“Quality is important because people’s lives depend on our products”

Manish Nagpal, Director, Madhav Safety Works Pvt Ltd talks about the challenges facing the road safety industry and the measures needed to manufacture quality safety products

As a manufacturer and wholesaler of road safety products, what challenges do you face in your operations?

The biggest challenge we have found is the lack of awareness regarding road safety standards. Of course during the past few years, road safety has come a long way but still much needs to be done. Road safety standards have to be emphasised and people have to be educated about it on a large scale. The number of fatalities in road accidents has been increasing every year, the only way the decline of road fatalities can be brought about is by implementing India-specific road safety products that are more effective.

What are the unique features of your road safety products?

As responsible citizens of the country, we make sure that every product we manufacture is durable and that the quality of the product is very good because people’s lives depend on our products. Every product that we manufacture is designed and manufactured keeping in mind the requisite road safety standards. We make sure that our products are durable, resistant to weather changes and, easy to install and maintain. We use high quality polymer and UV stabilised colours in all our products which helps in maintaining their quality and retaining their bright colours for a longer duration. Further, keeping in mind India-specific products, we have just started manufacturing crash barrels which can be used on crossroads, highways, toll plazas or at construction zones to act as a cushion in case of any mishap. Earlier, second hand iron or plastic drums were painted with a bright colour and used which, instead of providing safety, used to increase the damage. But we have tried to arrest this problem in our products.

What quality management system do you follow for your products?

We understand that it is important to offer quality products and services to our clients to enhance their satisfaction. Hence, we follow stringent quality norms at different stages of production and post-production. To maintain the industry standards at all these stages, we have developed a quality management system that functions under the able guidance of our quality controllers. The basic objectives of the quality management system are to procure good quality raw materials, institute stringent quality checks during the production and post-production phases, ensure safe packaging & handling of the products and to deliver the products on time to our clients.

What is your view of the market and its potential?

Road safety products have a huge market potential in India. The reason is that India is a fast developing country and various parts of the country are being connected with an ever expanding road network. With the expansion of the road network comes the responsibility to equip the roads with adequate road safety products so as to make the roads safer.

Do you have any new products in the pipeline?

The latest addition to our product range are road barriers. Our road barriers are easy to set up and allow the users to arrange them as per their requirements in a short span of time. They have a provision of filling sand or water in them which makes them an ideal tool for temporary or permanent barricading. Yes, we are working on the development of some new products. The new products being planned include new models in road barriers, lane dividers, pavement markers and road studs.