Plastic Moulding facility at Fiem Industries
Automotive lighting company Fiem Industries is planning to expand its R&D centre – Centro Ricerche Fiem Horustech S.r.l. (CRFH) that was recently set up in Italy. CRFH is 50:50 joint venture with Horustech S.r.l., Italy and the objective is to support the existing customers of automotive lamps and LED Luminarie, a division of Fiem Industries catering to domestic and industrial lighting. The JV Company has 15 designers now and hopes to double the headcount this year.
In an exclusive interview to Auto Components India, J K Jain, chairman and managing director, Fiem Industries, said the company will establish a full-fledged laboratory at CRFH next quarter. The lab will validate the design developed by CRFH and match it with the photometry results.
As the company wanted to graduate from a ‘print-to-part’ to ‘concept-to-part’ solution provider, Fiem Industries will invest Rs 100 crore in the tool room. “The tool room will help us provide customers end-to-end solutions without custom duties, and faster deliveries as well. We aim to develop designs and the required tooling, and supply the part to the customers in about three months flat. This exercise will benefit customers by reducing new product development by 50 percent and cost by 30 percent,” Jain said.
In 2005 the company established a wholly owned subsidiary – Fiem Industries Japan KK for design and development. The India centre will coordinate with its counterparts in Japan and Italy to support customers’ demands. The strategy is to design all the lamps and luminaries in Italy in concurrence with Fiem Industries Japan KK and make the relevant tooling at the India plant in Rai, Sonepat, near Delhi. Additionally, Fiem Industries has seven manufacturing facilities; three in Hosur, Tamil Nadu and one each in Kundli, Haryana, Mysore, Karnataka, Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh and Tapukara, Rajasthan.
As part of its expansion programme, the company is looking for joint ventures to expand its product range like locks, wiper and batteries. Jain indicates they are considering acquisition of European companies, in the current year itself, that supply to four-wheeler OEMs in Europe or Japan. Fiem makes headlamps, tail lamps, blinker lamps, inside and outside rear view mirrors, and plastic parts like cowl, pulley cover, belt guard and mud flaps. Also, it makes sheet metal components lighting and signaling equipment. It caters to two wheelers, four wheelers, tractors, commercial vehicles and the aftermarket. Its clientele includes Ashok Leyland-Nissan, DICV, Eicher, Force Motors, GM India, Hero, HMSI, JCB, Maruti, Mahindra, Suzuki, Tata Motors, TVS Motors, Volkswagen and Yamaha India. Exports are to Kubota, Sparex, Honda, Piaggio, Zadi, Suzuki and TVS Anda Inspirasinya.
