Founded in 1976, Nav-Yug Sewing Machine Co. which started as a small ‘spare parts’ company is today a public limited entity with more than 50,000 products, a strong team of 120 and nearly 300 channel partners across India in its portfolio. The range of offerings includes sewing machines, embroidery machines, spare parts, folders, attachments and industrial knives. Team AO recently met H.S. Passricha, MD, Nav-Yug, who besides controlling a very successful enterprise has taken it upon himself to fight counterfeiting, which has become a real menace in recent years.

With honest foresight, Passricha, admits that after a very slow 2008, the year ahead is a real challenge. “Global meltdown is a reality and the apparel industry is struggling to hold firm after a year that was one of the worst for the industry. In this situation we have taken the initiative to shield our customers from an almost 50% increase in prices brought on by appreciating dollar and increase in basic purchase price of imported goods in the machine segment coming from Taiwan and China due to rising cost of production in these regions. In fact, we have transferred only 10-20% of the increase in price to them while absorbing the remaining,” he adds.

This flexibility was made possible because, Nav-Yug has the storage space, investment and vision to hold inventories for six months to one year in advance for standard equipments, thus never facing a shortage of products, while also being able to juggle with the prices. “We have seen a marked slowdown in demand from our network partners in all products that we offer from sewing machines to folders, binders and attachments. However, it is not only global slowdown, which has affected our business, it is also the emergence of a widespread market for counterfeits that is growing stronger by the day,” argues Passricha.

It is not only the global slowdown that has affected the business, it is also the emergence of a widespread market for counterfeits which is growing stronger everyday.” – H.S. Passricha,  MD,  Nav-Yug 

Among its principals that are most affected by piracy are Golden Eagle, Taking, Jack, Yano, Glory, CMEC, Spenti, Onkyo, Fish and Donwei to name a few. In fact, under the dynamic direction and vision of Passricha, the company has acquired leadership position in bringing the machine accessory industry on to a single platform to discuss issues like counterfeiting that are hampering the growth as also measures to improve service levels to the customers. After spearheading a general meet during GTE-08 in Bangalore against counterfeiting earlier this year, the company is now taking the initiative ahead with a signature campaign for committed unity against piracy to strengthen the anti-imitation drive. The company already has in place a special anti-piracy cell to directly address and investigate complaints.

Among the hottest products from Nav-Yug, which has unfortunately been at the receiving end of ‘duplicates’ is the Industrial knives, cutters and tools collection from Great Knives Manufacture Co. Ltd., Taiwan under the brand name ‘Golden Eagle’ and ‘Taking Industrial Co. Ltd.’ Taiwan under the name Taking.

Nav-Yug has been working with the brands since the early 1990s and the relation has strengthened to such an extent that in 2002 Nav-Yug registered the brands logo in India for better recall value and also to differentiate the real from the fake. As legal licensors of multi brands in India, Nav-Yug can ensure consistent quality to the industry by reigning in imitations. “The efforts are not only to protect our business, but also to protect the interest of customers, who though paying for the real product are being handed out cheap fakes,” says Passricha.

With collective co-operation and transparency at the core of operations at Nav-Yug, every action is directed at achieving ‘satisfaction’ for all. The relation it shares with its principals and associates is reflected in the thought that has gone behind a seemingly small gesture of creating a diary of Golden Eagle as a New Year gift. The Diary is conceived as a friend for associates and friends to use to record their thoughts as a medium of self-expression to be read only by the writer. “There are many moments in life when by just expressing our inner feelings we can handle any challenge or emotion, and a diary is perhaps the best medium to unburden one’s thoughts,” concludes Passricha philosophically.