More than measuring up to Indian standards 

Shaw Moisture Meters Case Study

Shaw Moisture Meters has a long and illustrious history of exporting to India where its ultra precision instruments have long been prized for their quality. It began exporting to India 30 years ago and the country remains one of its top six worldwide markets.

The firm, whose dewpoint meters measure in parts per billion, was originally set up to test the moisture content of wool in the Yorkshire textile industry in the immediate post-war years. Since then, Shaw Moisture Meters has specialised in measuring trace moisture in gases and compressed air and its products have found applications in numerous industries. In India the firm sells to many industrial companies including compressed air, electronics manufacture and power generation applications.

The company operates in India using a long-standing representative, although managing director Tim Peters has regular contact with both the representative and end customers to maintain all-important relationships. He stresses the importance of keeping those on the ground up to date with as much information and support as possible to retain close ties with customers.

“It’s a growth market and we are seeing increasing levels of business,” he says. “We have a strong presence there and it’s improving. We have a massive plus in India because of our pedigree.

“Our history of being an established British manufacturing company stands us in good stead. Our reputation for a quality product and excellent levels of service is complemented by being in business for 60 years.”

As many other exporters have discovered, having close ties with those whom you deal with is all-important in India – and very different from doing business in European countries.

Mr Peters cautions that one of the downsides of doing business in India is the amount of bureaucracy which is often involved.

“Many organisations seem to have taken British bureaucracy and tripled it,” he adds. “We do more Letters of Credit for India than anywhere else and it is the preferred option for most of the nationalised industries. The extra paperwork creates a lot of additional work with the order processing and payments procedures.

“In India, more than any other country in the world, paperwork is done in triplicate and there are a lot of stages in the purchasing process. But if you get it right, Indian companies are happy to deal with you again.”