The article originally appeared on the iTradeNews portal. You can read it here.
Author: Věra Vortelová

‘In our field, I see great potential between the Czech Republic and India, and cooperation in the form of a joint venture could significantly contribute to its development,’ says Shashidhar Singh, CEO and Managing Director of DINA-HITEX, a leader in the production and distribution of single-use medical devices and one of the founders of the Czech-Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Even the fundamental transformations of the global economy after 1989 have not erased the good reputation of Czechoslovak products and services in India. Czech companies building on the industrial tradition have long maintained respect here thanks to quality, technical sophistication and competitiveness. According to Shashidhar Singh, this is precisely one of the reasons why Czech companies still have plenty to build on in the Indian market.

The drawing board also came in handy in the company

DINA-HITEX established itself in India in 2015, twenty years after stabilising on its domestic market and in a number of European countries. However, starting a business in the medical devices sector in the 1990s was not easy.

‘The most challenging part was maintaining financial stability at a time of poor payment discipline, while simultaneously building high-quality technical facilities,’ recalls Shashidhar Singh. High-performance machines were available, but very expensive. Thanks to their technical education and experience in engineering, the company, in cooperation with a local partner, designed its first semi-automatic machines themselves. The weaker spot of the business back then was primarily finances. For the first few years, the company supplied products only to state medical facilities, where payment delays of months or even years were common.

According to him, although the financial environment has improved in the last decade, other challenges have increased significantly at the same time. The market has become professionalised, legislative demands related to quality, safety, ecology and employee care are growing, and customers have ever higher expectations. At the same time, the production portfolio of DINA-HITEX consists, among other things, of single-use surgical sets manufactured according to individual customer requirements. With long-term partners, the company prepares forward-looking plans for the structure and parameters of deliveries even before the orders themselves, so that both parties can realistically set their future strategy and prepare for its implementation.

Demanding legislation and limited supplier capacities

A significant burden for manufacturers of medical supplies and devices, especially in the European Union, is the cost of certification, verification of product safety, and specialised staff. At DINA-HITEX, a team of qualified experts is dedicated to this area, as it is impossible to succeed in the field today without high expertise.

According to Shashidhar Singh, costs in this area run into tens of millions of crowns. Furthermore, due to the rapid pace of innovation and the limited number of notified bodies in the EU, approval of a new product can take up to two years. Other significant resources are required for testing new materials and training employees and distributors. Over the long term, such conditions can be sustained primarily by companies with stronger capital.

In addition, manufacturers also have to cope with unpredictable supply chain disruptions. As an example, the company mentions viscose, which is in high demand in the industry, while production capacity in Europe is limited. Materials must therefore be ordered well in advance, and if an approved supplier cannot meet commitments for technical or other reasons, the manufacturer finds themselves in a very difficult situation in the highly regulated European market. Therefore, DINA-HITEX has long preferred proven suppliers from the Czech Republic and Europe with regard to quality, logistics, speed and legislative requirements.

We can be flexible and fast. Quality is a matter of course

Exporting to three continents brings a number of specificities. According to Shashidhar Singh, the biggest differences are not between Europe and developing economies, but rather between the Czech and Western European markets. While price negotiations are very tough in the Czech Republic and the environment is more exposed to pressure from cheap competition, Western European buyers place more weight on demanding European standards and requirements for hygiene, quality and ecology.

DINA-HITEX considers flexibility to be its key competitive advantage. The company can develop, manufacture and deliver the required goods in a short time, which makes a significant difference in international competition. At the same time, quality is an obvious standard upon which the company has built for the long term. Moreover, at its Hodějice plant, DINA-HITEX offers Indian companies a business incubator for an easier start.

We benefit from both regionality and globalisation

Today, DINA-HITEX operates two manufacturing plants in India. One serves the local market in the north of the country, while the other is located in the south, in the state of Gujarat, in a special trade zone on the west coast. The company has another joint plant in Tunisia, and two manufacturing plants operate in the Czech Republic. All of them meet the high standards for environments intended for the manufacture and handling of sterile surgical products.

A few years ago, the company put a modern hall into operation in Hodějice, South Moravia, where it ensures not only production, but also ETO sterilisation of finished products. A new, fully automatic high-frequency line also allows for large-volume orders. However, part of the range still remains hand-made, which is important for atypical products and specific customer requirements. As the company emphasizes, no customer is too small.

Let us not miss a unique opportunity

‘The path to the Indian market was not easy for any of us, the founding members of the Czech-Indian Chamber of Commerce, but it was very educational. At a time when the nature of international trade is changing fundamentally, we would like to offer our experience to domestic companies and facilitate their entry into a customer territory of nearly two billion. I believe they will have no shortage of interesting partners,’ says Shashidhar Singh.

DINA-HITEX views the Indian market not only as a space for its own development, but also as an opportunity for broader Czech-Indian cooperation. It wants to offer the experience gained over years of operating in India to other companies looking for a way into one of the largest and most dynamic markets of today.

DINA-HITEX, spol. s r.o.

The company DINA-HITEX was founded in 1992 in Bučovice, South Moravia. It is one of the major manufacturers and distributors of medical supplies in the Czech Republic. From the very beginning, it has focused primarily on the development and production of single-use consumables made of non-woven fabrics. The portfolio consists of approximately 45,000 items, and its core programme is the design and production of sophisticated surgical drapes and the assembly of sterile surgical sets according to individual customer requirements.

The company also manufactures single-use clothing for operating theatres and medical facilities, such as surgical gowns, scrub suits, surgical masks, head covers, bed sheets and pillowcases. It exports approximately 90% of its production, operates in 35 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, employs roughly 790 staff, and its annual turnover is around half a billion CZK.

The original interview was published on the portal iTradeNews.