M and M Auto targets car makers

M&M Auto has recently received a letter of intent from a leading car maker. Having achieved considerable success in supplying precision metallic coil springs to companies like Hero Honda and Munjal Showa, the company expects demand to further increase and is now setting up a new plant in Haridwar, which is slated to be operational in the next four months.

The company has also finalised a deal with Siemens, Germany, for supply of springs for electronics applications and has received an export order from CNH for supply to its global plants.

According to V K Talwar, chief executive officer, “We are in the process of receiving letters of intent from a number of four-wheeler manufacturers. We have also begun manufacturing coils for a large car maker. We are also targeting exports. We used to export springs to Daewoo in Uzbekistan but due to considerable demand from the domestic market, we were unable to concentrate on exports but plan to do so this year.”

Varied product range The company began operations in Gurgaon in 1991 and subsequently set up a new Rs 20 crore plant in Manesar, which has a production capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes.

As for the technology, the company has tie-ups with technical institutes based in France, the UK and the Netherlands. “Recently we have tied up with a leading technical and commercial institute in India, which in turn has worldwide tie-ups,” says Talwar. Tej K Magazine, management adviser to M and M Auto Industries, adds: “Our endeavour is to continuously upgrade our technology and our tie-up is for the long term.” M and M Auto Industries manufactures a complete range of precision metallic coil springs like compression, extension, torsion, tension, wire forms and flat springs for a wide range of applications, in various sizes ranging from 0.5 to 16.0mm wire diameter.

Its machinery includes German automatic spring coilers in the coiling section and Italian automatic spring end grinders in the grinding section. From the initial installed capacity of 645 MT over a decade ago, the company’s present capacity is over 9,500 MT per annum.

These springs find application in vehicle assembly operations, for example the front and rear suspensions which contribute to both safety and ride comfort among other things. “There are different coil springs, some of which are used for general purpose while some go for specific applications. Precision metallic coil springs are required for their accuracy and their performance and with Indian roads being what they are, the suspensions of vehicles need to be sturdy and longlasting,” explains Magazine.

The company has a fully-equipped infrastructure for manufacture of precision metallic coil springs, with fully equipped coiling, grinding, stress relieving, press sections, material handling, packaging and packing, quality assurance, utilities and back up of 100 percent in-house power generation, with efficient logistics and ERP support. What’s more, with the shift to Manesar, the company has added several automatic and imported machines to the plant, with the accent on automating operations. It also added product synergies with tubular and sheet metal pressed components.

The company plans to strengthen its export efforts. While exports had only a marginal contribution to last year’s turnover of Rs 56 crore, the company is hopeful that in the next five years, 10 percent of its sales should come from exports.

Talwar says, “Hero Honda and Munjal Showa are our biggest customers and they are growing significantly. We are running the plant around the clock and are close to 80 percent capacity utilisation. We are now expecting good business from car manufacturers also. Our time for submission of a sample is very short, which is why customers are keen to do business with us. Likewise, a number of global companies have visited us. With a lot of cost pressure on global companies, they are increasingly looking at destinations like India to source their products. We are not only able to manufacture products cheaper but also are able to maintain global quality standards.”

Talwar sees his company growing at around 25-30 percent every year for the next few years years. “Depending on the volume of business from car manufacturers, we are open to setting up plants near their factories,” he signs off.