Meet Sumit Dhar, the visionary Managing Director of SPARTAN Safety India — a company that embodies resilience and dedication in the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) industry. With a rich and diverse career spanning multiple sectors, Sumit’s entrepreneurial spirit and unwavering commitment to manufacturing excellence have propelled SPARTAN® to emerge as a leader in workplace safety solutions, positively impacting the lives of over 100 families.
In an interview with Business Frontier, Sumit shares his insights on innovation, team motivation, and his mission to enhance workplace safety across India, while contributing to the nation’s vibrant manufacturing landscape.
Q. What inspired you to foray into the PPE industry?
I was always passionate about starting my own venture someday and explored multiple options. In 2017-18, when we saw the digital or service-oriented startup system booming in India, we started our core manufacturing-related startup against the flow. We chose PPE due to the significant opportunities in the sector and the unavailability of good and reliable Indian PPE brands. Moreover, the fact that the PPE industry is a traditional one with a long history and is here to stay motivated us to get into it.
Q. Can you share some insights on your early experiences in the industry?
To me, a career means experiences in different sectors or types of roles. It should not be only one role or sector throughout life. I am blessed to have worked as a sales and business development in the financial industry; an equity research analyst, an IT professional and a banker at a global bank. The experience gathered from all these functionalities have helped me a lot to shape my career and given me the required confidence to start and lead a venture.
Q. What were some key challenges you faced early in your career, and how did you overcome them?
Coping up with different roles in a short period was a challenge – a new set of people, customers, subjects, industry and a whole new learning process all the time. To overcome that, I worked extremely hard with a passion for learning, and must thank my seniors, colleagues and bosses who always helped me and had faith in me. I did well in all the roles and never changed jobs just because I was not performing well.
If you are new to the field, surrender yourself to it on the first day and start learning from your colleagues and seniors with an open mind rather than portraying as if you know everything. In such a scenario, the people around you are sure to help you out.
Q. As the Managing Director of SPARTAN®, what strategies do you use to motivate your team?
I have seen people get motivated by two major things: seeing that they can grow with the company, and getting respect and appreciation for the job. So, I follow these things strongly. It is a two-way learning experience in SPARTAN®, where I share my experiences and views and learn from the team.
Also, as an MD, creating a fearless environment is crucial, and anyone on the team should have the courage to acknowledge mistakes made unknowingly or knowingly. These strategies create a healthy and positive work environment.
Q. What essential qualities or offerings define your brand’s unique value in the marketplace?
Our registered brand, SPARTAN®, offers a few unique qualities in the safety industry, such as –
- Premium quality products with international standards
- Right product at the right price
- On-time delivery
- Vast product range
As a safety industry manufacturer, we strive to provide quality products to workers in the steel, aluminium, cement, engineering, shipbuilding, automobile, and construction sectors.
Q. How do you use the latest technological trends to manufacture safety equipment?
India will soon become the third largest economy, and the manufacturing market is expected to reach more than a trillion dollars. The PPE sector will also grow at a pace like never before. We, at SPARTAN®, specialise in providing safety material for hot work or heat zone areas, unlike everyday safety items. We focus a lot on sourcing and keeping the certification standard in mind by using available tools. Procuring the best quality raw material is the primary tool for our success.
We also partner with all the established vendors in the market for raw materials, be it tanneries for high-class leather or mills for fabrics. Also working with the latest machinery helps us produce best in-class products. We aim to go towards more automation, digitalisation, and smart and green factories. A part of our future investment will be in this direction only.
Q. How do you envision the future of SPARTAN®?
Being in the industry for over seven years has helped us build strong product portfolios and taught us a lot. Today, we are aware of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) in India; the international market demand for safety products and are continuously preparing ourselves to cater to the more considerable demand. In the last three financial years, we have witnessed a higher double-digit growth and are confident that it is only going to increase in future.
Q. What, in your opinion, will be the future trends in the PPE industry?
In the last three to four years, Indian OEMs have started adopting standard PPE culture to compete in the international market. This has unlocked a vast potential for PPE manufacturers like us. I have extensively met various stakeholders from industries like safety personnel, purchase people, on-ground workers, supervisors, dealers, and traders in India and abroad, and discussed safety needs and prevention measures.
In all my visits and meetings with the safety personnel in the OEMs, I have emphasised on procuring the right product as per requirements and obtaining the standard certification so that at the end of the day, safety should not be treated as a tick box exercise and day-to-day business.
Q. How do you balance your personal and professional lives?
Small things make me happy and energetic. I am a quiet person and like heading to the mountains and sea for relaxation. That being said, I don’t differentiate too much between my personal and professional lives.
Leading a business means running a small ecosystem and creating an impact in society. Hence, I believe that in addition to my children, wife and parents, I need to take care of the other 100 families who share the same vision as me and work continuously to create an impact and strengthen SPARTAN®.
