Sarda Plywood Industries, Makers of ‘Duro’ are celebrating their successful 60 years in wood panel industry. Sarda Plywood is known for long term business association with their dealers. There are many dealers who are associated with them since ‘Duro’ inception. Majority of Duro dealers are known as elite class dealers of their city and they give their credit to mutual understanding and growth. On the occasion of 60 years of clean and transparent business legacy created by Duro, The Ply Reporter has began a series to publish the views & interview of selected few among Duro dealers family, where the curiosity is to know that how a company-dealer bonding goes beyond decades. The interaction is an example for the ambitious traders and manufacturers. In this issue, we present an interaction with Mr. Bishal Jhawar, son of Mr Bijoy Jhawar of ‘Ply Samrat’, Delhi.
Ply Samrat was started in 60s in Ludhiana, Punjab; and in 1990 they came to Delhi in Kriti Nagar. Since last 27 years they have been serving the industry with dedication and have achieved a good reputation. The name Ply Samrat means the king who dominates dealing plywood from every other player in the market. They believe with Ply Samrat, they have struck the right chord and it has worked well for them. Excerpts.
How far has been your journey in plywood trade?
Ever since, plywood has come into Indian markets, we have been associated with plywood. Basically our traditional business used to be of Jute and then we transformed into plywood. Earlier, all the material was delivered to us from Assam at that time we had big territories and main office was being in Kolkata and marketed the product at Bihar, U.P and Odisha. Presently, we are catering entire Delhi market with our three selling points/shops located in Kirti Nagar, Chirag Delhi and Jagatpuri.
When did you get in touch with DURO and how is your association with them?
Basically, our introduction goes along with DURO. It has been a long association with them, since our inception. I have been involved in plywood business for about 20 years after my father who has dedicated his life time and spend over 55 years. Being associated with DURO itself, since our beginning in a way, our identity is attached with them.
How does DURO brand helpful for dealers’ growth?
Brand DURO has always been a successful model to every dealer who has stuck around with them because they are so uncompromising on quality parameter and transparency. There is no percent to percent difference. If a territory is being fed in a certain way, all the dealers will be fed in the same way. We haven’t seen any discrimination between territories in terms of their selling policies. So, this thing will always help in predominantly growth in long run. When there is nil deviation and a leveled playing ground for every dealer then eventually everybody will success out of it. So, DURO definitely help their dealers to grow. If you go out in the market you will feel that there are lots of dealers who have been long associated with them.
Which product of DURO is very close to your heart?
I don’t have a direct answer to this question because all their products are genuine but if you insist to ask, I will say their Decorative Veneers range, Duro Nature Signature, is what I love because Veneer is available with many companies but the kind of sourcing that they have and the uniqueness in their veneers – that is an X factor.
What is your take on DURO’s 100% Lifetime Guarantee on their products?
I think that is a very inspiring thing that they did for customers to provide guarantee on their products which no other brand provides. This initiative would definitely bring trust to the brand DURO.
What is your expectation from Sarda Plywood Industries?
As I have mentioned earlier that the way they are working is excellent but do not deviate too much, do not try to be a rabbit that runs very fast. My expectations will be that they should create their USP that distinguishes them from other leaders and give them inspiration to become like DURO. I expect their product should give worth to a customer and provide regular innovative products in the market.
Do you want to say anything to team DURO?
There have been instances where people have tried duplicity of their product in market but failed to carry it for a long interim. But, we have seen that the company has been loyal to the loyal ones, never disregarded the trust of their dealers. Our message to team DURO is very loud & clear – Stay on track with quality, Stay on track with your policies and keep building your brand slowly and steadily don’t go forward in a rush.
Do you think the wholesaling process has changed with time, how it has impacted you?
Yes, definitely now the norms of wholesale have changed; nobody buys in bulk, accordingly being a stockiest our role has also changed. Wholesaling has turned into more as a service in Delhi and NCR market and who so ever needs to purchase material can buy it from us instead of keeping all the stock with them. We don’t pursue retail too much but re-sellers are the target customers.
Tell us about your growth story and your strengths?
Our growth is still going on; we don’t believe that we have evolved in a multifold manner because we don’t believe in cheating customer at our business, we are transparent. Our product material is accessible to everyone. The customer can walk-in and choose, it’s almost like a departmental store. Our material is all under bright lights & sunlight; we don’t fleece customers and promote duplicity. The customer will always be the king at our shop they will get the best of materials from us even if we don’t earn money out of it. This has been our growth story and the whole market knows how we are growing, slowly and steadily. We have never spent money on retaining customers; our words have been strong force to bring them back to our shop.
What are your future plans and opinion about present market scenario?
Future is changing, the time is changing – the future cannot be put in words right now because there was a time when we were able to plan for 10-15 years then it comes a time when we were able to plan for 5 years ahead. But now, the markets are changing very dynamically, product ranges are changing, alternate products are coming into market. So, if we are going to selling plywood, we have to be number one, we have to keep innovating and that’s how one can be sure of future.
Your mantra of being best and doing best!
It will be product innovation for two reasons. 1) Bring the cost down; keeping it to a level where customer can buy easily, 2) we need to keep upgrading our products. Maintaining these two factors is a major challenge for any company but then we believe a market leader is a market leader