The Coimbatore-based Barani Hydraulics India Pvt. Ltd. (BHIPL) has plans to become one of the global leaders in manufacturing custom-built hydraulic presses. The home-grown company has bagged some substantial overseas orders in recent times and is looking to cementing its place as one of the world leaders in the hydraulic press manufacturing field. We made a visit to Barani’s facility in Coimbatore for an exclusive interaction with Mr. T.K. Karuppannaswamy, Managing Director, Barani Hydraulics.
Established in 1988, Barani is a prominent manufacturer, supplier and exporter of hydraulic presses and SPMs to leading brake liner manufacturers, clutch, axles, brakes and steel wheel manufacturers in India. The company has grown steadily over the years, having established good industrial relationship with many blue-chip auto companies in the country and also globally.
Says Mr. Karuppannaswamy: “We have developed a base of 87 corporate customers in India and 21 others globally. Today, the name Barani is associated with almost 60 per cent of the auto component manufacturers in India for their capital machine requirements, with over 95 per cent of our customers working with us and considering us as a single source supplier for hydraulic presses.”
Now Barani Hydraulics is a perfect example for the ‘Make-in-India’ programme, considering the global customer base it has developed in different sectors. The company designs and develops all its machines in-house and delivers outstanding product quality, to an extent that they have been approved by the most stringent Japanese and European standards, thus paving the way for its becoming an increasingly popular and reliable brand for hydraulic presses at the global level.
Apart from technical know-how and domain expertise, one key contributing factor to Barani’s success has been the sustained effort of its dedicated workforce and its unswerving dedication when it comes to delivering the best to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Barani presses are used in the production facilities of some of the leading manufacturers of critical vehicle components and systems, including axles, brake pads, brakes and wheels, among others.
Barani hydraulic presses are the preferred choice of many renowned names in the Indian corporate industry, such as Ashok Leyland, Brakes India, Wheels India, Axles India, Valeo Friction (for clutches), Faurecia (for car interiors), Rane Brake Linings, Sundaram Clayton, Titan, GE (energy), L&T, LMW, Alliance Group, TVS Tread, Elgi, Carborundum Universal, Saint Gobain Ceramics and many other auto ancillary companies.
Most of the presses BHIPL manufactures are semi or fully-automatic ones, with over 760 of them having been delivered to customers in and around India and across the globe, which are performing quite well. BHIPL has capabilities to design and develop more than 300 different types of presses, while it also works closely with its customers to come up with customized and tailor-made solutions as per specific requirements. BHIPL has also developed part handling equipment for these presses to meet customer-specific requirements.
A major breakthrough
Among its key customers in the Indian corporate sector is the Rane Group which is known for its extremely high standards of quality in brake lining. Talking about Barani’s close association with Rane Brake Linings, Mr. Karuppannaswamy says: “In 2008, we got an opportunity to manufacture the presses to meet (Japanese industrial standard) JIS Grade-I quality presses for their Indian joint venture project with Nisshinbo of Japan. This was our first major breakthrough in the Indian auto industry. We have started manufacturing the presses after several levels of inspection by the Japanese team of engineers. After successful installation of the first machine they had finalized BHIPL for their entire project and issued orders for around 40 presses, out of which 32 have been installed so far. This result has given plenty of opportunities for BHIPL to enter the global arena.”
Global market penetration
Barani, whose first export order came in 2002, has been increasingly penetrating the global markets over the past few years. It has gained the trust of many customers in countries like the US, Australia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Brazil and Japan, with plans to enter at least 10 more countries in the near future. BHIPL has earned a significant amount of foreign exchange for the country by making hydraulic presses locally, thereby placing a check on imports and also by exporting the presses abroad.
Barani has also started replacing European suppliers by working with some leading customers on the global front. Until 2010, Saint Gobain (pioneers in float glass and ceramics) had been using only European presses for its ceramic refractory products and bonded abrasives division. In 2010, BHIPL got an opportunity to deliver a fully-automated hydraulic press for the company’s Indian plant wherein the machine has been inspected and certified by Saint-Gobain’s principal French technical team. Subsequently presses were supplied to their ceramic products plant in Gujarat. Another feather in the cap followed for BHIPL, with a global opportunity to deliver its machines to Saint Gobain’s ceramic plant in the US.
BHIPL managed to meet Saint Gobain’s extremely stringent quality levels and safety requirements such as OSHA, NEMA, UL, CE standards, following which the presses were successfully installed and commissioned at the US plant. The installation is quite a remarkable feat owing to the fact that the equipment would be the first-ever hydraulic press from the Asian continent to be installed at the 162-year-old plant.
BHIPL considers the credentials received from Saint Gobain as an honour not just for itself but for the entire nation, which has further inspired it to penetrate into global markets for its other divisions too. BHIPL currently has orders from European brands, namely, Valeo Friction and Faurecia for hydraulic presses for their global requirements.
Now, BHIPL is developing its first servo hydraulic press for Mahle India, a subsidiary of German giant Mahle GmbH, and is looking forward to receiving orders to meet their global requirements as well.
“Until the year 2013, BHIPL were focused mainly on our domestic business. In the year 2014 our global business has increased to nearly 30 per cent, with a number of delighted customers since they are satisfied with BHIPL’s dedicated service and continued technical support in India and across the globe as well”, says the MD with a humble smile.
Though there is huge potential for capital machines globally, the annual market size of these equipment deployed in the Indian auto component industry is around 1,500 units. Of this, around 1,200 presses are still being imported, with almost 30 per cent of locally-made ones coming from BHIPL. The company manufactures close to 120 presses a year and has set a target of 500 units, one-fourth of which could go for export, in the next few years.
Other ventures
During the last few years of rapid growth, BHIPL has expanded to cater to the requirements of other industries as well. A good example here is its unit for supplying dedicated pressed components to meet the global requirements of giants like GE Energy, KSB, Circor, CCI and several other MNC’s. Also, as part of its diversification plans, BHIPL has established a fully-automated foundry division to manufacture SG iron and grey iron components to meet the demands of leading corporates in the country.
Having grown into a globally recognized brand, Barani has not forgotten its roots and continues to extend its support to the society by aiding the education of the youth in rural parts of the country. Barani has also co-founded a group of educational institutions named Jayshriram Educational Institutions (Science and Engineering colleges) for serving the local community in Tripur district of Tamil Nadu.
On the business front, with plenty of opportunities ahead, the company aims to consolidate itself as one of the world leaders in hydraulic press manufacture by 2018-19. Considering the progress the company has made, it would be apt to say that Barani is perfectly in sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision as it continues to highlight India’s globally-competent capabilities in the manufacture of capital equipment.