INTERACTION
Chandramowli Srinivasan, CFO, SKF India
Q: What is the capacity utilisation of the Pune plant?
Srinivasan: I won’t be able to give a figure specifically for Pune as such. But on an average, and this is an average across all our units in India, we have around 10-15% spare capacity that we can use if the market picks up. For some types of products, we might not have this spare capacity because even this type is dependent on channels as all machines cannot produce all types. As of now, we do not see that we will need any Greenfield expansions as we have enough land and buildings across other locations. So, we will probably invest more in extra machines in existing facilities.
Q: Pune is the oldest plant in India? Did you face any challenges while implementing the global standards in operations here?
Srinivasan: Challenges are two-fold. One is that there is a mental challenge to get all our employees aligned to the fact that we will operate to only one global standard and that there will be no lowering of standards just because we are in India. That takes some time. Second challenge is to get the entire supplier base to align to the same level. It is not just a question of not only mentally accepting that but also being able to deliver on that. I know this company for the last 30 years. Initially, there was a time when our entire steel was imported and over a period of time the capabilities here developed. It is a continuous process.
Q: What are the various value engineering steps you have implemented on products manufactured here?
Srinivasan: Lightweighting is one. Size of the bearing is another. You can have the same load bearing and pressure withstanding capacity with smaller bearings now as you have on bigger bearings. Of course, a lot has been done on the process side to make sure the bearings are more precise than before. Then we also work with people and quality systems to keep improving our machines.
Q: At present, what would be the percent of automation at Pune?
Srinivasan: It is very difficult to answer as this depends on the product. I would say we are on a good level as there is no bigger investment outline as far as automation is concerned. So that is why I could say we are on 100%, but that might change going forward as technology changes, salary of workforce changes; that is a driver for us to look for more automation. ACI
