Johnson Controls-Hitachi launched 8000 sft spread state of art skill development center, planning 2 more centers shortly

Chennai : Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd seeks to maintain a growth rate of 15-20 percent in the coming years to achieve leadership position in the Indian AC market by 2020.

“India is now the fourth largest market for us after China, Japan and Taiwan. It presently contributes about 12 percent to our revenues. Our intent is to grow 15-20 percent annually in this market,” Franz Cerwinka, Chief Executive Officer, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning, said after announcing the opening of its training centre in Chennai.

The growing room AC market, its wide product portfolio and ramp up of distribution network, supported by new service training centres are expected to help the company grow, said Gurmeet Singh, Managing Director.

The new skill development centre in Chennai, its second such facility after New Delhi, is part of its plan to achieve top position. “While we make highest efficiency products, we also need to ensure that our products are serviced in a professional manner. So we think that trained staff is key to our growth and brand positioning,” said Cerwinka.

The 8,000-sq-ft Chennai centre, which houses seven different product labs and two class rooms, aims to impart training to 3,000 people, which will include its own technicians and dealer staff.

It plans to open one such centre each in Mumbai and Kolkata before the end of this year. Each centre entails an investment of ₹3-3.5 crore, while operating expenditure is estimated at ₹15-20 lakh a month.

“With four skill development centres, we expect to train about 30,000-35,000 people in the next three years,” said Singh.

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