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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
ing; and Nisshinbo Ind. of Japan for
brake linings, disc pads and clutch
facings.
With the Indian automotive indus-
try currently facing a slowdown, the
MOTORINDIA Managing Editor
& Publisher, R. Natarajan, recently
spoke to Mr. L. Ganesh, Chairman
of the Rane Group, to find out the
special measures initiated by his
group to face the challenges ahead.
In his response, Mr. Ganesh ex-
plained the overall company strat-
egy and the series of steps taken to
tackle the industry slowdown.
Referring to the current year
performance, he said Rane Brake
Lining Ltd. (RBL) and Rane NSK
Steering Systems Ltd. did fairly
well in the first quarter, whereas the
other group companies reported a
flat business. The Rane Group has
now decided to focus on fixed cost
management, training of skilled
manpower, etc.
According to Mr. Ganesh, the oth-
er important aspect of Rane’s new
initiative is innovation, for which
the company has set benchmarks
with successful groups like the Tatas
and Mahindra & Mahindra, and
even invited Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan
of Tata Sons to share his experience
with the Rane management team. At
the same time, the team members
were sent to select Tata and Mahin-
dra Group companies to learn about
the innovative methods adopted by
them.
Further, he said, with acute power
shortage in different States, the Rane
Group has felt constrained to launch
its energy conservation drive. It has
also decided to go slow on invest-
ment in view of the current industry
slowdown. Actually, the company
has its original plan of investing Rs.
230 crores for capacity expansion
this year. However, only a portion
of this amount was spent in the first
quarter, and the balance would be
spent depending upon market de-
mand revival.
Award-winning performance
Mr. Ganesh further observed that
the Rane Group companies have
received several coveted prizes and
Awards, including the Deming Prize
for four group companies. Apart
from it, the Power Steering Division
of Rane TRW won the Japanese
Gold Medal last year. This is the
third Indian company to receive this
Award. The other Awards received
were Asia’s Best Employer Brand
Award for ‘Talent Management’
from the Employer Branding Insti-
tute, at Singapore, and Rane Engine
Valve Ltd.’s (REVL) bagging of the
elite 4th position in the auto com-
ponent industry division of India’s
Great Place to Work Study 2012.
Referring to the development of
new products, he pointed out that it
is always Rane’s endeavour to work
closely with all OEMs with an in-
novative approach. For instance, for
the first time in India, Rane (Ma-
component zone
Striking a positive note, Mr. Ganesh said that the year just gone by
was pretty good for the Rane Group with around 19 per cent aver-
age growth compared to the previous year. The group companies
achieved an overall export growth of 17 per cent. They also received
encouraging business orders, including a sizeable one from Daimler
India Commercial Vehicles as well as a big order for electronic pow-
er steering from Maruti for its Swift model cars. Similarly, overseas
business was quite good for all the Rane Group companies.