Sidwal Technologies takes a giant leap with futuristic bus air-conditioners
Sidwal Technologies, the strategic business associate of Sidwal Refrigeration Industries Pvt. Ltd., is taking a giant leap that will change the dynamics of the Indian bus air-conditioner industry. The homegrown powerhouse is shortly launching a slew of products under the ‘Coolstar’ master brand, to cater to transporters, body builders and OEMs subsequently. To be competitively priced, the products will be efficient, durable and fuel-efficient.
During an interaction at its corporate office, Mr. Sher Singh Sidhu an NRI, Managing Director, Sidwal Refrigeration Industries Pvt. Ltd., disclosed: “We are in the process of rolling out a new generation of products under the ‘Coolstar’ master brand. It will truly be a game-changer for us because it will not only be competitively priced but will be incorporating features which are in tune with global standards. Our existing products have already been well accepted by the Indian Railways, Delhi Metro, Defence, Department of Telecommunication, DGS&D, business and other industries. Now it is time to prove our mettle in the CV industry. We are raising the bar in our bus air-conditioners, which is already doing phenomenal business.”
The confidence exuded by Mr. Sidhu is purely based on his hands-on experience with the previous, existing and upcoming product lines. Furthermore, he is backed by a team of experienced engineers and the management, including his son Mr. Ronsher S. Sidhu Mechanical Engineer from State University of New York and Mr. Sunil Raina, CEO, Sidwal Refrigeration.
Mr. Sidhu, who is himself involved in the development of the products, affirmed: “Sidwal will be rolling out 10 units of ‘Coolstar’ in the initial phase at our sprawling facility at Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh. It will be compact, lightweight slimmer and durable. Nearly 80 per cent localized, barring the compressors from Germany and motors from Italy. The microprocessor-based temperature controller, wiring harness, coil and fiberglass are made in-house.”
It may be recalled that Sidwal is also the first company in India to develop the roof-mounted bus Air-conditioners in 1999. The company bus air-conditioners have been approved by Tata Motors (formerly TELCO) and Swaraj Mazda as OEM parts. The Tata Motors’ bus used for the pre-inaugural Calcutta-Dhaka-Calcutta trip from April 8 to 10, 1999, was air-conditioned by Sidwal.
World-class facility
Sidwal has world class facilities at Faridabad (Haryana) and Kala-Amb (Himachal Pradesh), having young and dynamic engineers and technicians equipped with the latest computer-aided design systems and computer-aided manufacturing with CNC sheet metal presses, folding machines and brake presses. Cooling coils, condenser coils, blowers, motors, PCBs, FRP moulding and electrical panels produced in-house provide the cutting-edge benefit over the competition. In order to price its bus ACs competitively, the company pumped in Rs. 10 crores to establish a 55,000 sq.ft. facility at Kala Amb last year for rolling out CV air-conditioners. Now it is betting big on the bus-AC segment that contributes nearly 20 per cent of its total business.
Asked to shed some light on the new facility for bus air-conditioners in Himachal Pradesh, Mr. S.S. Sidhu observed: “It’s a world-class facility with an insulated building and is only making ACs for buses and their Heat Exchangers (in a 15,000 sq.ft. area) supported by automatic machines. We also manufacture all the fiberglass bodies in-house. Apart from that, we are making complete frames, pulleys and drives inside the new facility. The initial capacity is 200 air-conditioners a month, which is expandable to 500 per month. All the products are meant for the domestic market only.”
Technical Competence
Sidwal is catering to buses from 10-seaters to 90-seaters. They are for both inter-city and intra-city segments. The company came up with SR 16T last year replacing the current SR 15 and now SR36 to replace SR30 & SR32. It is now adding a new feature called ‘Automatic Speed Controller’. This is a step less control for varying air flow that will be incorporated across the product lines.
“Our products are tested in temperature-controlled chambers. The roof-mounted unit is designed in a manner that it can be mounted on roof of the body of the bus without disturbing the interiors.Since it is very sleek it allows the bus to be parked in a garage with a low ceiling,” revealed Mr. Sidhu, who is also a mechanical engineer from the University of Michigan, USA.
Features like ATC and ASC will be incorporated in Sidwal’s Coolstar-branded products. The company will eventually replace all its old models with new ones. It will initially start with allying with tourist and luxury bus segments.
