Company
Description: Padmini
is a TS 16949 certified company. The company manufactures a wide range of
products for OEM’s. These includes EGR Valves, Throttle Bodies, Vacuum
Modulation Valves, Solenoid Valves, Actuators, Rollover Valves, Fuel Flap Opener, Trunk Lid Opener (not dickey),
Fuel Water Separator etc. Padmini VNA is
associated with companies like Tata Motors, Force Motor, Escorts, Eicher,
General Motors, Hindustan Motors, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti
Suzuki, Honeywell, TVS, Hero MotoCorp, Swaraz Mazda, Piaggio, Greaves,
Lombardini and several others.
You have an extremely rich experience in the Indian
automotive industry, having worked with the lighting major Lumax Industries.
What prompted you to move from the lighting industry to Padmini VNA which is
into engine components? How is this transition working for you?
I
have been working for the last 40 years, out of which I spent nearly 33 years
in the automotive industry. I had a successful career with both OEMs and
component manufacturer. I spent 15 years in Eicher, two years in Minda and 16
years in Lumax). My longest tenure was with Lumax. I had a very successful
career. At Lumax I had the privilege of working with three generations and
during my time I saw the company grow from two plants to eight plants across India.
On the face of it, I spent more than 25pc of my professional life here in this
company. I saw the turnover of the company increase from a mere 90 crore to
1,000 crore. In my lifetime I had the opportunity to travel world-wide. I was
part of the team that eventually signed joint ventures and technical agreements
for the company. I was Director, Operations, Lumax India Limited.
I joined Lumax in February 1996 and during
that time it was the only automotive light manufacturer in organised sector. At
present there are nearly ten lighting manufacturers with limited market. Why I
say limited market – because for high-end cars, there are no lighting
manufacturers in India and volumes are not economical for production. Lighting
plants require very heavy investment.
Adding to the problems of volume in lighting
manufacturing is the fact that most of the auto light manufacturers are
customer-specific because of technical or JV within parent company overseas.
With
the above constraints of technological development, the working was very
monotonous. I wanted to do something exciting, so I decided to move to
non-lighting company and so Padmini VNA was the best choice keeping in view the
product, market, technology and the promoters.
The
transition is working very well, I now have exposure to new markets, new
challenges from operations point of view and further expansion in green field
projects.
Padmini VNA is an engineering-based company and is
associated with leading OEMs in India and abroad, Has it been hit by the slump
in the OEM segment in India? What is the kind of revenues that you see coming
from overseas markets and from the Indian markets in the near future?
You are right, we mainly focus on OEMs in
India and abroad. While everybody has witnessed a slump in the automotive
industry, we have still grown by 15pc in this difficult time (first half of
2012-13) on a YOY basis. But for the slowdown we could have grown more. Around
10pc of our revenue is expected to come from overseas market this year.
Your company makes several products like EGR
Valves, Throttle Bodies, Vacuum Modulation Valves etc. Will your business be
always centred around these products or is there scope for diversifying into
more products? If yes, can you share the
details?
We would like to foucs on our existing range
of products and expand our business related to engine parts and engine
electronics. There are many projects in advance stage of production. However it
might be too premature to name specific products at this stage.
Is your business primarily OEM-centric? Or do your
products also enter the aftermarket space?
Our
products are mainly OEM centric. There is a very small requirement of our parts
in after sales, which we cater through OEMs only, as quite a few parts are
safety related. We do not want to enter in direct after market because of the
business practises in this segment.
Is the company looking at either backward
integration or forward integration of any nature so as to enhance its scope of
business?
We are definitely not looking at backward
integration because of economy of scales. However, we support aggressively our
suppliers in terms of technical knowhow and financial needs in very specific
cases.
Among your several clients, you have at present,
what proportion is in the passenger car segment and what in the commercial
vehicles segment?
Around 50pc of our products go into passenger
cars segment, 30pc in commercial vehicles and the rest 20pc is in two wheeler,
three wheeler and tractor segment. With some of the OEMs, we are the single
source supplier for their vehicle.
Where are your products exported? Are there any
untapped markets?
At
present most of our export is to Europe and there are still un-tapped markets
within Europe and Asia for which we are working aggressively with our
representative offices. Our current export is 10pc of the turnover, which is
likely to go up-to 40pc by 2015.
What kind of investment plans have you earmarked to
expand your operations?
We
are planning to invest a sum of 60 crore in the next three years, which
includes green field projects in western India, NCR region and investment in
R&D facilities.
Could you talk about your in-house R&D centre
that you are running?
Our
R&D establishment is recognised by the Department of Science and
Technology. We work closely with IIT, Delhi and IOC for new innovative
processes leading to development of Green Technology. As a humble beginning, we
have created in-house department named “Green Technology Innovation Centre
(GTIC)”, under direct supervision of our Managing Director.
Our
design work includes extensive use of design and simulation software like CREO,
Protel, Orcade, Ansys CFX, EMAG. We also use 3D Printer for Rapid Prototyping.
We have a testing facility that carries out extensive work incorporating Engine
Dyno, Wei-bull software, Vibration cum Environmental chamber, High temperature
endurance test chamber, Thermo-gravimetric Analyzer (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) instrument, JOMESA
to mention few. Needless to add that unless we have a motivated and qualified
work force, the above facilities may be rendered useless. We have a strong team
of young and qualified engineers in R&D, which constitute 45pc of the total
staff strength. Our R&D expenditure is 10pc of our annual turnover.
What are the key enablers of Padmini VNA?
To
mention a few, following are our key enablers are Quality Focused (Extensive usage of quality
tools), Regular interaction across the functions (Ingrained CFT approach),
Perfect information and communication
(For flawless Project Management), Strong personal relationship with
customers & suppliers (To build strong value chain) and Happiness at Work
What are the offerings from Padmini VNA to
automotive industry?
Our
key offerings are based on our highly talented and knowledgeable workforce that
includes faster development cycle, high quality products with highly
competitive prices, co-creating and enhancing the values coupled with customer
delight.
Last but not the least, what is your vision for the
company?
We
see our company Padmini VNA to be the leading global solution provider for
emission control system. The rest of our aspirations and strategies are the
by-product of our vision.