I can still recall the days when the bathrooms and toilets were located outside the house and, generally, never mentioned in polite conversation. It took many years for them to be built inside the house (in urban areas), and even then they were still built as separate units somewhere in the rear of the house and remained unmentionables.
Around the 1970s, the ‘bathroom-cum-toilet’ wormed its way deeper inside the house as an appendage to the bedroom, making the lives of women, the elderly, and the infirm easier.
The gradual evolution of this unit to spell ‘style’ and ‘glamour’ — which necessarily involved brand consciousness — took a couple of decades more to happen. Of late, the tendency is to proudly show off these spaces (encompassing WiFi, steam chambers, remote-control-operated toilets, jacuzzis, and the like) to visitors and announce the amount spent on them!
‘Somany’ products
Hindware is the brand that is mainly responsible for transforming the outlook of people towards bathrooms and toilets. The story behind the brand’s emergence is interesting.
The vitreous china sanitaryware line was first pioneered in India by Hindustan Twyfords Ltd, a company set up in 1960 by the Somany family, in technical collaboration with the UK’s Twyfords. The company’s first manufacturing unit was established in 1962 at Bahadurgarh, Haryana and its products were sold under the ‘H’ Vitreous brand for about 30 years.
In 1969, the company was renamed Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries Limited and in 1990, the brand name ‘Hindware’ was adopted for the flagship brand. In 2009, the company changed its name again and became HSIL Ltd.
The present Chairman & Managing Director of HSIL Ltd, RK Somany, recounts in his autobiography Bringing the Rainbow how he was sent to England in his youth to learn the craft of making vitreous chinaware firsthand at Twyfords. On his return, he applied the knowledge that he gained in the production of sanitaryware. In the then relatively new industry, it proved useful in making the company’s products stand out for their quality, appearance and durability — features that distinguish HSIL’s products even today.
The company’s products initially comprised the traditional designs in the accepted white colour; but as consumer perceptions changed, earning capacity increased, orthodox attitudes took a back seat and change in colour, design and technology became imperative. HSIL rose to the occasion.
Today HSIL’s products fall under three categories — the premium Hindware Italian collection, the classic Hindware Art Collection (with Starwhite — said to be the ‘whitest’ white in the Indian sanitaryware market) and the Basic Hindware affordable collection. The company has taken efforts to produce sanitaryware tailor-made for elders and disabled people as well. Hindware’s kids range — Poncho — is the first locally-manufactured children’s range in India.
Global tie-ups
As the company grew, it entered into alliances with international companies, such as VENTS, Keramag and Teuco, to bring their technology to Indian consumers. The HSIL product range now includes faucets, kitchen appliances, vents and tiles as well.
Today, HSIL is the market leader in the organised sanitaryware sector with about 40 per cent market share. Its total turnover for 2015-16 was about ₹1900 crores.
Hindware is now not just a sanitaryware brand, it is considered to be a complete ‘bathroom solutions provider’. It has introduced bath accessories and fittings, whirlpools, shower enclosures and panels, concealed cisterns, bathtubs, and much more. With a mind-boggling 1200 product categories, and close to 100 product launches per year, HSIL has the largest range in the bathroom products space in India, and these are available in price segments affordable to all kinds of customers.
There are now four manufacturing units (one in Haryana and 3 in Andhra Pradesh) and a dedicated distribution network, with more than 2000 dealers and 15,000 retailers, helping brand recognition even in remote locations.
HSIL has invested heavily in after sales service — it has 15 customer contact centres across India and employs about 300 technicians who are on call 24X7 to provide solutions. The company’s commitment to its customers is well-known — it has been known to have terminated the services of dealers who sold its products above the MRP.
Pioneer
HSIL has several firsts to its credit, not just in the product line and production process, but also in the awards and certifications it has received.
In the production process, HSIL is said to be the first sanitaryware company in India to use battery-casting technology and computer-controlled, open-fired, tunnel-kiln technology. This was made possible by its specialised R&D Department, which is said to be the first (and only) one in the sanitaryware industry to be recognised by the Ministry of Science & Technology in India. Finished products also go through several stringent quality checks to ensure immaculate quality.
In the Building Materials Industry, HSIL is said to have been the first to have received the ISI certification (in 1962) and the first to be awarded the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certificates for quality management, environmental management systems and occupational, health & safety management systems, respectively.
HSIL is among the top 300 companies in India. Worldwide, Forbes magazine has rated it among the top 100 small-and-medium-sized companies. It is said to be the only sanitaryware brand to achieve both the Consumer Superbrands and Business Superbrands status consecutively for two years. Among the 100 Most Valuable Brands in India, the sole sanitaryware brand that made it to the list was Hindware. And in what must surely rank as a first, consumer recognition of the brand was pegged at 95 per cent!
Eco-frienly mindset
HSIL has demonstrated its environment friendly initiative with its Green Building range. Its products come with a ‘water rating’ — in a world that is waking up to the need for drastic measures of water conservation, these products actually conserve water! A revolutionary flushing technology saves about 35,000 litres of water per bathroom per year. Hindware’s new ‘sensor’ urinal uses only 400 millilitres of water per use. The brand has even launched a waterless urinal (Aquafree), a microwave sensor-operated urinal, and the only 100 per cent bacteria-free rimless WC!
In 2013, it was awarded the reputed GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) certificate. Hindware also recently received the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award instituted by the World Environment Forum.
Hindware Boutiques, Hindware Arcades and Hindware Lacasa (a chain of stores across the nation) serve as one-stop destinations for bathroom products. Customers include private parties, architects, interior designers and business-to-business buyers.
Advertising is done through radio, television, print, internet, meets, cinema activity (it tied up with the Hindi movie Raees ) and even mobile marketing initiatives. Recently, it roped in actor Shah Rukh Khan as a brand ambassador.
Staying updated
With a good customer base in around 40 countries, such as the UK, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Hindware has received the ‘Star Export House’ certification from the Ministry of Commerce.
With the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan in full swing, the rural sector is now catching up with the urban sector in terms of sanitation and hygiene, and brand awareness for the same. Hindware conducts education programmes to help purchase influencers — such as architects and plumbers — keep abreast of product innovations and update their skill-sets.
On the CSR front, HSIL has built many check dams (rainwater storage reservoirs) across Alwar district and has built 50 toilets in Bhiwandi (both in Rajasthan). The RK Somany Foundation equips underprivileged girls with life skills to enable them to lead better lives. Other initiaves include the provision of safe drinking water facilities and measures to conserve and recycle water at its manufacturing units.