The company looks at product diversification and increasing footprint for future growth
Different kinds of cables
Bangalore headquartered Suprajit group is expanding its product portfolio while also improving business with existing customers in both domestic and export sectors. The company that makes liner cables is also chalking out aggressive plans to increase its presence in the aftermarket.
Speaking to Auto Components India, the chairman and managing director of Suprajit group, K Ajit Kumar Rai said the company is diversifying its product portfolio to make digital speedometers. Currently it makes mechanical speedometers, tachometers, fuel gauges and a variety of other instruments supplying to a few companies, including TVS Motors. It is looking at manufacturing digital instruments, and is scouting around for a technology partner, he confirmed. The company also makes float sensors that are developed in-house. It has received a letter of intent from Royal Enfield for a new model to be launched in the near future.
Gearshift cable assembly
Rai sees significant growth coming from its exports business. Both its subsidiaries – Suprajit Automotive and Suprajit Europe focus on customers overseas. While the former is based out of Bangalore as an export oriented unit, the latter based in Tamworth, UK acts as an intermediary for global group operations. Suprajit Automotive serves several OEMs including BMW, VW, Renault-Nissan, Suzuki and GM, and a few Tier-1 customers such as Magna, Bentler, Lear, Toyo and Inteva. The development of parts and engineering activities happen at Suprajit Europe, which is basically a tech centre with a manufacturing unit supplying high-value low-volume products to a few companies including Aston Martin.
Elaborating the growth sequence, Rai said the company that began supplies to BMW three years ago with less than $ 100,000 worth of business is expected to grow four-fold in the next three years. Currently it exports about six to eight part numbers of cables to BMW plants in Munich, Statenburg near Atlanta and to China (through Munich). The number of part numbers will increase to 30, he said.
For VW, it began supplies with its Indian operations and expanded to Europe a couple of years ago. Recently it has commenced shipment to the OEM’s facility in Brazil and hopes the business with VW will triple to $ three million in the next three years with part numbers getting doubled.
Suprajit supplies to General Motors in India, Korea, Europe, North America and Mexico. Currently it gets around $ three million business from the OEMs by supplying about 30 part numbers. In addition, the company supplies four varieties of cables to Renault-Nissan in India and a couple of varieties to the OEM in the UK. The company also supplies five varieties to Suzuki in Hungary, for revenue of about $ one million a year.
Products manufactured by Suprajit
Exports to John Deere commenced with three cable varieties. At present, it supplies to five plants of the OEM in North America and Brazil. From a business of about $ three million this year coming out of 30 varieties it hopes to grow up to five million in the next three years. Discussions are on to supply to the OEM’s plant in Germany and Spain.
The company also caters to the requirements of Kuboto in Japan. The number of cable varieties will grow from the present five to 20 eventually, enhancing the business to about $ one million in three to five years from the present $ 150,000.
Aftermarket
Suprajit has been aggressive in growing its aftermarket during the last five years. From being a south centric company it has become pan-India with a network of 250 distributors, with each state having five to ten. At present it gets about 70 percent of business from the southern region, from over 95 percent earlier, despite the pie becoming bigger. Rai claims that the aftermarket is growing faster than the OEM business in India since it has products for almost every vehicle running in the country.
Story & Photography : T Murrali
Suprajit expands capacity
Bhargav TS
Suprajit group is enhancing the capacity of its existing plants by setting up a couple of new factories. Speaking to this publication, C Mohan, executive director, Suprajit Engineering, said, “We will be investing in setting up two new manufacturing plants each in Chennai and Bangalore in the next 12 months and will be enhancing our capacities in the existing plants.” In India, Suprajit has 15 manufacturing facilities including two export oriented units with a cumulative capacity of 150 million cables per year, comprising of a wide range of mechanical control cables for motorcycles, cars and commercial vehicles, and other nonautomotive cables.
“We have already started working on capacity expansion in our existing plants. In 2014-15 we will be increasing our capacity by another 70 million cables per year. Our new plant in Chennai at Vallam Vadagal will mainly cater to the needs of India Yamaha Motors and the Narasapura plant in Bangalore will serve the needs of HMSI,” he said.
Suprajit is also working on developing cable gear shifters and is in discussion with a couple of OEMs for the same. Mohan also indicated that the company will be focusing more on this particular product in the coming years as it possesses the right technology. The company has recently supplied samples of cables to British motorcycle major Triumph. To start with, it hopes to supply speedometer cables and in phases will commence supply of other cables for the two-wheeler manufacturer. Apart from cables, the company is also into manufacturing blinkers and rear view mirrors, selling in the aftermarket. Soon it will supply to OEMs, Mohan said. ACI
