Incepted in 1996 and based out of Faridabad (Haryana), Pana Corporation is an Indian manufacturer and a leading exporter of fuser films, thermistors, gold-plated corona wires, web rollers, sensors, etc. Since the beginning, the company focused on intensive R&D and crossed many milestones of growth and development. Pana has three factories and a huge R&D center with state-of-the-art facilities. Most products manufactured by Pana are sold to OEMs worldwide. In an interaction with Imaging Solution Magazine, Mr. Anil Aggarwal, MD, Pana Corporation, shares about their company’s R&D and manufacturing capacity, export strategy, and future plans.
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Q. Please brief us about the products you manufacture and supply
We have our manufacturing plants in the export zone at Noida (UP), Faridabad, and Palwal (Haryana). We invest 30% of our profits in R&D and we have the most advanced R&D facilities with world-class equipment. The quality levels of the products we manufacture exceed international standards. We are one of the few domestic manufacturers in India dedicated to provide to global OEMs. The products we manufacture include thermistors, gold-plated corona wires, web rollers, fuser film, grids, custom-designed sensors, etc. Most of our products, nearly 95%, are exported to other countries, particularly to China, and only a small percentage is sold to Indian customers.
Q. To which countries do you export your products and how do you maintain an international presence?
We export our products to global OEMs in China, the US, Canada, Singapore, and other countries, where China is one of the major importers of our products. In the last 25 years, Pana has been a regular participant in various international expos worldwide including those held in the USA, South America, Spain, Germany, Dubai, Singapore, China, Indonesia, and Thailand. We maintain strong and long-term relationships with our global clients.
Q. What is the main reason for your success?
We invest heavily in R&D and do extensive research and testing before developing and releasing new products; we never compromise on quality. We always maintain international benchmarks for quality and reliability. We firmly believe in giving value-for-money to our customers and clients in India and abroad. Our vision is always long-term.
Q. What is your take on Make in India?
When it comes to making India a self-reliant manufacturing hub, in general, is concerned, there are some challenges—firstly, the Indian labor, though cheap, is not yet skilled enough to develop products of international standards and secondly, there is a shortage of raw materials and components in India. We need a lot of changes in the domestic infrastructure, labor ecosystem, and governmental support to make India a self-reliant manufacturer. To become self-reliant, we also need determination from the Indian companies to purchase only Made in India products. But unfortunately, most Indian brands and traders are interested in just importing from abroad, mainly from China, and selling them in India, as they want things that are cheap and easily available. That attitude being present, Make in India on a big scale is a faraway dream.
Q. What is the impact of Covid and lockdowns on your business?
The Covid pandemic that started in March 2020, and particularly, the second wave that followed in 2021 has hit us hard, as many of our employees were tested positive and got hospitalized, but by God’s grace, all of them have recovered and joined back to work. Covid has negatively impacted our manufacturing and exports as we could not run our factories regularly due to lockdowns. However, now slowly the situation is improving; we opened our factories and resumed manufacturing. Currently, our exports have reached 50% of the pre-Covid levels and we hope for further improvement in the coming months.
Q. Do you have any specific products for Indian customers and future plans in general?
Since India is a price-sensitive market, we are now manufacturing affordable lamination machines at a large scale supported by high-capacity in-house production facilities. We plan to launch these laminators in the Q3 of 2021. These laminators with international quality standards will be value-for-money products for Indian customers. We will continue to improve and upgrade our present products and add new ones to our product line from time to time.
