Alkraft Thermotechnologies, a leading home-grown player in the field of heat transfer systems showcased its products and capabilities at the world’s largest commercial vehicle exhibition, IAA 2018 held in Hanover, Germany, last September. As one of the few Indian companies present at the show, Alkraft demonstrated its proprietary technologies as a product of Indian engineering ingenuity that competes with the top global players in the thermal management industry.
Mr. Zakkir Hussain, CEO, Alkraft, said: “We are here to showcase our products that address key global challenges including the transition to electric powertrains, and newer emissions and fuel efficiency standards. Throughout our history we have been at the forefront in our field, having successfully introduced a number of game-changing technologies in India. In fact, challenges in India very much reflect global challenges, and we are focussed on taking our strengths to the global stage in a larger way than we have been doing for so long.”
Alkraft estimates that it supplies its products to nearly a third of all medium and heavy commercial vehicles in India which points to its predominant Indian market focus. However, Mr. Hussain made a point that Alkraft is already a supply partner to marquee customers in the global commercial vehicle, defence vehicle, and industrial products industries. He added that Russia’s GAZ Group had displayed a vehicle featuring an Alkraft intercooler at the show.
When asked what were the factors that gave it the confidence to succeed in the global arena, Mr. Hussain replied: “We have the core design strength and a holistic system design approach that gives us the freedom to think out of the box and design complete solutions from scratch. Our new generation fin and tube geometries have given our products the critical advantage of having the best performance-to-weight ratio in the industry. With these strengths, we can quickly iterate and build solutions for any application that requires thermal management.”
With its investment in developing compact water-cooled D-cup heat exchangers that address a wide variety of heat transfer requirements, Alkraft has another winning product category in its stable. These heat exchangers are versatile products with the ability to function as oil coolers, charge air coolers, or fuel coolers, and are capable of operating at high pressures – a key requirement for BS-VI applications. Prevalent in developed markets like Europe, water-cooled D-cup heat exchangers are now making their way into the Indian market.
In the Indian context, Mr. Hussain said that Alkraft looks at the upcoming BS-VI regulations from April 2020 as an opportunity rather than a challenge. “We have already developed and tested the configurations needed to meet BS-VI requirements. Having to continually push the boundaries to achieve higher levels of efficiency and performance, especially for an environmental cause, inspires us. Our R&D team is relentless in its efforts to improve the performance of each heat transfer element, which has resulted in our own team making our products obsolete with every innovation cycle. It keeps our products cutting-edge”, shared the CEO.
Alkraft takes pride in the fact that it is a home-grown company that is successfully competing with large global players through a strong values-based and innovation-led approach. With an upbeat outlook for the future, Alkraft is aiming to double its turnover and significantly increase its revenue share from exports over the next couple of years. By continually investing in new technologies, Alkraft also expects to double its production capacity by April 2020.