INTRODUCTION

Introduction to Sanitary ware industry

India is a large, highly populated Country of around one billion people, with an
economy, which is steadily growing. As per the study, there were an estimated
125 million dwellings in India (1995), but 200 million households. This reveals an
acute housing shortage. The U.N. predicts an increase in the population of 1.6%
per annum. There is a gradual migrant shift from rural to urban areas and 27% of
the population now lives in urban areas as compared to 20% in 1971. There is a
large difference in amenities between the urban population and the rural. In
1994, 70% of the urban population had access to adequate sanitation, whereas
in the rural community only 14% had access.

In 1991, approximately 64% of urban households had some kind of toilet

facility compared with 9% of the rural areas. There is a widening
difference in income between different regions, the rich and the poor.
Sanitation is a must for every individual of our society. According to the
Government estimates, more than 50% of the urban population does not
access to sanitation facilities. Condition of the rural areas is that only 6%
of the population is covered by sanitation.

Sanitary ware Demand

Sanitary ware Industries in India for the last 6-7 years has shown very
dramatic growth with major players doubling their production capacity.
The Companies have also upgraded their manufacturing system by
introducing Battery Casting, Beam Casting and have gone in for latest
imported Fast Firing Cycle Kiln Technology. These Companies have also
upgraded their quality and have introduced high value range in the
market, which has been accepted and appreciated. The demand for high
value sanitary ware in India is growing very fast. The Companies are trying
1

to meet the demand as the realization per Metric Ton for high value
product is very good which ultimately results in good profitability. In order
to educate the customers in India to go for quality products and also for
higher value sanitary ware, companies have adopted a very aggressive
advertisement campaign. Companies have also strengthened their dealer
network by offering showroom incentives and some of the companies
have also gone for their own retail outlets in major towns. The demand for
sanitary ware in India is growing @ 15% -17% every year
The sanitary ware industry in India is divided in two sectors. The organized
sector consisting of 5 companies (M/s. Hindustan Sanitary Industries
Limited, M/s. E.I.D. Parry, M/s. Swastik Sanitary ware Limited, M/s.
Madhusudan Ceramics, M/s. Neycer India Limited), manufacturing sanitary
ware for the last 15-20 years and have established their Brand image. The
organized sectors produce fully vitrified sanitary wares, using latest
technology and best of Ceramic Raw Materials available in India. The
unorganized sectors have adopted local Indian technology to manufacture
the basic sanitary ware products. Since the availability of raw material is
in abundance and also very cheap in the state of Gujarat & Rajasthan,
various companies have established their factory in these areas. They are
producing the basic sanitary ware in various brands. Unorganized sector's
percentage of production capacity and also their sales in the local
domestic market are higher than that of the organized sectors' sales.
Unorganized sanitary ware manufacturer comes under small sectors and
hence enjoy the benefit of Nil Excise Duty and Sales Tax and hence they
sell their products in the domestic market approximately 70% cheaper
than the organized sector products.

Opportunities
Government of India Policy on Housing Sector is very encouraging. The
Government has announced Income Tax rebate on housing loan to boost
the housing sector. All financial institutions are lending money for
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construction of house at a very low rate of interest. Government figure

shows that Housing Sector is growing by approximately 25% every year.
The need of Housing in India with 100 crores population looks to be very
potential. As per DGTD Survey Report there is a shortage of about 20
million houses in the country by the end of 8th Five Year Plan. The housing
has become a basic necessity, as people in India are looking forward for
improved sanitary condition. The concept of making toilet is fast growing
even in village areas, where toilet till last two years did not exist.
The cost of producing sanitary ware in India is substantially low as
compared to the advance countries, because the labour cost and the basic
raw materials for manufacturing quality sanitary ware is available at very
cheap rate and in abundance. Because of our low cost of production,
Indian sanitary ware is very competitive in the neighboring countries and
hence export from India is also growing every day.

