliant and came up with LEAD-FREE eco-friendly products. Innovation and co-creating are part of our daily culture and it’s ingrained at every level in the organization.

We are always adding more choice to the palette, be it adding more colours, styles, designs, and frames, this is a continuous and ongoing effort. Our windows carry a high level of energy efficiency we are making our windows more energy-efficient and figuring out even much better ways to increase the energy efficiency percentage. Moreover, the brand is 60 years old and known in the market for its high-quality profiles. We strive to be as much eco-friendly as we can and minimise the impact on the environment and protect our mother nature.

Please tell us about products from Encraft?

We Provide complete door and window solutions, from initial design to production and final installation of window systems for both home and commercial use. Encraft systems come in a range of shapes and sizes, are custom designed to suit the local requirements, fabricated to exact dimensions, and fitted to suit the particular requirement options. Be it any design or specification, Encraft has a solution of style and elegance to meet all expectations. You may say that we have the solution for every situation.

In windows, uPVC has only a 15% market share. What’s your strategy to tap this untapped segment of the market?

The uPVC doors and windows market is expected to exhibit a high growth rate due to rapid urbanisation and rapid industrialisation. There has been increased awareness in the community due to the regulatory framework, and a rise in concerns for energy saving. This awareness is expected to positively influence the use of uPVC material in doors and windows in India.

Apart from this, we are educating our community and people about the importance and benefits of uPVC through our exhibits and social media channels. For more information, you can refer to https://www.encraft.in/education

R&D is always our core, as a team (our people, fabricators, distributors) we are doing our part in increasing the market presence by tapping new markets with technological advancement and product innovation. Advancements in technology, coupled with an increase in the number of product innovations will certainly enable us to tap into the untapped segments.

Which projects you would like to make special mention of that helped Encraft reach its current position?

We consider all our projects special. We are in the market for a decade now & successfully completed all our projects since day one which is paying off today, as a result, we are in this position now.

Please tell us about your manufacturing and warehouse facilities?

We have heavily invested in machines that money can buy.

We have a complete European state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Dehradun.
We also have:

In-house tooling design and manufacturing facility.
In-house tooling design and manufacturing facility.
Associate training program covering fabrication and installation
In-house testing facility for weather performance and wind loading, through test rig.
In-house latest state-of-the-art fabricator training school. l India’s largest experience center
Three warehouses - one in the north, one in the west & another one in south India.

Tell us about your company’s distribution/dealer network and after-sales service?

We have a wide distribution network across pan India or even I can say that we have the strongest and largest distribution network as of now in India. I must say that all our distribution partners are an integrated part of Encraft at the technology, business, cultural, and knowledge level. We always maintain heart-to-heart relationships with our distributors, partners, and customers and get their feedback and suggestions, and do our level best to implement them back into our processes and delivery.

All our products are backed by warranties. Our after-sales support is so nimble and agile and is available to address customer needs. Every customer is different so are our support strategies, we have automated our support structures to eliminate inefficiencies and human errors, as such we leave no stone unturned when it comes to after-sales support.

Recently your brand opened a few Experience Centres. How do they help in marketing and sales?

We have many experience centers across India along with our partners, we always believe in providing the best experience to our customers before and after sales. Through our experience centers, our customers will get to see and touch the actual life-size doors and windows and understand the actual functioning. While choosing doors and windows, customers will have a multitude of questions and our experience center will answer all the questions they have from customisation to quality to functioning to the color palette.

Considering the pandemic, not all customers want to visit our experience centers, keeping this in mind, we have launched AR/3Denabled virtual center a year ago, and our customers can now get to see and feel our comprehensive range of products from the comfort of their home.

Do you organize some awareness generation activities for your customers or fabricators?

We continuously educate our fabricators and customers about the benefits of uPVC and the latest trends we introduce. In this digital world, we know how powerful social media is and its potential reach, through our social media channel we also educate our community about the avalanche of uPVC benefits and the strides we are making in the uPVC windows and doors market.

How has the Pandemic affected your business?

It is a known fact that every organization and every individual has been impacted by COVID, together Encraft team, and has proven in the face of adversity that we can overcome any challenge and can defy against all odds. We have well-driven strategies in place to keep it going for the next decade and beyond with brilliant contingency planning.

Safety of Employees: Our manufacturing facilities are functioning at normal capacity, but with many additional measures to keep our employees safe, we expect our lead times to remain stable. The primary focus of Encraft has always been on the employees and the community we operate in, we are ensuring timely that our employees are safe, and our operations are being conducted in the stringiest COVID safety measures.

Consumer Safety & Virtual Technology: We are providing solutions and design consultation to our consumers from the comfort of their homes, we have already implemented many virtual advancements considering the safety of our consumers.

Supply Chain & Manpower: we have a robust supply chain that constitutes both, imported as well as indigenous product quality standards. We have dealt with supply chain disruptions. We also do not see manpower as a challenge and our team is never far away when further support is required.

Technology & R&D: We have invested a lot in research and development, R&D is deeply ingrained in our culture and we continuously update our state-of-the-art infrastructure to be on the cutting edge of the technology.

I am proud and inspired by the way our company has risen to this challenge - with flexibility, resilience, courage – and a caring heart. I am also very proud of the hard work and dedication of our people during these unprecedented times. I must say that we have worked together and are working together as a team across all parts of the business to keep going and to make every day our finest.

How difficult is the Indian market?

uPVC windows were introduced in India around a decade back. When we started, people did not know uPVC windows and we introduced this new concept and system. We have educated our communities about the importance of uPVC doors and windows and slowly and steadily the market has increased due to various benefits offered by uPVC products. Appreciate all the uPVC fenestration manufacturers, for their meetings and discussions with builders, developers, and real estate owners to raise awareness of uPVC products.

Over the past 10 years, India has witnessed exceptional growth in the real estate sector. More urbanisation, construction of smart cities, and changing lifestyles due to the emerging middle class are a few factors that have given a push to new building technologies and materials. UPVC is one of such building materials that have gained attention, as a replacement to other traditional materials, uPVC is low maintenance yet effective material in making windows and doors.

This growth is attributed mainly due to the demand for lightweight and energy-efficient profiles that require less maintenance with good insulation against outside noises. There has been increasing government support to adopt uPVC profiles due to superior energy efficiency at present, the market for uPVC products in the fenestration industry is just about 10%.

But the popularity of uPVC products is going to reach new heights in the coming years with growth in the construction industry. Raising awareness regarding the benefits of uPVC and lesser maintenance would trigger its use and we are very positive about the future and are fully geared up to meet the growing needs of our consumers in India and beyond.

Where do you see your company and the market for uPVC doors and windows in the next 5 years?

In India, at present uPVC doors and windows market growth is up to residential apartments, metropolitan cities, and the development of smart cities to drive the future. But in the future, it will come to all cities and houses.

Well in India uPVC was still a new concept for people but the growth of the uPVC windows and doors market is increasing year by year due to the enormous benefits of uPVC profiles. As per uPVC's recent research “Yes there is a bright future for the uPVC windows and doors products market” for the next few years.

The uPVC doors and windows market in the country has been immensely driven by the growing awareness about the several tangible and intangible benefits of uPVC products amongst builders and consumers. In the past two years, there has been substantial growth and it continues, due to rapid urbanisation, growth in residential units, and increased adoption of eco-friendly and energy-conserving products to comply with the government’s initiative Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC).

The future is going to be very bright and we are ready to cater to the growing market needs in India & beyond.

Avanish Singh Visen
CEO - DCJ Group