Apart from India being second largest tile producer in the world, there are several advantages to buying tiles from India.
MINIMUM ORDER QUANTITY (MOQ) OF TILES:
When you are sourcing / importing the tiles from India you are not restricted by MOQ conditions like in China and some other countries. Like Italian, Spanish and Brazilian tiles industry you can buy on container basis in India. More notably when you opt for customized design / finish you will have either MOQ conditions or you have to buy from the tile manufacturers’ existing ranges. In India there is more flexibility in terms of developing customized tiles design & finishes with reasonable volume commitment and at a practical price. Bulk tiles producers like China you have to offer the huge quantities for developing customized design for getting feasible price. In case of Europe you have least possibility to develop customized design / finish unless you are too big ODM buyer.
It has a huge potential for replacing Chinese tiles imports in terms of offering competitive price, world class quality, speedy delivery and more importantly reliability in all aspects of the business. Probably the best part will be Indian Tiles manufacturers’ ability to handle smaller quantities of each SKU where in China one has to offer higher volume per SKU.
FLEXIBILITY IN PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Since they can take reasonable quantity production for their existing ranges and customized ranges, you can negotiate faster delivery schedule for your urgent orders. In a way production schedules can be flexible compare to other countries.
BIS TILE STANDARDS ARE MORE STRINGENT THAN ISO GLOBAL QUALITY STANDARDS
Bureau of Indian Standards are more stringent compare to ISO / EN norms of tiles. Hence the manufactures following BIS Tiles standards are supposed producing better quality of tiles. However, it is always advisable to have third party quality check for your material during the production and at the time of dispatch.
R&D HAS INCREASED AS MNCs ARE INVESTING IN INDIA
Increasing number of world renowned MNCs are already have their footprints in India and investing further for Research & Development (R&D) of Ceramic & Porcelain tiles. Majority of machineries, equipment & key material suppliers viz. SACMI, SITI – B&T Group S.p.A., HLT, SYSTEM Ceramics, MODENA, KEDA Industrial Co., Ltd, Ancora S.p.A., EFI Cretaprint, KERAjet S.A., KEDA Industrial Co., Torrecid, Vidres, IMYRIS, Esmalglass-Itaca, Sicer Inkera among the trusted suppliers for Indian Ceramic Industry.
DEVELOPMENT OF ANCILLARY & SERVICE INDUSTRY
Right from packaging, logistic, banking, quality check-up, testing labs, creative designing services etc. Development and promotions of ancillary industries provide incredible support for the ceramic industry in general.
ABUNDANT RAW MATERIAL AVAILABILITY
Due to huge mineral reserve available abundantly across the nation making India second largest tiles producer in the world. I long run it will be worthy to ensure sufficient source of raw material to manufacture tiles.
ENTERPRISING INVESTORS & QUICK DECISION MAKING
Establishing a new ceramic unit is just an another play for enterprising investors group in Gujarat. In a casual gathering a group of investors finalize the partnership and within a year time you have new large scale tile producing unit. Very easy for foreign investors to get the partners in Gujarat or to start a new ceramic unit in the state like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with other local partners.
Since there is family or small group of people owned – semi organized business structure in Gujarat Ceramic Cluster, resulting very quick decision making by the management unlike in corporate firms. Even in a single visit one can finalize the business deal as there is no much hierarchy in the decision making.
RELIABILITY & STABILITY IN THE GOVERNMENT POLICIES
India, being a largest democratic country in the world, by and large the government policies are stable and getting liberal day by day for supporting businesses and industries. Stable government with majority. Pro-industry approach to develop cluster. Export promotion policies
FLEXIBILITY BUSINESS & CREDIT POLICIES
There is a lot of flexibility in India when the things don’t work as per plan. Hence there is a rational approach to the situation rather than stick to the stipulated business terms. To understand more clearly if the material lifting not possible due to unavoidable or unfavourable market situations, the vendors can hold the material for reasonable time in-spite stipulated time frame for lifting. To extent you can negotiate better credit period for payment against the confirmed LC once the good working relationship get established.
NO LANGUAGE BARRIER
There are some countries like China you have to have interpreter or local agent when you are travelling to China for sourcing ceramics / tiles and negotiating with the top management due to language barrier. Only top producers have their export executives to deal in most common language. In India not necessarily you have to have local guide / interpreter / agent, mostly English is commonly understood by the manufacturers, even if they are not fluent in oral & written conversation.
COST OF LIVING
There is great difference in the cost of living compare to USA and European countries, Manpower cost is also favourable. Tile sourcing companies can put their office or sourcing person based in India in case buying volume is significant. Else hiring a buying agent / consultant can do the job.
LOGISTICS & INFRASTURE
Gujarat state is known for its better infrastructure in terms of power, roads, natural gas, logistics, ports, man-power,
CERAMIC MANUFACTURING HUB IS LOCATED NEAR TO THE PORTS
India’s coastal line is around 7500 kms, and Gujarat Ceramic Cluster has almost 1600 kms long coastal line. Hence FOB charges are comparatively less and Ports like Kandla, Mundra has capacity to handle bulk cargoes without congestion and they are very near to largest ceramic cluster in Morbi, Gujarat, India.
SMOOTH COMPLAINTS RESOLUTION
In ceramics (incl. porcelain) there is no feasibility of piece to piece quality check and by nature ceramic there will batch to batch variations and variation within the standard limit within a single batch. Hence complaint resolution mechanism has to fall in place.
According to the Indian Ceramic Industry norms when you work with reputed manufacturers you can expect better complaint handling support comparatively.
Indian Ceramic Sourcing (ICS) is actively engaged to promote Make in India tiles & sanitary wares (ceramics) to the world, offering tiles sourcing services from India for global tiles buyers. ICS also facilitates foreign investment in Indian ceramic tiles industry by way of offering tiles industry investment consulting services. ICS team has over two decades of experience in Ceramic Industry and exporting to USA, UK and Australia with reliable, best quality and timely tiles sourcing services to the reputed clients.
You can check other news, update, latest trends about Indian Tiles Industry at https://www.indianceramicsourcing.com/category/latest-update-and-news-about-indian-ceramic-industry/