Market Size

14%
31%

Parryware
Hindware

21%

Cera
Other
34%

Figure 1.1
3

Outlook for Sanitary ware Industry in India

In the next decade, India is expected to be one of the world's fastest growing
countries for sanitary ware consumption. The sanitation penetration has more
than trebled from 8% in 1982 to 18% in 1994 and to 29% in 1999. The
comparative penetration levels in neighboring countries are as follows: Pakistan:
50%, Sri Lanka: 65%, Malaysia: 94% and Thailand: 96%. The government
impetus to improve hygiene and sanitation is likely to increase the demand for
sanitary ware in India. Moreover the increasing urbanization of India and the
consequent requirement for residential and commercial buildings will be a major
driver for growth of sanitary ware. Along with this the focus of the central and
state governments to provide housing facilities to the poor, is also expected to
generate demand. The National Housing Policy formulation that envisages
"Housing for all" by the end of Ninth Plan period is a big step towards this. Indira
Awaas Yojana, Samgra Awaas Yojana is programs for providing housing to the
rural poor is a key step taken by the government in this area. The housing
development organizations like HUDCO, State Housing Development Boards and
Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Ltd. are also playing a large role in this
initiative. It is estimated that there is currently a demand for 20 million housing
units in India. Further, a significant number of the 115 million housing units
across the country will need reconstruction for improvement. Therefore a
replacement market will emerge, though currently original equipment sanitary
ware market accounts for nearly 90% of the market.

HISTORY OF CERA SANITARY WARE LIMITED:

Vikram Somany, Chairman & Managing Director of Cera Sanitary

ware Limited. Mr. Somany possessed entrepreneurial spirit even while he
was managing Madhusudan Industries Limited in Gujarat. This company
was into production of vegetable oils and vanaspati. The turning point
came into the company when Mr. Somany met a government delegation in
1978.When he signed the MoU to commence the sanitary ware
manufacturing unit in Kadi in North Gujarat using natural gas, the first of
its kind in India. It was a kind of milestone. And it was just the
4

beginning.Of

course,

one

might

argue

that

Mr.

Somany

had

entrepreneurship in his blood and had also inherited the understanding of

this industry. His father had rich experience in sanitary ware. He along
with his brothers had pioneered sanitary ware in India in the early sixties
by setting up a manufacturing unit, Hindustan Sanitary ware, in
collaboration with Twyfords of UK. Yes, this did give Vikram Somany some
kind of background. Also, there was a market opportunity. But Cera's
success does not rest on these two factors. It rests on his ability in
transforming the opportunity into a business success. The opportunity was
open for others as well but Cera made the most of it. Though those were
the days of sellers market for sanitary ware, most companies, which went
into production around the same time as Cera, did not succeed later. So
what was it that Cera did different? The quality of Cera matched
international norms. Cera focused on creative designs and paid equal
attention to after-sales service with the differentiating factor. Moreover,
Mr. Somany did not neglect the other relevant business aspects as well.
Cera went on to create history with its advertising campaign in the early
1980s: Your Bathroom is a Room Too" An entrepreneur is successful
because he understands and respects the three Cs: customer, change and
competition. Apart from Cera, the other two major players are Parry ware
and Hind ware. Both have larger production capacities than Cera currently
Cera, however, is now expanding its capacities maintain that edge in the
market, Cera keeps upgrading and increasing its product portfolio regularly. Cera also
recognizes its responsibility towards environment. Like the other two major players in the
organized sector, In fact, its gone a step ahead.

VISION OF THE COMPANY

To be a total home solutions provider in the long run, providing products
for every room in the home.

ORGANISTIONAL STRUCTURE

Board of Directors

Managing Director

Vice
President
Sales

Vice
President
HRD &
Personnel

Vice
President
Finance

Regional
Sales
Manager

HRD
Manager

HRD
Manager

Sales
Officer

Asst.
Manager

Quality
Assts.

Market
Intelligent
Assistants

Assistants

Manager
Accnts
Factory
Accnts.

Vice
President
R&D

Manager
Tax

Vice
President
Projects

Vice
President
Marketing

Marketing
Manager

Project
Manager

Asst.
Mrkg. Mgr

Regional
Mrkg. Mgr

Field
Officers
Market
Intelligent
System

DEPARTMENT
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
In macroeconomics production is the act of making things; in particular
the act of making product that will be traded or sold commercially. Production
decision concentrates on what goods to produce, how to produce them, the cost
of producing them and optimizing the mix of resource inputs used in their
production. This production information then can be combined with market
information (like demand and marginal revenue) to determine the quantity of
product to produce and optimum price.

Quality assurance Department:

A separate quality assurance department is functioning in this unit to
ensure that all the products meet the required quality. The quality assurance
dept. is entrusted with the responsibility of preparing quality control plans and
measures and evaluating product quality.

Important Function
1. The department makes sure that the raw materials comply with the quality
specifications by collecting samples. Raw materials are accepted if it conforms to
specified quality and are rejected if the raw materials do not comply with the
specified quality.
2. The department checks the quality of output after the completion of each
stage of production.
3. The department attends the customer complaints on quality aspects and takes
corrective action.
4. The department ensures that necessary actions have been taken for the
assurance of quality of the final product.

