Marquardt India Pvt. Ltd. (Marquardt India), which bagged its biggest order from Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle for keyless entry and keyless start system two years ago, has similar focus for Commercial Vehicles in India. “We have spoken to many CV OEMs and they have shown keen interest in acquiring the keyless go system for trucks and we feel we might have to prepone our plans to commission the products by 2018 in India instead of the earlier plan of starting by 2020,” said Mr. Johannes Mattes, Associate General Manager, Marquardt India.
Marquardt India should be able to meet its ambition, as the CV industry is moving in the direction of company build cabins for trucks. “When OEM decides that the cabins must be world class we will contribute with switches for the comfort and safety of the cabins and other safety and comfort features, we will be able to add value to the commercial vehicle segment,” beamed Mr. Ran Bahadur Singh, CEO, Marquardt India.
Unique value proposition
The Marquardt Group, founded in 1925 in Germany, is active in two product areas – Automotive and Switches, Sensors & Controls. The company designs and develops panel switches, drive authorization systems composed by electronic key, electronic ignition starter switch, electronic steering column lock, keyless go-systems, control devices and bus-capable switches. The Switches and Sensors & Controls division provides innovative product solutions to meet the needs of a wide variety of applications and industries. Given its contribution to vehicles beyond just supplying switches, it would be right to say Marquardt is a brand that moves more than just switches.
“Apart from automotive, our switches and sensors are found in all kinds of household and, electrical appliances, industrial and HVAC equipment and cleaning and drive systems. On the commercial vehicle side our HMI and driver authorization products add a lot of value,” informed Mr. Debasish Tripathy, Head – System Engineering, Marquardt India.
He elaborated: “OEMs need multiplexing for low floor which requires very low current, and with our switches we are able to provide the desired results. We have flexible rocker switches for CVs. The user can use the same switch for an AC to a hazardous application. Our competitors will have 10 different switches different connector and OEMs suffers the pain to manage bigger supplier base and more assembly tact time. In our case, from a comfort function to a 100 per cent legal function the switches works the same way.”
Thus commercial vehicle space is not new altogether for Marquardt India. It can make switches for all vehicle types involving human machine interface (HMI). The company also has been an approved government supplier for all the buses sanctioned in India.
“We have had the privilege to work with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland on the buses that were funded under JNNURM in India. We have worked with DICV, and the global players like Volvo and Scania too. In fact, Marquardt India has been a 100 per cent single source supplier for DICV and many low-floor buses. We have a German heritage of quality and precision and we do not compromise on the standard anywhere in the world,” said Mr. Mattes.
Designed & developed in India
Marquardt India’s ability to deliver customer and market-specific flexible solutions makes it a premium player, a technology leader and a strong partner to the industries served. “In 2016, we made 500,000 units of various switches and aim to produce 10 lakh units for commercial vehicles by the end of next year. The number will go up to 30-40 lakh units per year as we set up another manufacturing unit near the current Pune location. The switches that we are considering will not only be for Indian consumption but also for the other markets. The cost will come down if we get volumes,” explained Mr. Mattes.
In this regard, the investment in the design and development center in India three years ago was a great step. The center is equipped with state-of-art environment responsible for design and development of products for automotive and sensors projects as par global requirements. “Our diverse mechatronics engineers have immense potential to grow design and develop activities for customers across the globe. It is a big advantage for the Indian OEMs that our solutions derived from the skills of these Indian engineers will come from a global knowhow and lineage of the Marquardt Group,” he added.
Marquardt also has a robust manufacturing unit in Mumbai, responsible for assembly and business operation of mechatronic systems. It is equipped with an in-house molding department, tool room, and test labs. “In sync with our proficient design department the manufacturing facility works together to design and produce extremely sophisticated high quality switches,” added Mr. Nitin Khade, Head – Business Unit, Marquardt India.
One of the other areas of focus for Marquardt India is developing ECUs for batteries. “We are developing all the ECUs needed for the hybrid and fully electric cars. Our ECU is responsible for cell monitoring, Battery Management & voltage distribution on the car. This requires measuring the current consumption of the ECUs as a function of software to avoid errors, power loss, accidents, etc.,” said Mr. Mattes. Notably it is develop in India for Europe.
It is for its top performance in terms of quality, partnership and innovation for which Marquardt has been recognised by DAIMLER as a best supplier. “There were around 300 competitors, and for fiscal year 2016 we were among the top three in the innovation category. This makes Marquardt one of the world’s best Daimler suppliers globally”, concluded by Mr. Mattes.