Tremec's Chakan plant to be its global sourcing hub

August 19, 2013: US-based transmission manufacturer, Tremec, which has set up a plant at Chakan, near Pune, and began operations in March 2013, plans to make the Indian footprint its global sourcing hub. The new entrant has recently (May 2013) supplied five-speed rear-wheel-drive transmission systems to an Indo-Japanese CV maker.

Talking exclusively to Autocar Professional, Shrikant S Bairagi, the newly appointed managing director of Tremec India (pictured), said that “Tremec has launched its business with two international OEM customers in the light commercial vehicle sector. We produce locally two transmissions – TR-2450 and TR-3655 – which cover a broad range of the LCV market and we now are working to add customers for these core transmission designs. We are focused on providing our brand values of robustness and technically superior solutions that help our customers be competitive with their vehicles in addition we offer a roadmap to provide future products and technology to address market needs and trends.”

Additional $7-15 million investment in the pipeline

While the company has already made investments in the range of US$ 6-7 million, it plans to invest another US$ 7-15 million over the next five to seven years in India.

The Chakan plant, which is Tremec’s fourth production facility globally, is spread across 95,000 square feet and is designed to manufacture rear-wheel-drive transmissions and drivetrain components for India and the Asia-Pacific region.

The facility is currently installed with manufacturing and assembly equipment along with a machine shop (to make drivetrain components for captive use for now). However, the firm is under discussion with its parent company to set up an engineering infrastructure in the near future.

Meanwhile, Tremec’s Mexico-based engineering centre will continue to provide support – expertise, validation processes and other areas – to the Indian arm. The company has two facilities in Mexico and one in Belgium.

“We have built an effective supply chain model for the Indian facility and we plan to supply components, assemblies to Tremec’s global facilities from here,” said Bairagi. At present, the Indian operations are handled by a team of around 60-70 people.

Citing the operating and logistic opportunities for the new plant, Robert Neal, Tremec' CEO and MD, said: “In India, the automotive sector is one of the largest industries showing impressive growth over the years. The country is the fifth largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles and the fourth largest passenger car market in Asia. This strategically located plant will enable us to make increasing contributions to the overall industrial development of the country, resulting in multiple choices for Indian consumers at competitive costs.”

AMIT PANDAY