Bangalore plant set up to make first ‘Made in India’ product
Actuant India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Actuant Corporation of the US, has won a major order for supply of cab tilt hydraulic 
cylinders under its brand name Power-Packer for VECV next generation trucks. It is nothing but a breakthrough for the US company which has been growing more through acquisitions since inception. The company is also keen to tap the other Indian commercial vehicle manufacturers with its high standard of quality and reliable products.
This was disclosed in an exclusive interview to MOTORINDIA recently in Bangalore by Mr. Varun Vijay Rao, Managing Director, Actuant India Private Ltd. Even though the company has its humble beginning in India by doing trading business, it has ambitious plans for the domestic market. Keeping this in mind, it has recently set up its manufacturing facility in Bangalore which will support the company at the global level by offering value-added capabilities to drive business growth and accelerate operational excellence.
Headquartered in Bangalore, Actuant India currently has 90 employees. The workforce will be expanded in due course. The new manufacturing facility covers an area of 25,000 sq. feet with the option of scaling up to 100,000 sq. feet. It is fully automated and will initially start with assembling and manufacturing products for three of Actuant’s businesses, namely, Power-Packer, Enerpac, and Hydratight.
Power-Packer, a specialist in motion control technologies, has developed the cab tilt hydraulic cylinder assembly line. Future plans include additional Actuant product lines to fully support Indian customers as well as global customers.
Enerpac, a leading global provider of high pressure hydraulic solutions, will have its assembly lines, warehouse for distribution, service center and a customer training center. It will manufacture products for domestic and export markets. The training center will conduct training / product familiarization for dealers, distributors, customers and employees.
Hydratight, the world-class leader in providing leak-free solutions, will have a service center and rental base operation catering to bolting solutions with further expansion plans into onsite machining services. Future plans include local manufacturing and assembly of products based on Hydratight’s policy to bring a complete array of joint integrity solutions to India.
“We are delighted to announce the launch of our first manufacturing facility in India. We believe this further strengthens our commitment to source, produce and sell solutions specially designed to delight our local customers. We pride ourselves in operational excellence and ensure that our strategic growth initiatives are a balanced combination of organic and inorganic activities. Our strong focus on vertical markets such as infrastructure, energy, agricultural productivity and sustainability will fuel our plans going forward”, said Mr. Varun Vijay Rao.
Actuant India has achieved approximately $10 million in revenue since its incorporation in India. The company’s medium-term objective is to expand business exponentially through a combination of organic and acquisition growth with a goal to achieve a level of $50 million.
Growth through innovation
Said Mr. Robert C. Arzbaecher, Chairman and CEO, Actuant Corp.: “India is a strategically high growth market for us and is an integral 
part of achieving our global vision of doubling our revenue every five years. The launch of our manufacturing facility is an important milestone for us and reiterates our efforts toward leveraging our global capabilities in order to customize them for the needs of our local markets.”
With respect to inorganic growth, Actuant India has a defined acquisition strategy that combines macro drivers with the identified growth area verticals and is targeting companies in niche markets. Its vision is to be grow through innovation that is operationally excellent with significantly increased market presence in India. In addition, the company has set up the Actuant Center of Excellence (ACE) to provide engineering, IT, marketing and sourcing solutions to Actuant’s global locations. Even during last year’s critical phase, the company has achieved 30 per cent growth, clearly proving its product strength.
For details, visit www.actuant.co.in