After 10 successful years in India, Eppendorf India Ltd, is now exploring opportunities in the healthcare research sector. It is setting up a new state-of-the-art laboratory and service center in Chennai, which it believes will further strengthen its services and products.

Mr Sankaranarayanan, CEO, Eppendorf India Ltd, outlines that the company's key strategy is to offer premium products with best of quality and features.

Q: Eppendorf completes 10 years in India. What was the market scenario for Eppendorf back then and how is it looking now?
Mr Sankaranarayanan: The lifesciences market has grown leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. There were few ups and downs due to economic situations, but overall the market has been growing very well.

Q: How is Eppendorf geared up in handling economic instability?
I would term it as "slow-down" rather than "instability". We are very optimistic about the Indian market and we hope that the market will be back to the earlier growth rates shortly.

Such slowdowns are not very new and we are working closely with our customers and partners to improve our sales in the market.

Q: What are some of your new focus areas?
We are exploring more opportunities in the health research areas as the government is planning to invest in this segment.

We are also increasing our marketing activities to reach new customers including exploring new applicational fields for our products such as bio-processing.

Q: Elaborate on your major investments for 2014-15?
We are building a new corporate office and warehouse in Chennai. The new facility will also have a state-of the-art laboratory and service center.

We will further strengthen our technical service with more accreditation and innovative service products.

Q: Have you signed up for new partnerships and collaborations nationally and internationally?
As Eppendorf is launching several new products, we are currently focused on taking the new products effectively into the markets.

Q: Any acquisitions planned in the future?
Eppendorf is very active in this area and our team in Hamburg (Germany) is looking into this.

Q: What are your recent flagship products and innovations?How have they been received in the Indian market?
We have entered the tissue and cell culture consumables and cell imaging consumables market with very innovative products. These products have been well accepted and we have received orders from several leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies in India.

We have also launched plate readers, fluorescence spectrophotometers, and spectrophotometer with kinetics. These products have also been well received and we have got several orders, both from the government and private organizations.

Micro centrifuge tubes (1.5/2.0 mL capacity) launched by Eppendorf 60 years back had created history. Now, Eppendorf rewrites the history by launching Eppendorf Tubes 5.0 mL. This product has been accepted instantly by customers worldwide and we have also got wonderful response in India.

Q: What makes Eppendorf's products stand out from its competitors?
While developing new products, Eppendorf spends lot of time in understanding the customer's preference and the current way of working with the products. We also carry out several beta tests before we launch products.

Several Indian customers were our beta test customers and they have purchased the products immediately upon launch.

All Eppendorf products are user friendly and ergonomic. Our physiocare concept is now applied to as many products as possible.

Q: Who are your major competitors? What are your strategies in handling the strict competition?
With the advent of Internet, now the competition profile is very similar across the globe. All major companies have direct presence in the country.

Competition offers choice to our customers, and I feel this is a very important part of the market. Our strategy has always been offering premium products with best of quality and features.

Q: Ten years is a long time. How do you intend to further retain your customers' trust, confidence, and satisfaction?
We are constantly working on providing products and services which make the life of our customers easier. We will continue to offer state-of-the-art products and services. Our mobile pipette calibration service (PcoC) is one such product which offers pipette calibration at the doorstep.

Q: Who are your major clients in India?
During the last 10 years, we have enjoyed a very good market reputation. Our products are required in every molecular biology lab.

Due to the nature of our products, most of the leading biotech and lifesciences companies including research institutions are our customers.

Q: What has it taken for Eppendorf in these 10 years to build profitability and successfully reign in the industry?
Our dedicated sales and service team has been constantly working on providing our customers with all information and support.

Our team is the reason for all the success that our products and services enjoy in the market. I expect similar support from all of them in the years to come.