A visionary who took small steps on a ‘clean’ journey three decades back, today strides the roads of success with Schevaran Laboratories growing at 80% annually and reaching out to millions across the country. Standing tall in the midst of Mysore, the well-equipped Schevaran facility is “exactly what I had imagined when I started. But journey is not over”, says Managing Director Sam Cherian, who has accomplished in building the business single-handedly over the years.
Clean India Journal expounds the journey of 30 years captured during the day-long tour along with the Schevaran family at Mysore.
[box type=”shadow” ]Standing witness to the changing weathers over the years, the tall mango trees amid lush green surroundings, divulges several stories in the making of a successful brand
– Schevaran [/box]
“I feel so proud today when nobody in India considered cleaning as apriority , I initiated this business. I was dissuaded from Friends and family but I stood my ground. In 1994 following the economic setback, and the adverse business, that lasted for several years, I had to pay off double my investment to the market. I did, eventually repay every penny. Now when I look back, to what I went through, it does give me great sense of Satisfaction.”
“My family stood by me which boosted my confidence. My bankers had highest level of confidence in me then and even now.”
While Sam concentrated on the business, the only support he wanted then was to manage home. “I single-handedly managed the children. It was definitely not easy. There were moments when I wanted Sam to turn around but he went ahead. I must admit his determination, undeterred focus and faith,” said Miriam Cherian, who with two successfully grown up children today, is also actively involved in the business.
“My son Alex is a Brand Manager at ITC at the age of 31 and my daughter Anna is a Practising Architect. All the credit goes to Miriam,” added Sam.
There are employees working here for the last 25 years. “I had a good team who listened to me, had confidence in me, trusted me and travelled with me. Family, financial institutions and employees are the reasons for sustenance.”
The Journey
The Advance technology in cleaning from Established international companies to bring into India was declined by the Foreign Investment Board, as ‘Cleaning was not a priority’. “However, the first secretary at the Ministry approved my proposal when I persuaded him to visit the stinking toilet in their department. In the year 1988 Sri K R NARAYANAN then Minister for Science and Technology and later on the President of INDIA laying the Foundation stone, became a national news.”
[box type=”shadow” ]“The good part is that every time you see a product coming out, it is an excitement. I have very few disappointments which I can count on my fingers.”[/box]
Technical support from Rochester Midland corporation-US and the support from the scientific team from CFTRI and DFRL was of a great help in stabilising the formulations and to Indianise before the commencement of the commercial production. Schevaran collaborated with the Rochester Midland corporation US and became the first to get approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology Government of India, to manufacture cleaning chemical formulations with foreign collaboration.
The challenges began soon after the initial fiveyear ‘honeymoon’ period. Following the advent of international brands into India in the early 90s competition increased as against the Indian manufactured products. “We also entered into the retail market then which too faced tough competition. Schevaran was facing a `6 million losses.”
At a young age of 37, this definitely was a big blow “but my vision was clear and I moved ahead. The years from 1994 to 2000 was a trying period. The dark phase came to an end when we started working with clients like WIPRO, IPMSL and Infosys. These were the companies that encouraged our products. However, the revenue and expenses never matched. Progressively thinking in expanding the market and clients, we left behind hotels and began catering to other market segments.”
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– N. A. Srinivas Thanthri
General Manager, Finance[/box]
By 2010, the product range increased, and Schevaran targeted industries – Hospitals and Facility Managements companies. Having licensed to produce from Rochester Midland, Schevaran commenced production of Green seal certified product under G 37 standards for the first time in India and made available who are environmentally conscious.
“Today, we manufacture over 150 product and it caters to General Housekeeping Products, Hospital and Pharma hygiene maintenance, Food industry hygiene maintenance, Water treatments.
“Our products are different from others because we have formulated in India for the Indian dirt and you would not find such stains in US or Europe.
Inhouse formulation makes a huge difference in the quality and feasibility is much better with R&D backup.”
