HSM targets 50 per cent growth in 2010

MUMBAI, INDIA: Honeywell Scanning and Mobility (HSM), the maker of high-performance image and laser-based data collection hardware, including rugged mobile computers and bar code scanners, is bullish about its business growth in India.

“We are targeting 50 per cent growth for the year 2010. With the retail industry getting more organized now, it gives a good start to the AIDC (Automation Identification Data Capture) industry and that’s the vision of HSM,” Prakash Jethwa, HSM’s general manager — South Asia (ANZ/Asean/SAARC) told CyberMedia News in Mumbai on Wednesday.

At present, the company has headcount of six people in India which includes five member sales team and a technical support. But with the business expected to grow, HSM plans to increase its headcount.

“We want to increase our staff strength by 40-50 per cent this year depending on our business growth. And want to increase our sales foot print and take care of our customers by better services,” Jethwa said. He added that HSM is keen to expand its presence directly as well as via partners. Recently, the company has appointed Shailesh Desmukh as country manager for SAARC region.

According to Jethwa, the company’s business had declined by 10 per cent in 2009 due the global recession which had affected the retail industry, although 80 percent growth rate was expected for same year. However, he added that during third and fourth quarter of 2009, the retail industry slowly picked up the pace and helped the business grow.

HSM has about 30-40 large clients from retail industry which include Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Pantaloons, Spanco, D-Mart and many others. Also, the company has leading brands like Tata Nano, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), LG, ONGC and many more from the manufacturing sector as its customers.

It’s a division of Honeywell Automation & Control Solutions Business and was formed in 2008, after Honeywell International had acquired two US based firms — Metrological Instruments and Hand Held Products, which later were merged together.

India’s organized retail is just about five per cent, the rest 95 per cent is unorganized. However, this large chunk of retail segment has slowly started to look at technology, according to Jethwa.

“Today, the organized retailers are threatening the small retailers. So the small retailers also want to use bar code scanners because they feel that the use of technology gives a good impression to customers of being advanced and not backward,” he commented on how small retailers in tier II and III cities are accepting the technology.

Jethwa further added, “Consumers perception has changed with use of technology. Though small retailers use technology from image perspective, it helps them improve their ROI (return on investment), manage inventory and manage business.”

HSM, however is not alone that wants to tap the unorganized retail segment in India. In fact, Taiwanese company Posiflex Technology Inc., a global professional POS (Point of Sales) hardware solution provider which acquired Bangalore based Protocol Solutions Pvt. Ltd., last year has created a 'co-brand' with HSM to offer bundle products to small retailers at lower costs.

“Posiflex has set a target to sell 10,000 units of bundled POS machines which includes computer, cash registrar, bar code reader, scanner and receipt printer at a cost of Rs 1 lakh,” Jethwa informed.

Apart from Posiflex, the DigiPoS Store Solutions Group, a global business group, operating exclusively in retail technology and support services, is also keen to partner HSM to reach out to unorganized retail sector. “We are open to partnership based business model. And we believe in generating cash for our customers and ROI by providing equipments and solutions,” Jethwa added.