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Jogesh Sachdeva, Managing Director of Reflomax India and Ajiveena Exports, says he is on a mission to change the perception of reflective safety garments in the industry, and that safety garments need to be better tested for quality.
What was your motivation in establishing Ajiveena Exports Ltd?
Initially, being a part of Reflomax, our concern was to educate the industry about reflective safety products and motivate them to adopt these products for their site operators and workers. But owing to inconsistent availability of the final and certified product with trade suppliers, we decided to open up a division, Ajiveena, for manufacturing reflective safety clothing as per international norms and specifications. We saw that there was a big demand for this. Since then Ajiveena has come to be known as the most reliable and premium brand in the field of personal safety garments.
How do you see the market for reflective road safety materials in India, especially in a scenario where the government is putting great emphasis on making roads safe and when the awareness on road safety is on the rise?
No doubt the market is getting better day-by-day in terms of overall demand, but not for quality manufacturers. Market is still not aware of what is the best. Many a time, low-priced products with substandard quality bag the deals due to inadequate awareness in the industry of the products and often, limited testing resources. Companies just buy safety products to satisfy some government inspection and enforcement rules. While the government is doing its best in motivating and nurturing a culture of personal safety, it should also emphasise more on the testing of safety products so that the right products find their way into the markets. We are doing our best in this direction by educating our clients and customers about the specifics of the products and technology used in the products.
How do you compare this situation with the time when you entered the field?
That was in 1999 when I brought in these materials for the Indian market. Initially, despite our best efforts, the industry and authorities were not so convinced about using these reflective safety garments. They made fun of these bright and fluorescent colours. Now, the situation is changing; people are at least accepting the fact that these garments are actually meant for their own safety. However, as I said, awareness of the right product is still limited.
You have reflective materials based on two different technologies – glass bead and micro prism. Which different sectors of the industry are the customers for these two categories of products?
The purpose of both the types of products is the same – to reflect light to their source through retro-reflectivity. Glass beads products serve the purpose for wide angle performance whereas micro-prismatic products retain better light and are brighter under any weather condition. There is no such categorisation of customers for these types. The choice varies from customer to customer based on their requirement.
While the government is doing its best in motivating and nurturing a culture of personal safety, it should also emphasise more on testing of the safety products so that right products find their way into the markets.
What factors have earned your reflective safety products the EN 471 certification?
EN 471 standard is meant for analysing physical and luminous values of high visibility fabric and retro-reflective tapes. We use only high-quality products from the rigorously tested product line of Reflomax Company Ltd, Korea. Our products are examined and certified by most of the reputed labs worldwide. Hence, our products automatically adhere to all the international safety norms.
What are your future plans?
To make ourselves easily available nationwide for all those who are looking for quality safety products with international features.
Do you have any new products in the pipeline?
Yes, so far we were making a basic range of reflective safety garments. Very soon we will produce a totally upgraded and aesthetic range of technical garments which will completely change the face of safety garments. They will be designed to reflect the organisational hierarchy of the users. The products will also be in line with the current fashion trends so that users would not mind wearing them all the time.