In fact, explains Sam, investment and revenue are not directly related. Success is largely due to the foundation, formulations, processes and procurement. “I know what I want. A customer should know what he or she wants. People should know what they are buying and not just ask for a product without know what they require.”
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– Miriam Cherian
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People think cleaning is very simple. But cleaning goes with technology to give specific solution for which we require more and more different types of products. We can rightly claim to be experts in the science of cleaning in India.
“When we identify a need or an opportunity we do the R&D and produce it. The backup support helps to produce new products. The science backup is so strong that can always meet the market requirement. That’s how the product family increases.”
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– Felix Ruesch,
Cleanfix,
Director International – Sales
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Some of the smart moves made at Schevaran include intelligent procurement, diligent auditing, revisiting formulations, equipment checking & calibration, active R&D centre, well-equipped manufacturing facility, customer support and above all the passion to do better to meet customer expectation.
Benjamin Alexander- Director Sales shared that Schevaran have more training resources than Sales Reps in the market purely to ensure that customers derive the maximum benefit of the orders placed.
Schevaran facility is equipped with a highly successful Innovation Centre, automated manufacturing facility, warehouse and corporate office. “We will now expand and create a facility to manufacture equipment’s from Celanfix,” said Sam. Schevaran has recently entered into a joint venture with Cleanfix, Switzerland.
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– Prabhu Prasad
Factory Manager[/box]
Building the B2C segment
In the initial years of its inception Schevaran had withdrawn from the retail segment., following a setback. “It is time to build Schevaran in the B2C segment,” says Hemant Hardikar, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer.
“I have had a vast experience in big FMCG companies but what Schevaran has done in the last three decades, if I get a chance to relive my life, I would have probably done the same.”
Speaking of the work environment which is conducive and supportive to new thoughts and ideas, “a lot of people join organisations with a mind-set of a structured environment. Schevaran is a different environment. Here there are lot of things which we need to do beyond our role. It is important to have a right attitude to be able to adopt to circumstances.”
You have to be mentally ready.
I met Sam many times and I thought he is very open minded and democratic. He takes opinions from employees and also gives respect to everyone. In these 30 years – he is the one who has built this company single handed. Given a chance, to relive my life, probably I would’ve done the same thing.
Contribution to work (Mindset of doing it alone)
You have to get into more details. There is nobody else to fall back on. It is actually very satisfying that you are involved in building something from scratch. Every element is thought through. Sam would know exactly what had happened 15 years ago. We go to him if we have any doubts as he knows the whole history. I am learning from his experience and building from scratch the B2C business. This is an interesting journey.
Schevaran has always been a B2B institution in market product. How would you launch it in a B2C segment?
Schevaran has an advantage of having the products and formulations. Schevaran Innovation Centre (SIC) is backing our products. It is very important in a consumer environment to have a successful product. The team of scientists have given me the confidence of our products delivering on whatever we are committing. There is huge potential for success.
Today the per capita usage of household cleaning is very limited to urban houses. Our products are already tested in B2B, and we know that we have happy customers.
We are going to launch B2C products under a different brand name.
Target segment for theB2C product
First target market are Urban towns, SEC A and the people who buy from self-service stores. We want them to pick the products up from the shelf.
In consumer segments there are lot of companies and if you have the right product, numbers are not difficult to achieve. We are a small company, so we have a flat structure. Decision making is very fast. There is no bureaucracy and politics. Sam is encouraging this culture and we have lot of freedom to work towards our objectives.
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– Shyla Yogish
Business Head – Order to Cash[/box]
Expanding product range & reach
Schevaran products hold greater significance today with the growing awareness of eco-friendly chemicals. “This was the goal we had set out to achieve 30 years back when cleaning was not a priority in our country. Schevaran was among the pioneers to initiate eco-friendly chemicals in India,” says Benjamin Alexander- Director Sales at Schevaran for the last 12 years.
What has been the reach and expansion of Schevaran over the years?
Schevaran manufactures products with safe cleaning formulations at its facility in Mysore. We began in a small way penetrating the country from South India and today we have presence across the country through distributors and suppliers.