Purchase Department
The purchase department is responsible for the continuous availability of
raw material to the production department. The production department should
see that all the required materials are purchased at the right time in the right
quantity at the right price. Continuous availability of all the raw material is
necessary to keep the production flow uninterrupted. The company makes
purchases from suppliers outside as well as inside the state.

Purchase Procedure:
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The company prepares a detailed purchase budget at the beginning of

every year, which contains the item and quantity to be purchased of each item.
The bill of materials can also be used to know the requirement of raw materials
for a certain period of time. The purchase in-charge, after receiving the purchase
requisition form initiated by the storekeeper makes necessary arrangements for
inviting tender for supplier selection. The supplier selection then company
conducts vendor evaluation by collecting complete information about the
suppliers. While evaluating suppliers information like creditworthiness, past
experience, delivery time, capacity to supply, mode of payment are collected
and evaluated. An approval list of suppliers is prepared after the completion of
vendor evaluation. After having selected the supplier, the purchase department
proceeds to place the order for materials, specifying the details of goods.
The purchase order contains details such as order number and date, suppliers
name & address, rate and number of items ordered, mode and date of delivery
etc. The department sends reminder to supplier for the timely delivery of goods.
Goods are verified at the time of receiving with the help of delivery note sent by
the supplier and the purchase order. Quality assurance is done by quality
department by taking samples from the arrived materials. Goods are received
only after the completion of quality and quantity inspection. This follows the
preparation of material received note.

R & D Department
A well- equipped and well-organized R & D department is functioning
under Cera Sanitary ware Ltd to develop new products and to improve the
existing products. The department conducts detailed research before the
introduction of every new product.

The company is giving more attention

and importance on R & D. Well qualified and dedicated staffs are the main
strength of the R & D department the companys latest product Pozzi Ginnori is
formulated after conducting various research. A big R & D lab is being
constructed with in the premises of this unit. The R & D department is headed by
R & D in-charge and he is assisted by R & D assistants. The R & D department is
playing a vital role in the success of every products of the company. The human
resource of R & D division includes qualified chemists and trained laboratory
technicians

whom

implements

internationally

acknowledged

analytical

procedures. It can be stated the reason for the increasing use of the companys
products is the effort of its R & D department, which formulates quality products.

Stores Department
Stores Department is responsible for storing materials and finished
products. Stores department is headed by storekeeper and he is assisted by
assistants. This unit has a centralized store and it is from here materials are dent
to various departments. The departments keep the finished good and all the raw
materials required for the production. Raw materials are issued according to the
requirements from respective departments.

Functions
1. The department checks the weights of the raw materials when they are
received.
2. The department issues raw materials to the production department.
3. The stores department maintains different types of books and registers for the
proper control of materials.
Various records are maintained in stores department are
1. Goods Received note
2. Stock Register
3. Material Purchase register
4. Quality Register (for recording items of low quality)

Maintenance Department
The maintenance department is responsible for the smooth and proper working
of all the machines. This department ensures that all the machines are
maintained properly which is necessary for the uninterrupted flow of production.
The maintenance department is headed by maintenance in charge and he is
assisted by maintenance staff. The maintenance department performs mainly 3
types of maintenance works namely

Preventive maintenance
Periodic Maintenance
Break down Maintenance

Preventive maintenance
The maintenance works done for the prevention of machine break down is known
as preventive maintenances. Lubrication, oiling, greasing etc. are the examples
of preventive maintenance.

Periodic Maintenance

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Periodic maintenance is done monthly or weekly and it is a part of preventive

maintenance. Examples of periodic maintenance are cleaning and over hauling.

Break down Maintenance

Break down maintenance is done at the time of breakdown of machines. Break
down of machines are informed to the department when it occurs and the
department attends the problem.

The operations/Manufacturing process

Machinery Suppliers
Spray booth, Glaze Containers, drums and kilns are the machinery used for
ceramics sanitary ware factory. Kilns are designed by ceramics engineers and
manufactured by the kiln makers. There are about 12 kiln makers which are
experts and fulfilling the need of industry. Glaze containers, spray both and
drums are prepared by the engineering sector of the Cera.

Raw Material Suppliers

Supply chain is crucial to this field and without proper raw material supply these
units cannot keep up with the production. There are about 4 to 5 companies
supplying raw material to ceramics industry in Cera. These suppliers procure clay
from mine owners1 and import barium carbonate and china clay from china and
zirconium from England, USA, Italy, and Malaysia for fulfilling the raw material
requirement of Ceramics Sanitary ware industry. However raw material supply is
irregular and manufacturers have to face late delivery of raw material or
shortage of raw material.

