Midtronics battery management solutions well received in India

Company planning foray into aftermarket operations

Mr. Aurovindo Jati, Head – South Asia & Middle East, Midtronics Inc., (fourth from right), with his team

With a 30-year history of investment in innovative technologies and expert engineering talent, Midtronics of the US has developed reliable, quality products for a customer list that includes nearly all of the world’s automotive, heavy truck and motor sports vehicle manufacturers, battery manufacturers, distributors and dealers. Customers around the world trust Midtronics for battery testing and charging equipment and complete battery management programs.

Talking to MOTORINDIA, Mr. Aurovindo Jati, Head – South Asia & Middle East, Midtronics Inc., shared his views on the significant developments in the Indian market for his company’s products and its future focus. He said: “The Indian market has been very positive for us. In the last two years we have grown nearly threefold from half a million to US $1.5 million. We owe this success to our customers’ confidence in us and our products.”

Since the days of pioneering a new standard in battery testing with conductance technology, Midtronics has remained singularly focused on innovation and continues to apply its knowledge and technology, in close partnership with customers, to create new solutions. Its partnership with Exide Batteries, a market leader with 70 per cent market share in India, has been a significant development for the company. “We have struck a great deal with Exide Batteries. Our new product is exclusively designed for Exide with Bluetooth application which enables sales/service personnel to transfer the data using a tab from the customer spot to Exide SAP service system. As a result, the decision on the warranty claim is taken instantly which facilitates product replacement for the customer in no time. A process which took days can now be done within minutes. This is a huge revolution in the battery testing market”, said Mr. Jati.

Apart from testing batteries, the company’s products provide critical information on the vehicle’s auto electrical system functioning to customers. The new Start-Stop technology is catching up in the passenger car industry in which batteries would play a vital role. The Reserve Capacity (RC) of batteries will be a very critical factor to determine the vehicle performance and in turn, customer satisfaction. Midtronics also has the capability to analyse the condition of a battery through special algorithms. Its testers are very easy to handle as they are designed to give clear instructions to the operators so that there is no problem or difficulty in using them.

Midtronics’ products are used in all the dealerships of Toyota, Ford across the country where it is used to check the battery when a vehicle enters and give a report before it leaves the workshop. Its devices are being effectively used for preventive maintenance, sales promotions and complaint management in all major dealerships of Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Honda among others. The company also works closely with most of the battery manufacturers in India for offering customizing product solutions. “We have deployed more than 15,000 motorcycle battery testers and around 2,500 automotive battery testers in India. We have also got approval from Maruti Suzuki for three of our models, which is quite a feat”, disclosed Mr. Jati. In the commercial vehicle space, Midtronics is a 100 per cent supplier of testing equipment to Volvo, Scania and Mercedes Benz.

As the vehicle market continues its rapid evolution, Midtronics continues to advance its capabilities and technology investments. The company research and development is focused on technologies for testing and charging advanced lead acid, NimH and Li-ion batteries and packs, as well as the service technologies required for testing hybrid and electric vehicles. “We are entering into lithium-ion battery management and have received endorsements form Nissan Leaf and Toyota globally. As for India, with the new government at the Centre, there is good scope for growth of lithium-ion technology in the country”, he added.

With current penetration levels of 30-40 per cent in the Indian market, the company targets doubling of turnover in the next couple of years. Its next focus in India will be to develop its aftermarket business which holds huge potential for its products.

New product introduction

Buoyed by the excellent response to its existing product range, Midtronics has added another product – the DSS-7000 Battery Diagnostic Service System – for the Indian market. This system answers the challenges posed by contemporary and future vehicles, including capabilities for new battery and system types, new business procedures, and a new generation of service technicians familiar with app-based technology.