Madras Engineering Industries (MEI) is a leading home-grown manufacturer of manual slack adjusters, automatic slack adjusters and parts for air brake systems for light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles. The company has been exporting automatic slack adjusters to the UK, Europe, the US, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia since 2000 and has attracted good response for its quality products.
The company has developed a new air-disc brake which was showcased at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover last September. Said Mr. K.R. Ramesh, COO, Madras Engineering Industries Pvt. Ltd.: “Our new air-disc brake is for the European market to start with as it is too early for the Indian market. We are sure that Indian vehicles too will require such brakes before long. It is a highly-engineered product we have been developing over the last two-and-a-half years. About 95 per cent of it is made in India with nearly 65 per cent of the components made by us in-house. This is important because our intention is to scale up volumes, go to the European market and then be ready when the Indian market demand picks up.”
While the new air-disc brake comes in 32 different variants to cater to the needs of the replacement market, MEI plans to roll out around 50 variants of the product over the next few years. The current range with dual pistons and wear sensing option (3 types) will be expanded to include single piston variants and carrier assembly in the coming months.
Talking about the response to the new product, Mr. Ramesh added: “The MEI stall (at IAA) was very active during the fair, which reflects the interest the OEMs and other customers in Europe have shown on our new product. The air-disc brake has been engineered with specific features to prevent water ingress, provide better sealing, performance and braking and, despite all these USPs, it will be offered at a very attractive price point so that it wins big in the market.”
MEI currently has a capacity to produce 1,000 units of the new product every month and is in the process of building a new plant at Mahindra World City near Chennai which would increase its monthly capacity to 5,000 units in FY17-18. The new plant will house a TUV-certified dynamometer that would take MEI’s testing capabilities to world-class standards. While the firm is working in tune with the OEM customers in the Indian market, 30 per cent of its total revenue comes from exports, keeping it insulated from down cycles domestically.