Hella pushes electronics localisation, begins making BCM, RKE systems in India

Hella India Automotive, the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of German automotive parts supplier Hella, has announced the expansion of its production facility in Dhankot, Haryana, with the start of production of its Body Control Module (BCM) shown below and Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) systems for the Indian market.

With this, the company has expanded its Dhankot plant to cater to growth in its Electronics business division. As part of its aggressive growth strategy, with plans to harness its global technologies and customise them for OEMs in India, the supplier has introduced state-of-the-art SMT lines for its key focus products – Body Control Module and Remote Key Entry for Indian customers.

The Body Control Module integrates many solutions to control major loads in the vehicle to optimise energy consumption and downsizing. As per OEM strategy and country specific regulations, it gradually shuts down non-critical loads based on safety and comfort requirements and bring these back based on availability of the charge. Remote Keyless Entry systems for the remote control of central locking systems and Passive Entry/Go systems allow leaving the vehicle key untouched for the operation of car access and engine start/stop functions, thus increasing the comfort and safety factor.

"This expansion aims at fulfilling the increasing need of our local customers based on business contracts we have won with some of the key Indian OEMs. As the market prepares itself for more complex products and customer demands in local market increase, Hella India Automotive is committed to bring in innovative products and futuristic technology to further localise the product portfolio," said Dr Naveen Gautam, managing director, Hella India Automotive.

The new dedicated BCM/RKE SMT lines include state-of-the-art electro static discharge (ESD) - Barrier Electronics. The Dhankot plant is spread across 900 square metres of dust- and environmentally controlled area supported by 250KVA UPS and a complete traceability system for the entire process and equipment. The new facility houses some of the exclusive imported machines equipped with latest technologies, some of which are the first of its kind in India and include laser marking machine, paste printing machine, solder paste inspection machine, pick place machine, reflow oven, auto optical inspection machine and PCB handling machine. This line is almost fully automated with limited human intervention.

The overall Dhankot plant has a floor area of about 46,600 square metres and employs 800 employees. Apart from the new BCM/RKE production lines, this facility also manufactures accelerator pedal sensors, horns, headlight levelling sensors, body actuators, central locking actuators, linear actuators, climate sensors, switches and ECUs for the local and export businesses. The manufacturing facility also undertakes testing, analysis and validation as well as development of most of the above-mentioned products.