HEXAGON GRAPHITE PVT. LTD.: A GIANT MANUFACTURER OF GRAPHITE AND CARBON PRODUCTS
Himanshu’s father ignited a blaze of entrepreneurship into his mind and inspired him to take the voyage ahead. Being a Mining Engineer, his Company does mining and quarrying. Himanshu did not want to follow the same trajectory, which means he was not interested in doing mining. He wanted to keep his creativity alive, thereby he got involved in designing products.
He says, “Graphite is the future due to its High-Tensile Strength and Electrical Resistivity, and it’s lightweight. Graphite & its products are used everywhere be it Steel Industries, Casting Industries, Space Equipments, Wind Mills, Solar Equipment, Optic Fiber Cables, Automotive Industries, Electrical Industries, so I choose the commodity and started working first with Trading & now manufacturing.”
Hexagon Graphite Pvt. Ltd. is the brainchild of Himanshu Vinayak Kolte; he is the director of the Company. Hexagon Graphite deals in manufacturing of Graphite & Carbon Products. The vision of the company is to raise the standards of Industrial feeding. Understanding the application of the customer they refer and supply them the finest quality of products at the most competitive price in the market. They cater to the clientele of almost every region in India be it Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, etc. where the Graphite & Carbon are used.
They offer 30+ products, mainly Graphite Electrodes, Graphite Rods & Blocks, Electro Hi-Density Material Graphite Components, Molded Graphite Rounds & Blocks, Graphite Crucibles, Graphite Plates, Isostatic Graphite Rods & Blocks, Carbon Powder, Carbon Vanes and many more.
SYNCHRONIZATION TO THE LATEST NEEDS OF MARKET
To keep abreast of the hottest and the latest trends in the market, they are connecting with more clients and being in touch with them. Himanshu says, “Since I started with Trading first, so I knew what was the growing demand in the market & the latest needs of the customer.
One company was using Carbon Powder for Manufacturing Ink. The material they were using was grade called N550, which was costly so, I went to their unit to understand their process and referred them N330, which was less costly than N550. Now, the customer is quite happy and content by knowing that he is getting better quality and more profits.”
AN EDGE OVER THE PEERS
Relationship & Trust are the quintessential abstract values on which Hexagon Graphite runs. The director states, “I don’t make clients, I make friends. When you start understanding people then only you can solve their problems. There are hundreds of competitors in the market but most of them work for money, sometimes they cheat over quality. Yes, Profit is important but more important is when you give business to your customers, then only you will get business”.
THE ROADBLOCKS
At a young age of 23 years, Himanshu started the work in Trading. He still remembers that in the beginning, he had just one client from Chandrapur. Sometimes, he used to give them an order for purchase and sometimes not. He took it seriously and understood if he would work like this his business will soon be collapsed. At that juncture, he created a vision, a business model. First, he learnt about the Graphite Market. Previously, he used to operate from Nagpur, then he changed his location to Bhusawal because most of the clients he found were nearby Bhusawal so that would reduce the transportation cost for them & for the customer also. He also started touring and exploring everywhere in India. Himanshu recalls, “I traveled 120000 Kms in one year by car to promote my business. I went door to door to offer my products, and it was 000havoc which can’t be explained. I also met with an accident during a tour which almost killed me. I prefer a car over other routes because when you go to Industrial Areas you don’t find any transport service over there to travel places.”
Then, gradually he started getting clients and started working with big companies that helped him to get more clients. He says, “I build a reputation in the market, made friends who are still there to help me in any situation and now we feed almost everywhere in India.”
There were companies who were already there in the market for 30 years, giving competition to them was a challenging role & Himanshu was just 24 then. He says, “It’s easy to sell someone else’s product but its tough to sell your own product.”
Quality and Reputation for the company is what he works for and will be working from time to time.
Recalling the learnings from the struggling times, he says, “The first thing I learned was to secure your payments. There are companies who won’t pay you on time or who won’t pay you at all so, you have to be very precise & careful while mentioning terms in front of them. The fun of the business is Ups and Downs. They will test your skills so when you’re going down don’t panic. Survival plays the biggest role in the market. Always be prepared to have enough funds during those times so you can run your business from time to time.”
KEEPING ABREAST OF THE TECHNOLOGY
They are very much updated with the latest technology. They had machinery from Industry 3.0 Technology when they set up their factory, now a few of their machinery has been replaced with Industry 4.0 Technology.
“It’s easy to sell someone else’s product but it’s tough to sell your own product”~Himanshu Vinayak Kolte
MILESTONES CARVED AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
The entrepreneur holds a great vision for the company and visions he had he is making them true. Firstly, he wanted to capture the Indian Market which they did.
Secondly, they introduced the entire products of Graphite in the Market, which they did and sold almost everything related to Graphite & Carbon.
Thirdly, they wanted to capture the market outside India on which they are working now. They are envisioning to export products and work with companies outside India. Fourthly, they are planning to set up a big manufacturing plant and manufacture products like Carbon Fiber which are used in Automotive, Space, Defense, Optical Fiber, Wind Mills. If they set up this plant then, they will work with companies and design products for them & also Manufacture Block Type & N-Type Heat Exchangers which are used in Chemical Industries to store chemicals.
They have already started working to set up this project and it shall be completed by 2024.