FINANCE DEPARTMENT
Finance is said to be the life blood of any business for proper allocation and
management of the funds organization requires a finance department. Cera is
having a separate finance department to take care of all these activities the
following is the departmental chart of the same.

Functions of the department:

1) Maintaining proper books of accounts.
11

2)
3)
4)
5)

Reporting to the management issues relating to finance.

Obtaining of funds from various sources and using it efficiently.
Tax planning.
Controlling. (regular assessment of financial activities)

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MARKETING

Marketing is a subject having wide spectrum. Marketing deals with the whole
process of entering markets, establishing profitable positions and building loyal
customer relationship. As market change, so does marketing. Marketing is no
longer a company department charged with a limited numbers of tasks.
Managing and advertising. Sending out direct mail, finding sales leads. Providing
customer service. It must drive the companys vision, mission and strategic
planning. Marketing is about deciding who the company wants as its customers,
Which needs to satisfy, what products and services to offer, what prices to set,
what communications to send and receive. What channel of distribution to use
and what partnership to develop.

MARKETING STRATEGIES

All marketing strategies are built on STP- segmentation, targeting, and

positioning. Companies discover different needs and groups in the market place,
target those needs and groups that the companies can satisfy in a superior way,
and then positions its offering so that the target market recognizes the
companies distinctive offering and image. No company can win, if its product and
offering resembles every other product and offerings. Today most companies are
guilty of strategy convergence namely undifferentiated strategies. Companies
must pursue meaningful and relevant positioning and differentiation. Companies
normally reformulate their marketing strategies and offerings several times.
Economic condition changes, competitors launch new and the produce passes
through new stages of buyer interests and requirements. Consequently
strategies appropriate to each stage in the products life cycle must be
developed.

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DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Marketing channels are set of interdependent organization involved in the
process of marketing a product or service available for use or consumption.
Channel decisions are among the most critical decision facing the management.
The channels chosen intimately affect all the other marketing decisions. The
distribution system is a key external source. It ranks in importance with key
internal resources such as manufacturing, research, and final sales personal
facilities.

CHANNEL FUNCTIONS
They gather information about potential and current competitors and other
actors and forces in the marketing environment.
They

develop

and

disseminate

persuasive

communications

to

stimulate

purchasing.
They reach agreement on price and other terms so that transfer of ownership or
possession can be done easily.
They place order with manufacturers.
They acquire the funds to finance investments at different levels in the
marketing channel.
They assume risk connected with carrying out channel work.

ADVERTISEMENT
In todays competitive business environment advertisement has got a crucial role
in the success of every business organization. No company can win the
competition if its advertisement strategies are not properly planned and created.
Advertisement is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of
ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. Advertisement makes the
customers aware about the products and services of the company. It can be seen
14

that, behind the success of every products in that market, advertisement has
played an important role.

KINDS OF ADVERTISEMENT
Information advertising
Aims to create awareness and knowledge of new products or new features of
existing products.
Persuasive advertising
Aims to create liking, preference, conviction and purchase of products or services

L I T E RAT U R E R E V I E W
Marketing Communications: Overview:
To market a product successfully, it is not enough to ensure that it is the right
product, available at the right place at the right time; information about its
availability, utility and price must also be effectively communicated to
prospective buyers. For the communication process to be effective, the marketer
must be able to create the right message and deliver it to the right prospect at
the right time, using the right media. Although this may sound simple, in a
competitive environment with increasingly similar products and services,
proliferation of media options, and complexity in segmenting audiences, it is very
difficult to get all the elements of the communications process right. In order to
differentiate their brands in such an environment, marketers must constantly
refine and fine-tune their marketing communications strategies. Marketing
communication has undergone drastic changes over the last few years. In the
past,

marketers

communicated

using

limited

number

of

marketing

communication tools like advertising, sales promotions or sales personnel; the

number of media options - like radio, television or print media - at their disposal
was also limited. In the last couple of decades though, fragmentation of
traditional media such as television and print, and the emergence of new or nontraditional media such as the Internet, have made marketing communications
much more complex. Today, marketers can no longer rely completely on a single
marketing communication tool like advertising, personal selling or publicity.

15

Instead, recognizing that each element of the communication mix is effective in

achieving a specific communication objective, they must choose the right mix of
communications tools that will help them best achieve their overall marketing
objectives. Marketing Communications examines the subject from various
perspectives, and discusses the strategies that a marketer can use while
interacting with different stakeholders through marketing communications mix
elements like advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and
direct marketing. The book also highlights the need for integrating the different
marketing communications mix elements to present a single consistent image
for a company or a brand.

