‘Reduce GST on essential life-saving medical equipment’: PS George of Anamdev Engineers
George runs a successful medical equipment distribution company that is one of the market leaders in Kerala.
PS George (61), an electrical engineer, comes from a humble background -his father was an agriculturist and mother was a homemaker. But young George was given the education to dream big.
After working as a sales and service engineer in companies like Microwave products India Ltd and Eddy Current Controls India Ltd, George realised that there is tremendous potential in his state in the healthcare and service sector. So he decided to take a stab at it himself. He established Anamdev Engineers in Ernakulam, Kerala in 1990 with a motive to provide superior quality medical equipment.
The company is a distributor of hospital equipment like ultrasound scanning system, ventilators, defibrillators, patient monitors, ECG machines, syringe pumps, infusion pumps, holter, and hospital furniture to hospitals, medical colleges, scan centres, and community health centres. At present, the company is one of the market leaders in Kerala for medical equipment and George’s son, Davis George (32), runs the business along with him.
The beginnings
In the initial days of setting up the business, money was hard to come by and George used his own funds and took loans from the bank to overcome the problem. Currently, the company has an authorised capital of Rs 2.5 crore and the annual turnover of the company was Rs 12 crore last year. The market size for the company’s products in Kerala is around Rs 60 crore. The company currently employs around 22 people directly.
Talking about the history of his company, George says, “We initially started with office automation products in 1990 and, seven years later, diversified into different types of medical equipment. Anam Engineers became the authorised distributor of medical equipment from Philips, which became the company’s biggest milestone in its business journey, and we later added products from Smiths Medical and hospital furniture from SAIKANG medicals.”
Prompt after-sale service
George prides himself in the prompt after-sale services his company provides, something that is crucial with the kind of equipment they deal with. “Since our products include life-saving equipment like defibrillators, ventilators, oxygen masks etc., we make sure that no compromise is made in the product quality and service support. We offer speedy after-sales service to customers and provide standby equipment during major breakdowns,” George says.
Challenges
The demonetisation drive by the Central government did affect George’s business, albeit indirectly. He says, “Our major clients are hospitals and health centres and these institutes were badly affected by the move. Due to the scarcity of cash, there were some inordinate delays in payments by the customers.”
Presently, the company’s main challenge is to expand and grow its base in different regions. As George says that their operations are limited only to Kerala currently, he aims to capture more and more potential markets with a limited amount of funding.
On other challenges, George says the import duty and the GST on essential medical equipment and accessories should be reduced. This way, they are made affordable for the masses.
The importance of giving
George believes that one should do his bit for the society, especially if you are running a successful business. He says, “Every year we donate funds to socially relevant organisations, weaker sections of the society and poor patients.”
The company bagged the best sales performer awards for various office automation products from companies like SHARP Business Systems India and Canon India Ltd.
Future plans
In the coming years, the company aims to tie up with companies to distribute new products with advanced technology and features. George says, “We would like to expand our activities all over India by diversification of products and also by setting up new distribution centres.”
(This story is published in partnership with the MSMEs Ministry to showcase success stories of SMEs)
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