CEO Insights Magazine

It is evident that the basic sanitary system has beheld a tremendous transformation from a mere hole in the ground to the present flushing toilets, sophisticated sewage waste treatment plants and triple-ply toilet papers. Engraving its presence since the time when quality, design and brand of bathroom products were naive, Duravit AG has lived 201 years outclassing other beige companies as the most leading and loved manufacturer of designer bathrooms via ethical practices. Further the company has set up its own subsidiary ‘Duravit India’ in 2010, which is proactive under the aegis of Asutosh Shah (Managing Director, Duravit India) in carving and enlivening all its bathrooms with aesthetic design, high quality and nuances of customers’ budget and lifestyle. By collaborating with 100+ premium partners and 25 wholesalers, Duravit India handholds each customer in choosing the most suitable bathroom that can cater to this yearnings via proficient field representatives and resolving technical issues via strong after sales team. The following excerpts of an exclusive conversation of Asutosh with CEO Insights dissects the firm’s seamless innovations and milestones in incorporating design, quality and technology at its best into each luxury bathroom idea.

How is Duravit AG carving its niche for the design of luxury bathrooms and what is your role in the inception and growth of Duravit India?
There were times when unbranded bathroom products were highly prevalent and importing global brand products were solely done for international designer led projects. With its entry into the sanitary ware market during these times, Duravit AG is etching its expertise rich in innovations on design, quality and technology globally for the formulation of a unique design language for high-end bathrooms. During Duravit India’s inception, my expertise in commerce, corporate

financial management and advisory services helped our firm in overcoming the humungous challenges in Indian market deluged with diversified cultures and customers, thereby engraving a strong presence in the market. Moreover by leveraging my 15-year exposure in luxury lifestyle consumption market, I guide my team of 350 employees (consisting of few farmers) in being adept enough to anticipate any sort of issue and embrace it with preparedness.


How do you transform each customer’s idea of a dream bathroom into reality with high-end sanitary ware?
While choosing a pre-devised plan from our bathroom inspiration ideas or devising your own individual bathroom plan which entails selecting the bathroom/toilet template firstly and then selecting one of the best series created by international product designers, we ensure to seamlessly guide each one of our customers in building their dream bathrooms. Our design series deploy high end products for sinks, console basins, toilets, bidets, urinals, cabinets, mirrors, consoles, vanity units, tubs, showers & shower screens, whirl tubs, sauna, shower toilets, basin mixers, shower & bath mixers and many other accessories. Streamlining all these products under Euro line (value for money), Profi line (premium bathroom series) and Studio line (super luxury bathroom series), we proffer a gamut of solutions graphed with design on one axis and price on the other to cater to the whole matrix of branded sanitary ware segments.

Besides presenting Luv, Dura Square, a novel solid surface bath tub with invisible jet, stone finished

shower trays, walk-in bath tubs and other modern offerings, we have also invented ‘c-bonded’ technical solution to seamlessly bond wash basins and vanity units into a single unit. Our HygieneGlaze 2.0 is baked into the ceramics to effectively eliminate 99.999 percent of bacteria in 24 hours. In a nutshell, our ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certified firm ensures to meet the demands of a timeless design, create the right living character, emerge out of convention, evoke the holiday mood and further induce a magical aura into each bathroom design for our customers to relish an invigorating experience.

What are your avenues to cope up with the emerging challenges and bolster your company in the future years?
My prime focus is vested on maintaining a cultural workplace with equal importance bestowed on each employee and adhering to all government directives with no room for corruption. Also by comprehending the new dynamics of bathroom designer market which includes concept of dry and wet bathrooms, bath tubs & whirl tubs infused with health & hygiene, electronic toilet seats and a lot more, we are braced extensively to translate any kind of emerging opportunity into high value added solutions. Equipped well with good retailer networks, logistics, after sales and well trained field force, we envisage to multiply our turnover, expand business organically, build a strong team for the future, focus on product development, and continuously educate our technical & maintenance teams, thereby deliver superior performance to all our stakeholders.

Key Management:
Asutosh Shah, Managing Director
Engrossed in translating his expertise in commerce, corporate financial management, advisory service and luxury lifestyle consumption market, Asutosh outshines as the mastermind behind numerous luxury bathroom designs of Duravit India since 15 years.

Offerings:
• Bathroom Ceramics
• Bathroom Furniture
• Tubs & Showers
• Well-being Products
• SensoWash Shower Toilet
• Bathroom Faucets

Office: Hornberg (HQ), Schenkenzell, Meißen, Bischwiller, Cairo, Istanbul, Chongqing, Bizerte, Ahmedabad & Tarapur