A habitué of Busworld India shows ALP Overseas Pvt. Ltd. was around this time as well showcasing new and innovative solutions out of cutting-edge sealing, acoustics and thermal insulation technologies relevant for bus and coach fabrication.
The $120 million worth ALP Group is the pioneer in introducing EPDM weather strips in the country, while also diversifying into a variety of automotive sealing applications, including PVC thermoplastic and Santoprene products and insulation rubber sheets and tubes.
ALP seals, gaskets and weather strips have a big role in bus building, especially in the areas of windshield and window sealing, door seals and boot-rubbers, glass run channels, cellular profiles, PVC trims, thermal insulation sheets, and so on, along with plastic injection mounding products, including bumpers, front grille, etc.
These products are supplied to almost all leading bus OEMs and body builders across the country, including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Daimler India, Mahindra, VECV, SML Isuzu, JCBL, ACGL, MG Group, Caterpillar and Komatsu, among others.
“We are here at Busworld this time with new sealing and acoustic insulation solutions, and the response from visitors and our customers is really great”, said Mr. Rajesh Arora, DGM – Sales and Marketing. He added that ALP works with almost 99 per cent of players involved in bus body making in the country, backed by a robust distributer network pan India.
The COO of ALP Overseas, Mr. Santanu Das, claimed that in-house research, design and development of products at its Rudrapur manufacturing and testing facility helps provide sealing solution that suits the local requirements.
“With the country-wide implementation of the Bus Code, market awareness and business has vastly improved for our products, as sub-standard materials and products can no longer be used in buses”, he said.
In terms of quality parameters of sealing and insulation management in bus building, ALP feels that the NVH levels of bus cabins are still far higher than that of passenger cars.
“There is a long way to go in terms of improvements in this regard. Our bus market is cost-sensitive, but with more standardization and regulation, things are up for change in the future”, observed Mr. Das, and added that his company consistently strives to diversify the choice of materials and improve the quality of products.