Haworth’s 2nd unit in city to be commissioned within 36 months
The upcoming facility, expected to be commissioned in 18 to 36 months, at an investment of $8-10 mn, would double the capacity (to 113,000 sq ft)
Franco Bianchi flanked by Henning Figge and Praveen Rawal
CHENNAI: Spelling out its growth and expansion plans for the future, US-based Haworth, the $2.5 bn workspace solutions company that manufactures 1 lakh chairs annually at its facility that was set up 10 years ago, will hold the ground-breaking ceremony of its second factory in Chennai on Thursday.
The upcoming facility, expected to be commissioned in 18 to 36 months, at an investment of $8-10 mn, would double the capacity (to 113,000 sq ft) as the company sees the rapid growth potential of the India market, Franco Bianchi, president-CEO, Haworth said here on Wednesday.
The “twice as big as the current facility” on the city outskirts would also cater to exports in future, he said, noting that everyone of its global location provides the scale and the business opportunity locally.
Currently, 40 to 45 per cent of the demand is met from India, with the balance being imported from Haworth’s other global manufacturing units. Some of its clients include Standard Chartered, Amex, Bank of America and the World Bank.
Haworth is looking beyond the five cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, to tier-II and III destinations, to expand its operations. With plans afoot to add Ahmedabad, Vizag, Cochin, Chandigarh and Kolkata this year, Praveen Rawal, VP-sales, Asia Pacific, Haworth, said “we plan to be present in 15 cities and all the state capitals, in three years.”
Out of its 100-plus global products, Haworth sells 50, of which less than ten are produced in India. The company aims at localising collaborative products at the Chennai plant, Rawal said, talking about the features of Cabana lounge, Poppy chairs and the relaunched Zody II and Zody LX dual posture furniture.
The company plans to introduce its biomass (imported) Cardigan lounge ($800 to $1,000) soon, said Henning Figge, president, Haworth, claiming that across the globe no one else manufactures such chairs even as efforts to procure the material locally are on.
Its global shared services centre in Chennai happens to be the biggest among the four that it has in countries such as Malaysia. The headcount at Chennai has gone up by 25 per cent from 100 people, he added.