Foray into refrigerated trucks
In its bid to fill up the white space in its CV portfolio, Sidwal is gearing up to foray into the truck AC segment too. Mr. Sidhu remarked: “We are developing the products which are tailor-made for Indian climatic conditions. We have a product line ready, and whenever there is an uptick in demand, we will roll it out commercially. We have already done the prototyping, in-house testing and are going to test-market them subsequently. Based on market response, we will take a call on its production at our Kala Amb facility where bus ACs are already being made. What I can assure is that the product range will definitely create a benchmark in the truck refrigeration industry in terms of quality, price and service.”
USPs
Asked about the USPs of the products, Mr. Sunil Raina, observed: “We have the technology in tune with the global standards. There is a technology transfer from railways and metro rails. Our ACs get re-fitted from old buses to new buses. We provide an unparalleled 24-hour service back-up. We have the best back-up in bus air-conditioning. Our service stations are located in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Patna, Jaipur, Bangalore and Kolkata, and there are 20 such outfits all across the country. The bottom line is that we are ready to take on any global player.”
Currently, Sidwal is having its main focus on the domestic market but is also shipping out its products to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Bhutan, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Direct market
Sidwal is planning to deliver its products directly to OEMs by next financial year. Once it is well accepted in the aftermarket, the company is confident of working along with SML Isuzu, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, BharatBenz, Satluj etc., on a grand scale.
Talking about his intention to firm up Sidwal’s presence in the OEM space, Mr. Raina shared: “We are primarily supplying to body builders. We now intend to cater to OEMs as we have already had prior experience working with SML Isuzu. Now with revamped products and a dedicated assembly line with modern machines, we are confident of allying with them. Although we are not holding talks with anyone, we are open to supplying to Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and other OEMs. We might even cater to tractors and construction equipment in a big way. Although we have not participated in the JNNURM (scheme) earlier, we might join it this time if fresh tenders are floated.”
History
When asked to shed some light on its diversification into the CV (bus) air-conditioning systems, Mr. Sher Singh Sidhu recalled: “In 1999, we were actually approached by Tata Motors to develop ACs for their buses which were supposed to take our then Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, from Delhi to Lahore. That became the turning point for us (to diversify into mobile refrigeration solutions). We have now supplied around 10,000 air-conditioners for buses in the country. We started making them at our Faridabad plant. We eventually got into the Defense applications and started making products for ‘Tatra’ defence vehicles, bullet-proof vehicles, Rakshak by Mahindra, mine-protected vehicles, military ambulances, etc. In addition, we are also supplying to Brahmos missiles (for space research), mobile vans, mobile libraries, mobile blood banks, and also some school buses.”
After spending 16 years in the US, Mr. Sidhu came to India and got into Design and Manufacturing business with desert coolers. Sidwal signed a contract with Voltas for designing and developing central air-conditioning equipment for them. It even started supplying desert coolers to Voltas and the latter did the marketing operations for them. Eventually, Sidwal later extended its product lines with heat convectors, water coolers, and fan coil units for central air-conditioning, in addition to air handling units. It also started supplying high-sensible cooling unit for telecom sectors in late 1980s. In the early 1990s, it got into railways when it came up with compact light weight air-cooled roof-mounted air-conditioners for first time in India.
A 2nd generation entrepreneur-cum-visionary
Mr. Sidhu’s son, Mr. Ronsher S. Sidhu completed his Mechanical Engineering from State University of New York and joined back his father’s business in 1996. His forte straddles across various domains comprising manufacturing, marketing, sales & new product development, customer service development and factory improvement.
“What I am enjoying at Sidwal is doing the job of a hands-on with my father. I have got the privilege to learn the basics as to where the problem comes from and how to fix it. I believe in providing reliable and long-lasting products to our patrons and customers which they value. We are just gearing up to gain more market share,” says Mr. Ronsher S. Sidhu
About the company
Headquartered in New Delhi, one of Sidwal’s key strengths lies in its complete self-reliance in manufacturing technologies. All its products have been designed and engineered in-house Sidwal entered the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry in 1974. Through extensive in-house research and development, Sidwal has come to be known for the excellent performance and quality of its products. The company believes that ‘Quality’ goes in before the ‘Name’ goes on.