Findings of the SD USERS’ SATISFACTION SURVEY 2015 suggest that today's
customer is very sensitive price & quality wise. The higher rating
customer is extremely quality conscious still he wants good value for
money and thinks UPS to be an integral part of the computing system
while at the lower end too the myth “that customer is price sensitive &
it’s the price that matters for him” is gone. Today the customer going
in for lower rating online UPS is very curious to know the quality of
the product and the quality of service he will receive post purchase. He
is no more interested in sacrificing quality for price. The survey shows
that power protection equipment customers in India primarily evaluate
product reliability, maintenance and service capabilities while
selecting power protection equipment and hence companies with presence
(having a service center) nearer the installation are preferred, this is
more true in case of large installations, this is also evident with more
higher end UPSs are now being sold by Indian UPS companies compared to
earlier.
 In the SME segment, suppliers need to actively anticipate the customer
needs and offer pioneering solutions with assured services.
Manufacturers that leverage this opportunity to distinguish themselves
from other peers are likely to gain a strong competitive advantage.
Today most corporate are willing to pay a premium for a truly reliable
product rather than take the risk of suffering outrages by compromising
on quality.
Softdisk believes, though Power continuity & Quality still are the
key mantra for success of a UPS System albeit it is the ability of the
company to customize its product to customers satisfaction which will
turn the tide in its favor.
Energy saving is going to be huge factor in determining the success
of UPS equipment. "Manufacturers will need to be more creative and
proactive in identifying and grasping presently unexploited
opportunities in the field of energy saving. With all suppliers already
providing high value to their clients and competition being intense,
energy saving differentiation - although very difficult to achieve -
will be key to accessing new markets. With increasing value of space,
there is an increased focus amongst the new age customers to incorporate
higher wattage per cubic inch and demand high power factor for higher
efficiency. This is where the Indian manufacturers had lost the plot to
the Chinese & Taiwanese companies. With rack mounted version even the
high end UPSs are coming with small foot print. However Indian companies
are fast catching up.
New vendors who want to position themselves in the Indian Power
Conditioners and transient voltage surge suppressors markets are taking
the easy way out of R&D and now even the established once need to
enhance their capabilities by going the Chinese way. This years survey
clearly indicates that trading their way out to win market is no longer
yielding success as Rupee went weak against the US$.
Softdisk has always been trying its level best to educate the
end-users. We have always maintained that it is for the manufacturers
who have to identify the users’ need and provide with cost effective,
long term solutions to address them. No wonders, our readers (the
end-users) have positioned us as Power Quality Consultants. Our mission
is to forge partnerships between Power Protection Equipment
manufacturers and end users.
Over all 331 companies responded to our survey as we reached 673
companies giving SD Ratings 184 of them. For this Softdisk sent over
18000 direct mailers.
The result of the survey are based on 9754 responses received to our
elaborate questionnaire.
The questionnaire in poll format was made available at
www.sdawards.in Efforts were not limited here. Our executives visited
nearly 349 installations across various locations through out India, and
also over 500 installations were touched thru tele-calling.
 This year the
survey findings were analyzed more analytically by firstly bifurcating
Online & Offline/Inline UPS manufacturers separately. UPSs were further
bifurcated into Three Phase and Single Phase products in to various kVA
categories, measured separately on Quality, After Sales Service, Pre
Sales End User Education, Technology advantage vis-à-vis Cost
effectiveness which Softdisk considers a must. The manufacturer must be
able to identify the need of the end user and feed them with requisite
information that will enable them to decide from the plethora of
products available in the market, to actually have a quality product at
a good enough price.
The Offline/Inline UPS systems were not categorized at this level. This
limits by not allowing us to compare APC with say Emerson or Numeric.
However it is still the online parallel redundant dual conversion
technology which rules the roost when it comes to high-end mission
critical applications. However at certain places Solar Energy solutions
have gained some acceptance, but all there are at a very nascent stage.
Your magazine is the first to come out with Complete Solar Industry
Survey with SD’s Top 5 SPV Manufacturers, SPCU Manufacturers, Off
Grid-Rooftop Solar Solutions Providers, Hybrid Grid-Tie Solar Solutions
Provider separately 2013-14.
THIS IS FIRST OF ITS KIND RATING OF SOLAR COMPANIES
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
As usual we have updated the SD RATINGS, with stale companies earlier
in the list being removed and new companies included which serves as a
benchmark for quality and price-worthiness. May this survey allows the
end-users to take correct decisions, which help their business in the
long run. |