MARKETING ASPECTS
Here we have analyzed various marketing aspects of Cera sanitary ware
undertaken for the marketing mix of the company. Various marketing mix of Cera
sanitary ware is as follows:

Product:
Product of the company as is defined in companys introductory chapter is an
sanitary ware product having mainly extraordinary features like twin flush water
saving product, soft close seat cover, shower temple product. This product talk
about giving an spa foot massage and inbuilt Jacuzzi unit which give experience
artificial water waves and facility like radio and tele calling with six body jet
spray.

Price:
Prices of the product and services offered are competitive compared to our
competitors products and also provide value for money to the customers.
Because as we talked in the earlier paragraph that features provided in the
products are very unique and are having low cost so finally company becomes
best cost provider in the market.

Place:
As Cera sanitaryware is having excellent distribution channel empowered by 500
dealers network and 5000 retailers all across India. To supplement the
distribution network, it has 10 major depots across India. It has 7 zonal sales &
service offices, supported by another 28 sales offices, 7 bath studios strategically
located in major cities across India. To capitalize on the growth market for
premium products, Cera has entered into an exclusive marketing agreement with
Italy's luxury brand Pozzi-Ginori to market its designer sanitaryware in India.
16

Promotion:
Cera sanitaryware ltd. has always been proactive in promotional activities for
increasing the brand awareness among the consumer so the company has
promotional scheme directed towards consumer as well as its partner (dealer).
Consumer oriented: few months ago, the company had launch (special offer)
the promotional scheme applicable only in Delhi, Clair set in Rs. 3999/- for only
one month.
Partner oriented: gold scheme, silver scheme and foreign travel scheme.

People:
As company is in service industry it needs to have strong additional 3 Ps of the
marketing mix starting from people. In ceramic industry as goods are produced
and prompt service is given to the people i.e. employees need to be highly
trained and qualified. So requires good qualified and expertise employees to this
competitive industry.
Cera sanitary ware has achieved a good sense of the same by employing highly
qualified employees like M.B.A. and other Marketing specialized.

Physical Evidence:
Cera sanitary ware is providing catalogs to their customers as a physical
evidence of purchasing the product. If customer wants to see the physical
product then company has its own display center Cera bath studio in metro
cities of India.

Process:
This last step of marketing mix of Cera sanitary ware includes following points to
be done for making the product available to the customers.

C O N C LU S I O N
I came to know that; sanitary ware sector is also providing services to their
consumers. The Indian Sanitary ware industry is passing through a phase of
consumer demand. The consumers have more choices in choosing their brands.
A competition has been established, and to judge the behavior of consumer and
builders towards CERA Sanitary ware is the main aim of this project and also to
17

find out the best promotional strategies used by various companies as well as
what is the current position of CERA Sanitary ware Ltd in the industry.
This market research has helped to get a deep insight into the product and the
marketing strategies of the company CERA Sanitary ware Ltd.
The marketing communication strategies used by the sanitary ware companies
are very much innovative and diverse. I came to know the real marketing
aspects in terms of communication of the brand as well as the products.
The company must concentrate on its core products and on the basis of which
the advertising facet should be followed.

B I B L I O G RA P H Y
Books:
Kevin Keller (2007). Strategic Brand Management International
Edition 3rd Edition
Philip Kotler (2010). Marketing Management - (Eleventh Edition)
Kenneth Clow, Donald Baack( Jan 2009). Integrated Advertising,
Promotion and Marketing Communications. Global Edition 4th
Edition
18

 Richard J. Varey , Marketing Communication Principles & London &

New Yor (2002) Edition
Business Research by C.R.Kothari, Delhi 1998, ED.29

Magazines:

4Ps Business and Marketing issue 2011

Society interiors issue 2009, 2010, 2011
Interiors issue 2009, 2010, 2011
Lifestyle issue 2011

WEBSITES
http://www.indiamarkets.com/imo/industry/construction/consacc/constacc.asp?
display_content_link=0&search_link=0
http://www.cera-india.com/content.aspx?id=6
http://www.google.co.in/
http://www.economictimes.com/
http://www.icctas.com/ceramicindustry/sanitarywarehistory.htm#INDIA
http://www.hindwarehomes.com/index.aspx
http://www.eparryware.com/default.asp
http://www.kohler.co.in/home.ndi
http://asia.toto.com/index.php
www.amizone.net/Amizone/WebForms/DigitalLibrary/digitalLibrary.aspx
http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Marketing%20Communications/ModellingMarketing%20Communication.htm
http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Marketing%20Communications/MarkeCommunicat PlPro.htm
http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Marketing%20Communications/Marketing
%20Communications.htm
http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/2278/baths%26sanitary ware/1/executive-summary?utm_source=kn.reports.related

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