The company is banking on its ability to predict by closely monitoring supply chains, keeping inventory at warehouses in the US and by being in constant touch with customers
New Delhi: Home textiles major Welspun Living Ltd is looking to expand its manufacturing footprint in the US with an eye on being closer to customers of its largest market, according to Managing Director and CEO Dipali Goenka.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, the company is optimistic that even if it were to be imposed it will come in a very mutual manner considering India’s global standing, but Welspun Living is preparing to thrive in uncertain times, which it has been doing since the COVID-19 pandemic days, Goenka told PTI in an interview here.
“We are in conversation to set up a utility bedding plant at Ohio, where we now have the pillow plant,” she said when asked about the company’s manufacturing footprint expansion plans in the US.
She did not elaborate on the planned investment for the bedding plant at Ohio saying talks are still on.
The company has invested USD 12.5 million on the pillow unit in Ohio, which is a fully automated unit.
Goenka further said, “We will set up another plant at Nevada for manufacturing pillows.”
On the rationale behind the manufacturing expansion in the US, Goenka said, “We are planning to look at the entire ecosystem, and we are working according to what the market needs.”
She further said, “It is also closer to the customer…Right now for us, this is becoming a bigger need there, because we can see a great opportunity there.”
The pillows category is as big as towels in the US where the “consumption is around 1.6 billion”, she said, adding, that is “humongous as a category” and the utility bedding is also another important category considering the sleep challenges people in America are facing.
When asked about possible impact of Trump’s tariff threats, Goenka said considering India’s strength such as the largest democracy, skilled manpower and the biggest supply chain which is going to grow here, the country will be in “a right position”.
“I actually feel that India is in a positive position…And even if the tariffs come in, they’ll be very mutual… it will be a give and take, that’s what I’m looking at as a positive spin here,” Goenka asserted.
On the company’s preparedness in case the tariffs are imposed, she said before and after COVID-19 the world has not been the same and the company has learnt to function in uncertain times.
“Whether you see the disruption that happened in freight that time, the complete, massive disruption that happened in commodities, nothing is running in a steady state, geopolitical issues are absolutely galore. The world has changed, and I think this is going to be the new way of working now,” Goenka said.
She further said, “Confusion, chaos, uncertainty will rule the roost. We have to thrive in this…”
When asked if the company is in a position to thrive in this, Goenka said, “We are working on it.”
The company is banking on its ability to predict by closely monitoring supply chains, keeping inventory at warehouses in the US and by being in constant touch with customers, Goenka said.
“So you will have to really look at the micro and the macro. You cannot work in a very steady state kind of a business. You will have to continue to resolve and that’s what we are doing,” she noted.
