Preparing for the Next Market

How Gilbert & Maxwell is building climate capability alongside five decades of engineering experience

A transformer may be a small part of a much larger industrial project, but its reliability can be critical to the whole system.

For more than five decades, Gilbert & Maxwell Electricals has been building the components that help make those systems work.

Established in 1974, the Nashik-based manufacturer produces current, voltage, control, lighting and special transformers for power, infrastructure and industrial applications. Its products have found their way into projects associated with large Indian public and private organizations such as Gas Authority of India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Power, among others. The company also has an international market presence.

For a manufacturer working across such a demanding industrial landscape, staying competitive has always meant keeping pace with what customers need, from product quality and reliability to technical standards and customization.

But now, staying competitive means answering a new set of customers’ questions to figure out: How well does a manufacturing business understand the environmental footprint behind what it makes?

A new question for an established supplier

Gilbert & Maxwell encountered this question through its long-standing relationship with Avaids Technovators.

The relationship became an opportunity to look at sustainability and climate action more closely when G&M took part in Avaids’ supply chain engagement program, delivered with the SME Climate Hub.

For the team, the program offered a practical way to get to grips with a subject that can otherwise feel technical and unconventional to a manufacturing business.

The sessions broke down the basics of emissions measurement and helped the team understand Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Customized guidance and an intuitive digital platform then provided a clear structure for putting that learning into practice.

The Avaids’ supply chain engagement program delivered with the SME Climate Hub provided an intuitive digital platform with customized guidance

The experience helped turn climate action from a broad sustainability and due diligence conversation into something the business could begin working with directly.

“At the beginning, carbon measurement felt like a fairly technical matter. The sessions and tools helped us break it down step by step, and we could start seeing how it connected to our own operations.”
– Nikhil Parnandiwar, Gilbert & Maxwell Electricals

Why it matters to a manufacturer

For Gilbert & Maxwell, the timing is important.

Manufacturing businesses are increasingly operating in markets where customers want more than a reliable product. They are also looking more closely at how products are made, the information suppliers can provide and how businesses are preparing for changing expectations.

This matters even more for companies looking beyond India.

Gilbert & Maxwell has supplied its products to industrial and infrastructure projects across the country and has also begun serving international markets. Recent trade data shows exports to markets including Italy, Nigeria, Bahrain, Oman, Vietnam, Zambia and Indonesia.

For a business with ambitions that extend beyond a single market, building the ability to understand and communicate its environmental performance can become part of being ready for the next stage of growth.

The program helped Gilbert & Maxwell take an important step in that direction.

From supplier engagement to business readiness

There is a useful lesson in the experience for other manufacturing SMEs.

A supplier does not need to have every answer while beginning its sustainability journey. What can make the difference is having a clear starting point, practical guidance and an opportunity to understand how the subject connects to the business.

For Gilbert & Maxwell, Avaids’ engagement created that opportunity.

The program also showed the value of approaching supply chain engagement as a two-way learning process. While suppliers build their understanding of emissions and climate action, the buying company also gains a better sense of what suppliers need to make progress.

That can make climate conversations more useful and more grounded in the realities of smaller businesses.

For Gilbert & Maxwell, the next step is to build on this understanding and continue identifying where sustainability considerations can fit into its operations and future business decisions.

After five decades of manufacturing, the company knows that staying relevant means continuing to evolve.

Climate readiness is now becoming another part of that evolution.

“For us, understanding emissions is becoming part of understanding the market we operate in. As customer expectations evolve, having the knowledge to respond to these conversations can help us stay relevant and competitive as a supplier.”
– Shailesh Thakur, Managing Director, Gilbert & Maxwell Electricals