GMF MARKET:

PAL GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH IN INDIA – THANKS TO KAMTRESS

A new factory and a full order book until January 2003 …… that’s the welcome state of play for Kamtress Automation Systems Pvt Ltd, PAL’s Indian agents.

“Our hard work over the years and our continuing relationship with PAL is all paying off,” explains SR Chandrashekar of Kamtress. “Our new facility in Bangalore was opened early this year. We now have about 4,000 sq. ft of factory space for manufacturing our machines and about 1,000 sq. ft of office space in which our design engineers work. We had been operating from rented premises for seven years and needed room to spread our wings. It is a great pleasure to have more manufacturing space, more office space and to be able to incorporate essential extras such as first class facilities in which to hold meetings and a training centre in which we run programmes for our customers eager to know more about their machines. The opening of our new facility coincided with the Brahmopadesham ceremony for my son, which made it a very special occasion. It seemed very natural to combine these two great events for the Chandrashekar family.”

Much of Kamtress’s recent and continuing success can be placed firmly at the door of the automotive industry. By the start of 2002 the tally stood at six machines installed or under construction. Now there are even more success stories to add to the growing list!

First came Synergies Dooray Automotive, India’s first global scale manufacturer of aluminium alloy wheels, for whom the PAL:Kamtress duo installed two large programmed hoist rack Copper, Nickel and Chromium PAL machines for plating 14” to 20” diameter aluminium wheels; then Badve Engineering, one of India’s leading motor bike component manufacturers, took delivery of a Tri-Nickel/Chrome line for plating silencers and exhaust pipes. Third on the list of orders was Hero, India’s largest motorbike manufacturer who needed a horizontal wheel rim plating line – their new machine was installed in January this year and is hard at work producing 6,000 wheel rims a day; next came Denso-Haryana Pvt Ltd who ordered a PAL Compal for anodising Aluminium pump parts. Denso is a huge multinational from Japan specialising in supplying the automotive industry, and the new machine, which has an anodising window of 28” x 22” and an output of four jigs with 108 parts per jig (or 430 parts) per hour, was installed by PAL and Kamtress in March.

Production capacity and technology upgrades at AT&S and RAO have combined to ensure particularly busy second, third and fourth quarters of 2002 for Kamtress.

PAL and Kamtress have also been adding a fifth transporter to the line at Badve Engineering to increase its capacity by nearly ten per cent, making it the largest machine in India, with the highest number of transporters on one line.

“Repeat orders from existing customers are always particularly welcome – they prove, if any proof is necessary, how well our commissioned machine is faring,” says S.R. Chandrashekar. “We were, therefore, thrilled to receive an order for another big line from Badve Engineering while we were still working on the extension of their existing line.

“Yes, there are even more Bajaj motorbike parts to be plated! This new Tri-Nickel/ Chrome plating line, which will be some 56 metres long by six metres wide, will produce close to 8,000 sq.ft of plating per day. It will be housed in the new Badve world class manufacturing facility at Chakan Pune near Mumbai. The Bajaj Chakan state-of- the-art facility produces 175cc and 180cc motorbikes under the brand name of Pulsar, Badve Auto Components Pune are producing the complete silencer system for these bikes in their new facility. It has been quite a challenge for PAL and Kamtress to come up with the perfect recipe for success due to the complex design of the silencer – 2,500 have to be plated in a 20-hour day, but we, and Badve, are confident that our design is spot on, and we received their firm order in early August.”

“The challenges in the automotive industry here in India are increasing as never before, and top quality plating is essential,” explains Mr Chandrashekar. “PAL’s machines are renowned all over the world for the quality of work they produce. We work closely with PAL in the design of each machine, to ensure it meets customer’s current and future needs, and we are able to source many key components locally – the Badve machine typifies this approach.”