What is the marketing strategy for this financial year?
We are working vigorously with Corporates, Facility Management companies and our Stockists by ensuring on time supplies, regular trainings and audits to increase our market share and beat the competition on being proactive in understanding their needs. We have also priced our products so well, where all of our customers see value for the money spent.
Your plans of exports?
We have already initiated talks with large users abroad and are in the process engaging a few distributors. Definitely in the coming months we will have more to share.
How has the new tie-up with Cleanfix made a difference?
The joint venture with Cleanfix, a company which also values quality and holds customer satisfaction as its top priority, will definitely help us in enhancing our strength in the industry. Cleanfix unlike most other machine manufactures, produces only from its facility in Switzerland and supplies to other countries. No Cleanfix machine is manufactured in China or any other country.
Customers today want one stop solutions and realising that we have introduced a unique Programme “Massterklean” -. Clients do not want to scout around to different suppliers for different cleaning needs. By having all the necessary cleaning products under one roof, it makes it a lot easier for them to source it from us. “We take care of the Capex and the AMC for machinery the customer does not have to invest says Shankar Iyer – Head of Massterklean ” . This will not only increase volumes but will also help us in increasing our customer base. The tie-up has already made a huge difference. Schevaran is now a source from where one can procure all cleaning requirement.
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– Jeevan M S Manager,
Training & Quality Control
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Schevaran Innovation Center
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The Schevaran Innovation Center, the backbone of the Schevaran facility, is where new thoughts, processes, formulations, solutions and products are nurtured and turned into a reality. Dr Bhavani Shankar, the scientist who gives shape to the thoughts says, “We need to keep upgrading the existing ones and supply new & innovative products to the consumers. We must always be relevant to the market. We are constantly re-engineering the products, to reduce the cost of production and give more profit to the organisation.”
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Today, in terms of environment friendly products there are bio products that use bacteria and there are enzymes that consume bacteria. “Primarily, bio products can have an impact on the eco-system as it is bacteria based. Of course, no study has been made to this effect. Instead we use the enzymes itself which makes it safer.”
Chemicals, as such, should be easily biodegradable and should not have any toxic effect on the environment. “These are the two main criteria to determine the right product. Alternatively, it should be totally organic.”
How effective are organic products?
They are effective, but sometimes it is the cost factor which becomes a deterrent. Also, in some products, the action is delayed as compared to chemicals. Chemicals are strong, so the action is quicker. However, we need to see that the effect of chemicals on the environment is the least and is quickly biodegradable.
What should be looked for in a product that is biodegradable and less toxic?
Certification plays an important role. We use organic ingredients for which we can give a Certificate of Analysis provided by the supplier. The product may be self-certified by the manufacturer or from a Central Government recognised laboratory – NABL. These certificates can prove that the product is biodegradable.
The Green Seal certification is issued in the USA for their local products and is not available in India. We have a collaboration with RMC and some of their products are Green Seal certified. There are numerous tests which are done like measuring its effect on the environment; whether it is toxic to flora and fauna, etc. All these are tested before the certificate is issued.
Your experience with Schevaran products
I have been in Schevaran for over four years. The products which are developed here have minimum chemicals levels but deliver the desired results unlike any other detergent. Only biodegradable and FDA approved ingredients are used which will not harm the end user.
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– Dr Richard Joseph Advisor
Schevaran Innovation Center
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Social initiative
Social initiativeThe SIC School Programme is doing a Hygiene Programme for the last two years. We have been visiting three schools and engaging with Grade IV to VIII students, teaching them essentials of hygiene like cutting nails, daily bath, wearing clean clothes, washing clothes, brushing teeth and hand hygiene. Every month, we provide them a kit consisting of toothbrush, bath soap, nail cutter, detergent and hand sanitizer. Next year we have plans to cover more such schools and spread this campaign. This will help in the vision of a cleaner India. We have started in a very small way and hope to set an example for others to follow.