Interview Times 
Few individuals stand out as real trailblazers in the changing world of business, where invention and adaptation are the keys to success.
Meet Mr. Rajendra Parida, a skilled engineer, knowledgeable businessman, and the Managing Director of a large plywood firm. Mr Rajendra Parida, who has an academic education and a plethora of foreign experience and has revolutionized the plywood business and emerged as a driving force behind its spectacular success.
Mr Rajendra Parida’s path to success began in the coastal city of Bhubaneswar, where he studied Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering as an undergraduate.
He continued his study and successfully earned his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the top college in Bhubaneswar, he also grabbed a project management degree (PMP) from PMI America, fueled by his enthusiasm for technology and an insatiable ambition to explore new possibilities.
Mr Rajendra Parida’s rise from a knowledgeable engineering graduate to a respected Managing Director in the plywood sector demonstrates his exceptional leadership talents, commercial knowledge, and constant devotion to innovation. He has positioned his firm as an industry leader via his revolutionary vision and passion for sustainability, assuring a bright and successful future for both the organization and the communities it serves.
Sir, my first question will be what inspired you to establish a business in Plywood, laminate, veneer and architectural hardware industry?
Firstly, thank you for having me. To be honest, when we launched the firm in 2002, I had no idea of going into business. This is a family business founded by three of my brothers, all of them are younger than I am. So, because software was at its pinnacle at that time, pursuing a software profession appeared to be quite respectable, acceptable and profitable, so I pursued a job in software and spent time in both the United States, Europe, principally in Stockholm, and India. In July 2017, I opted to return to my business.
Meanwhile, we expand as though we are the state’s pioneer in the plywood business. So every home is being built in Bhubaneswar and other regions, demand at least a basic level of interior design. A basic interior require may be limited to wardrobe, bed and kitchen which of courses directly proportional plywood, laminate, veneer, adessive and architecture and hardware. We scaled up and now the distributor of almost all interior products for the state of Odisha having multiple outlets at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. In Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and in other part odisha hundreds and thousands of civil constructions happed and going on. As a pioneer in this Industry, we privileged to supply the Plywood and all kind of decorative interior products to most of new houses post-civil construction to design that house/office as a beautiful aesthetic one.
How do you differentiate your product apart from the competition in the terms of quality, design and innovation?
Yes, we mostly deal with branded Plywood. We are primarily the largest supplier of Century Ply Austin Ply in India, and we have a major brand, significant brand. We primarily serve as a dealer and distributor of all branded plywood. The benefit of selling branded plywood is that every branded plywood they supply you with a warranty of 25 years in any circumstance assuming goodness or and cottage. Branded plywood is vital since the soil in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack is termite-infested and can destroy the interior and plywood at any time, thus it is critical to use branded plywood.
The second reason to deal with branded ply and all of the large firms is a good thing. We are the distributor of Century Laminate, Veneer for the entire state of Odisha. And we are the largest seller of plywood in the state, with almost 200-300 dealers spread around the state. Everywhere you go, you’ll see we are supplying, you will see our dealers sitting over there and we are supplying every day and night, we are supplying the live product to all our dealers.
Yes, first of all, we create a trust. We create a belief system. You can take it back from everywhere. We create a belief system where everyone trust us. . We are mainly focusing the quality of our service, the quality of our trust. At least we are into in a business of business like making friends, making great trust.
So we are not here to kind of manipulate there. So undoubtedly it’s an epic customer there. So they always prefer to have the preferred to purchase from us at any point of time. So that is a great relationship we built to our customers since last 20 years. Not only years, it’s almost 25 years.
what were some of the difficult challenges you encountered in establishing and growing your form in this particular industry?
Of course, there are challenges there. This is a credit market. This is not a cash-flow business. It is a credit company. And credit implies that the money will be recovered later. So that is the sole obstacle to recovering the funds. So that is the only challenge to recover the money. . This is not a cash-flow business . Our typical customer is a builder, contractor, or interior designer. B Two B and B Two C are conducting business. Every customer. If you mention all our clients, which include KIIT, SOA universities, Apollo, AIMS, then whomever the best, Hospitals, universities, colleges, institutions are all our clients.
But in certain circumstances, we truly struggle to retrieve our money. So that is the only difficulty. Everything else appears to be in order. I suppose every business has its own set of difficulties and obstacles.
How do you ensure the sustainability and environmental friendliness of your products and manufacturing process?
Yeah, we’re not really a manufacturer. We are essentially the distributor and dealer for the most of the products, and some of the products we are importing directly via some of the firms in Bombay, who are importing these and we are the distributor for the state of Odisha. Apart from that, the company mostly manufactures its Plywood in other countries, not in India. So they effectively get vast lands over there at random.
They preserve this tree and all that grows from it. They’re making the primer and everything else. Actually, they import the timber, as well as everything else they import from overseas, Because they are growing these wood businesses outside of India, specifically in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and certain products such as veneer
Companies mostly import from the United States, Africa, Europe, and various parts of northern Europe. But, in any case, they are now in a situation.
The Indian government forbids anybody from cutting down trees. So all of the Plywood measurement Plywood firms are simply importing wood from elsewhere and making it here in India. They also manufacture in other countries on occasion. We are also the distributor.
How are you able to maintain your supplier happy while still ensuring a constant supply chain for your products?
So, first of all, whomever our dealer, whoever our sub dealer, they appear to be really satisfied. So, as I previously stated, we have established more than 300 dealers and sub-dealers around the state. That is a B-to-B business method. We’ve reached the B two B and B two C. And whomever is the dealer there seemed to be quite pleased. Because we used to deliver on time, and we have whatever product is on the market, we have everything. So, basically, sai plywood is a one-stop shop for all of your interior needs and excellent products. Saiply Wood is the only store in Bhubaneswar that sells century laminate, Century Veneer, Euro Pratik decorative wall panel and other high-quality interior products. So we have every product kind and maintain our supply chain extremely clean.
How did you deal with the covid problem and keep your business solid at the time?
We were severely impacted by Covid, which essentially pulled us back 5 years, but in the meanwhile, we received assistance from banks, obtained further bank loans, and then began again . With all of our teamwork and planning, we prevented our company from incurring a significant loss during the period of covid.
How do you foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within your company?
I returned to Bhubaneswar for two reasons: first, to check into our business, and second, because I was really interested in AI and machine learning.So, aside from business,
I am planning multiple startups in AI with help of SAI PLYWOOD. i can inputting and work on software to automate the process and we have a plan to operate our warehouse in semi-robotic way and this will help to minimize our cost and in the future
i have plan to put up predictive analysis software in SAI PLYWOOD for sales prediction and customer sentiment analysis to get more and good outcome .
What role does customer feedback play in shaping your product development and business strategies?
It is very vital because every time client feedback is really crucial, for each and every business, if we receive any negative feedback we take it in a good way, we work on it and try to provide our best and rectify our mistakes. We sometimes get comments concerning our delivery time, and we do our utmost to improve and minimize it.
Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the plywood, laminate, veneer, and architectural hardware industry?
There is not at all a suitable plan to start this business with zero or very minimum capital since interior business is quite expensive and one sub part of plywood is the furniture sector. If someone wants to enter the sector, they must be determined and have an established strategy
