A collapsible bed that can be set up with almost zero effort in seconds, weighing less than 10 kilos, is now available at Rs.2,500 to Rs.3,000 per unit. Like some other innovations, this too was born in the Covid-19 lockdown. For its makers Amitoje India, it is another innovation feather in their cap.
The bed and a foot-operated standing sanitizer dispenser – also collapsible – are the latest offerings of the 35-year-old family-owned business. The innovation journey started circa 2014, recalls Maniraj Juneja, Managing Director. It was also the time when he turned to Amitoje full time. After graduating from IIT Delhi and earning a Master’s from MIT, he co-founded health and nutrition e-store MadeInHealth. The venture, in which he also donned the title of CTO, was acquired by HealthKart in about a year. After a brief stint at Yebhi.com as AVP of Business Strategy, his attention was focused on Amitoje.
Since then, the firm which is just venturing beyond its forte of retail (point of sale) displays, has moved beyond flex and vinyl print-led work to have three patents pending in the same space. One of them is titled ‘Crazy FSU’ (FSU stands for Floor-Standing Display Unit). The foldable unit allows for assembly or the creative (branding) to be changed with no skilled labour involved. That seems to be an underlying theme of most of Amitoje’s creations, all of which are designed in-house and also completely fabricated at its 20,000 square feet factory in New Delhi.
“We started realising that there were huge gaps in the display market that we catered to. Over the years we started working on display concepts and in the last two years or so we have applied for three patents. The concepts are easy-to-assemble displays, not available anywhere else. So much so that people outside India have started copying us,” states Juneja, in conversation with Stimulus Unplugged.
The client brands listed on the Amitoje website give us an idea of the acceptance of its offerings. From GSK to Reckitt, Pepsi to Coca Cola, adidas to Aldo, Satyapaul to Lifestyle, Tata Motors to Hyundai, the list straddles several categories that rely on maximizing retail space with efficiency and impact.
The innovation agenda has also led to revenue growth. “It has more than doubled in the last five years. We are aiming at Rs 25 crore in this financial year,” reveals Juneja.
The Innovation Agenda
Being in the non-essentials category, Amitoje had to shut shop like everyone else in the lockdown. But Juneja and the team realised that there were a lot of capabilities in the company that could help in the lockdown.
The design concept for the bed was ready in two months. Work started at the beginning of the lockdown in end-March. Operations started only on 3rd May and products were ready in the second week of the same month. Juneja adds that there are other “very relevant” products his team is working on right now.
And how has the response been to the bed and sanitiser dispenser? “The sales team has been overwhelmed,” reveals the MD.
In a week of going public with the bed, there have been enquiries for 60,000 to 70,000 units, from governments, private hospitals and others. The company is not entertaining individual enquiries at this point. What would have been priced at upwards of Rs.3,500, has been made available at Rs. 2,500 to Rs.3,000 per unit (depending on the volume) with barely any margin, given the prevailing health emergency. The beds are water-proof and can last at least two to three years, believes Juneja, given their design and construct.
The team did consider other materials but decided against paper and metal. Ask him about the beds made by some from the paper industry, which have also done the rounds of the internet, and Juneja points to the single largest differentiator: ease of use.
“It is all done with good intentions and the product will work very well. But you can’t have four people to assemble it. The difference in our products is that all of them are dummy proof – if it requires an instruction manual, we won’t manufacture it. I test all our products myself,” explains Juneja. He is also the one demonstrating the bed and the dispenser in the company’s videos.
‘Making Lives Easy’
Amitoje’s standing sanitiser dispenser eliminates the need for someone to use their hands to operate it, or better still, eliminates the need for someone to administer it to visitors at a store or establishment. It is simple in concept and construct and works pretty much like a dust bin that can be opened with the press of the foot. The lightweight offering is very much in demand, as one would expect. It’s just what the pandemic ordered.
“I have always wanted to do a business. A business that has a philosophy of ‘Making Lives Easy’. Or making someone’s work easy, in the case of a retail store. We will venture into a lot of other things,” says Juneja.
Amitoje made its foray into furniture a little before it made the bed. Towards end-2019, it made a foldable chair-table combo for kids who don’t have them in school. In places with cold climate, it can be a boon. The same concept could well be extended to retail and other areas, explains Juneja.
The company remains bootstrapped, with no intent to actively seek out investors currently. With the expansion agenda, will that change?
Juneja responds, “We are bootstrapped, and might need funding only if the market fares very badly over the next few months, but I doubt that will be the case. I would prefer remaining bootstrapped as our vision is too important and would not want it to be diluted.”
That vision included an expansion into foldable furniture, which has now been realised a little ahead of time thanks to the Covid-19 crisis. There will be a temporary drop in regular business, the MD confesses, before adding that he foresees even larger demand six to nine months after opening.
For now, the company has its hands full with the beds and sanitiser dispensers. Juneja is collating orders that are admittedly much more than it can handle. That’s the company’s return on innovation.