Delux Bearings is India’s largest manufacturer of clutch release bearings, with the widest range enjoying a pan-India and global footprint with OEMs. This is not an understatement if one counts on the 13-part variants alone for clutch release bearings that the company produced in FY 2017-18. Sustained efforts to offer multiple solutions to the OEM customer and in the aftermarket have produced results.
The company revenue has been growing consistently. “In the year ending March 18, Delux grew by 18 per cent and closed at Rs. 110 crores, and for the year ending March 19 we are targeting Rs. 150 crores. Growth in FY 17-18 was driven by the surge in demand from the M&HCV segment and also the tractor segment,” disclosed Mr. Kirti Rathod, Chairman and Managing Director, Delux Bearings Pvt. Ltd.
Elaborating on the steps taken to accelerate growth, he added: “Apart from the clutch release bearings, new part numbers were introduced in the other product categories, primary of which were front axle bearings, ball bearings and gear box bearings. In the year 18-19, we believe dual mass flywheel bearing and concentric slave cylinder will pave way for growth. In 4 to 7 tonnes vehicles and 8 to 12 tonnes it will be concentric slave cylinder bearings and dual mass flywheel will be more for SUV and passenger car segments.”
The upturn in the commercial vehicle segment, especially in the M&HCV segment where OEMs want to come up with different variants, encouraged Delux Bearings to work on multiple solutions. The company is taking other initiatives that are proactive and well-planned. The CMD reflected: “We are supposed to ramp up our capacity by at least 15 per cent and have gone to the drawing board and done that. Both at the Surendranagar and Pune plants, we will have three shifts in order to meet the growing demand. The Surendranagar plant can shell out 7 million units per annum and the Pune plant around 2 million units.”
Asked about its revenue share bifurcation among the OEMs, aftermarket and exports, Mr. Rathod said: “The contribution of export is about 30 per cent, aftermarket 35 per cent and OEMs 35 per cent. Our Pune plant is more towards catering to the Indian OEMs and Surendranagar is for export and partially towards non-compete Indian OEMs as well as some carry-over orders from the Pune plant. As mentioned, we are keen on all the segments, be it truck-trailers, SUVs, tractors or passenger vehicles, and are bringing in changes keeping in mind the requirements during the BS-VI regime. The best way we feel to keep them alive is to have new products for all the segments and have new customers for each product.”
The strength of any engineering company lies in its facing challenges through innovation. “We aspire to create a better tomorrow through design & development that even involves potential new customers, new technology and keeping in mind the material choices and light-weighting customer requirements,” stated Mr. Rathod.
His son, Mr. Rohan Rathod, CEO, also falls in line with the CMD’s statement: “With a dedicated application team, road map of investment into testing, CAE, digital simulations and the passion to innovate, we are able to deliver faster results. Rohan understands designing and has managed to form a formidable synergy between the R&D, customers and manufacturing.”
In another attempt to fortify its product reach, the company is digitizing the network of its dealers, distributors and retailers. The CMD said: “We have got 125 dealers and around 800 retailers who are most loyal to us. The online data will make available information regarding the existing stock and the new part number produced periodically.”
Undoubtedly, there is a lot of technological transformation in the bearing business, and Delux Bearings’ sustained effort to offer multiple solutions is on course.