INDIA IS THE FASTEST-GROWING MARKET FOR KOHLER, THE $10 BILLION REVENUE GLOBAL LEADER IN BATHROOM AND KITCHEN FIXTURES. THE CEO OF THE 151-YEAR-OLD COMPANY, K. DAVID KOHLER, DISCUSSES THE LATEST TRENDS, PARTICULARLY THAT OF SUSTAINABILITY.

IN CONVERSATION - Kohler CEO K. David Kohler discusses the latest trends, particularly that of sustainability.

- URVASHI MISHRA

SMART TECH

THE SMART home market is expanding rapidly. How is the industry dealing with convergence of traditional hardware with advanced IoT technologies? How does the home solutions industry stay ahead of the tech curve?

You have to have a passion for design. You need a passion for engineering & technology, for the craft and artisan aspects of the craft. We love high artistry as much as we love high technology. We can play with colour and texture, even break our colour palette for India. We also push boundaries of technology for providing low-consumption, sustainable flushing for water closets. We use technology to create a personalised showering experience that allows you, at the touch of a button, to create exact temperatures and spray patterns. It comes from our background 1 of playing in different domains of design and technology and being able to bring the two together. We are not focused on just sustainability, technology or design. We believe in merging them to deliver design, form and function in harmony with nature. If you have a beautiful tech product that has no design and emotion, it will be boring. In a personal space such as home, consumers want a product that has design characteristics that create emotion and functionality that makes life easier. Sustainability is also something people care about.

In last few years, there have been many supply chain disruptions. What are the structural changes happening in the industry for building more resilient and decentralised supply chains?

Companies are reducing reliance on any one region or supplier. They’re building regional capabilities. That’s been our strategy here and in China. But not because of the pandemic. We wanted to build capability for the country within the country 2. That has served us well. Local supply chains have given us flexibility. We will continue that in future.