Soon after his graduation in engineering, Prasad Gujral started working in the electronic manufacturing segment. After years of groundwork at various manufacturing sites, he decided to start up on his own. “I was passionate about this field so I started Drive Technologies. We are a company that offers equipment and consumables to the electric manufacturing sector in India. Our products and solutions enable them to understand international manufacturing practices and build world-class products,” says Prasad.
The electronic industry is constantly upgrading itself with technological advances. In the components manufacturing segment, the functionality and capabilities required from the manufacturing equipment utilised in processing, assembly, testing and other various phases are becoming ever more complicated. Drive Technologies helps manufacturing companies with modern solutions and products for the efficient functioning of electronic components.
Business and challenges
“To put it simply, we help our customers i.e the electronic manufacturing companies to locate and supply the equipment that is required for soldering processes. We also supply equipment required to clean electronic circuits. Lastly, we offer testing solutions for electronic components,” says Prasad.
Founded in 1997, Drive Technologies came into existence at a time when regulatory processes for businesses were complicated. “Initially, we faced a lot of issues with regulatory and compliance processes. Fortunately, it has come down with the introduction of GST,” adds Prasad.
He says, “On the competition front, we do face challenges from the Chinese market. While we offer better quality products, their products are comparatively cheaper than ours. But over the years, we have focussed on capturing the market that believes in availing quality-driven products and solutions.”
The Pune-based company clocked a revenue of Rs 5.4 crore in FY 2020-21and has consistently shown a YOY growth of 10 percent.
Imperative to go online
The company recently took its business online. “We witnessed a clear shift in the way businesses reach their customers. Marketing and advertising went from print to digital. So, it became imperative for us to take our business online,” shares Prasad.
“Taking our business online has helped us tremendously. We get inquiries from across the country which wouldn’t have been possible without the website. Also, such inquiries help us find better solutions for the market,” he adds.
Drive Technologies has a clientele based in countries like Israel, Malaysia, UK, France, Germany etc. He says, “It makes a significant difference when you connect with your international clients with your Indian identity. We are proud of the work we do and a .in domain represents our national identity.”
The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is a platform for upcoming online businesses to get their website registered with a .in or .bharat domain. Along with the name of your choice, NIXI helps you get the website at an affordable cost. Moreover, for businesses across the country, the domain name can be availed in 22 languages through Nixi.
Drive Technologies is continuously expanding and aims to be a tech-solutions provider for their customers. Prasad says, “We want to be more than just a vendor for our customers. We are looking to get more engineers on board to offer state-of-the-art tech solutions. Our objective is to expand to various segments of the electronic manufacturing industry.”
The ‘Shaping India Inc’s Online Growth’ series chronicles the journeys of startups and SMEs in India and how creating an online presence on the .in or .Bharat domain powered their success stories.
