Wabco India hikes EOU capacity

Brake systems major Wabco India recently inaugurated Phase II of its plant 2 at the dedicated export zone of the Mahindra World City, near Chennai. The Rs 50 crore facility will soon be ramped up to a capacity of 1,80,000 units per annum. The plant will take care of machining and assembling of heavy duty engine platform compressors for various customers in Poland, Germany, USA and China.

Speaking at the event, Jacques Esculier, chairman and CEO, Wabco, said the new unit is one of the ‘leanest facilities’ among Wabco’s plants worldwide. “Plant 2 is an outstanding example of lean manufacturing, which further differentiates Wabco’s excellence in execution,” he added.

Speaking to Autocar Professional, Esculier said: "(One) option is to consolidate all the manufacturing of parts in one location of the world and that’s what we elected to do. That makes more sense financially. So the next question is where? The primary constraint is levels of capability in quality and reliability. We need to look at a place where we as Wabco have a lot of confidence and a confidence that we can rapidly grow with the customers as well. So when you look at all the attributes, the centre of excellence where we position this manufacturing capability, it is India that was the best and that’s why we invested here. Obviously, the main focus is our internal capabilities but also not neglecting the importance of supplier capability for this centre.

Because it’ll be foolish to import a lot of material from across the globe to just assemble here. Right now we have localised about 60 percent of production; in a year we will be at 80 percent. We will try and maximise the use of materials from the local suppliers."

"This facility already supplies to USA, China and Europe. We are also looking at a few other markets to support from this centre. Between April 2011-March 2012, we exported products worth Rs 124 crore. This year we are targeting more than Rs 200 crore."

KARTHIK H