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“Touchless Door Hardware & Entry Solutions are in Great Demand”

By: Rakesh Awasthi, Ozone Group

When it comes to hardware & door openings, post-covid consumers want touchless solutions. Minimal interference is preferred. Touchless door hardware and entry solutions to open locks are quick, safe and affordable options that help improve facility safety and reduce the spread of germs through high frequency touchpoints within a building or premises having heavy footfalls. This also gave people a chance to further experience & adapt to touchless digital technology.

Today automatic swing doors, sliding doors, revolving doors and hand sensors are being used across several industries. Demountable partitioning systems are too in demand. From pharma to banking to public areas, even the new modern trains, have been upgraded with sensor based applications. This development is noted across the residential sector too. The market for digital handles has a strong growth trajectory. People prefer remote access and do not wish to carry keys.

When it comes to materials, consumers today look for sturdy solutions. Aluminium is a preferred option. Consumers also look for variations in colour, style, etc. today rather than the standard black hardware.

The Growth Story

India’s growth story has built a lot of trust across the globe. Today we see large-scale multinationals setting up manufacturing hubs across India. Manufacturing in India is given more importance post-covid as investors feel that the market is stable, growing, and government schemes have helped greatly. In the hardware market, too the initial market perception for India has changed. People consider it an alternative to China today.

Two decades ago, when it came to the hardware industry, people were importing, and not confident in setting up manufacturing bases in India. A few hardware companies have set high benchmarks in production and quality testing too.

Difficulties faced by the Hardware Industry

The price structure issue is the major hurdle. Post-covid, the price of hardware is constantly fluctuating. Secondly, manufacturing capabilities cluster-wise raise several challenges. To increase efficiency, and overall production output, cost-saving and environment friendly practices are followed. It’s important to have manufacturing facilities nearby or as part of a cluster. Scalability and export capabilities have been undermined for a long time. Cluster manufacturing would help decrease costs, increase productivity and bring in more growth opportunities.

Standardisation & Certification

To ensure the production and manufacturing of quality products, there is a strong emphasis on testing and certification to adhere to several global testing norms. To further cater to the Indian market and industry, certain heavy-duty floor machines are tested for 1 million cycles by brands to assure sturdiness. Standard machines are tested for 5 lakh cycles. Standardisation helps brands in bringing out the best in a product for the Indian as well as the global consumer.

The Indian market has gained a massive amount of trust post the pandemic. We hope to be the world’s third-biggest economy by 2025 and a world leader in the hardware and manufacturing industry by 2030. No longer innovations of new products happen in the West. With high growth possibilities, India strives to be an innovative market leader in the global market by 2030.