Together with Twin Vision na. Inc., a subsidiary of DRI Corporation and a Mobitec US sister company, the company has been setting standards in the development for new technologies for usage on vehicles in public transport.
As one of the pioneers in the field of electronic information displays engineering Mobitec employees, driven by their customers demand, feel inspired and obliged to continue this tradition adding products and services with groundbreaking technologies and high quality.
“Our philosophy is clear”, stated Mr. Oliver Wels, VP DRI and COO, Mobitec Group. “We give our best for customers who expect the best, and we live a culture of excellence in all we do that is based on shared values. The corporate history of our organization is full of innovations and pioneering global market presence; they are the foundation and ongoing stimulus for our claim to leadership in the public transportation industry.”
Mr. Wels further commented: “The principle of sustainable technology enhancing mobility within the public transportation industry underlies all of our thoughts and actions. The people in our organization intend to create beneficial value – for our shareholders, customers, all business associates and the environment in general. We have seen the markets for public transportation growing for the last 20 years – driven by higher fuel prices, general economical instability (in many other businesses than public transport), resulting in increases in ridership in many areas. That has led us growing our EIDS (Electronic Information Display Systems) line of business being present in more than 50 countries worldwide to support our customers in a superior way and to anticipate future demands making available new efficient technologies first”.
Mobitec products are used in more than 50 countries today. “Our customers are benefiting from our unique service and distribution network, which comprises 38 official distributors supporting products made in four facilities located in the US, Brazil, Sweden and India. Especially India – as the world’s fastest growing market for buses used in public transportation – has emerged being very demanding. Our long experience in the global market environments has been very beneficial for our new customers, which today we serve from our modern factory in New Delhi.”
Castmaster Mobitec India Pty. Ltd., a joint venture between Castmaster and Mobitec, started as local service and customer support center for India two years ago, today operates a 20,000 square feet factory with an annual manufacturing capacity of 20,000 bus sets (LED signs, interior signs, GPS-enabled control units, acoustical voice announcement systems, cabling and bracketry).
Castmaster Mobitec is prepared to serve customers’ demands through a newly-developed set of LED signs, especially made for the Indian market environment and 24/7 service support.
Mr. Rahul Jain, Director of Castmaster Mobitec, said: “At Mobitec safety is grounded on expertise and success comes from experience. This combination of expertise and experience is a corporate attitude which our customers understand and appreciate. We can see our customers being confident in concentrating on their core business, knowing they can leave their concerns of supplying their mobile passenger information systems to us.”
Castmaster Mobitec started with its first order for 650 buses to DTC, and today it has an order book for 7,000 sets, thanks to the JNNURM order funded by the Government aimed at improving the standards of public transportation. The company has developed a product specifically to meet the requirement of the Indian market. The product has been indigenized to a large extent and will see further local added value over a period to come. The company has established an efficient supply base in India.
The Indian JV currently employs 25 people and this will be raised to 40 by mid-2010. It has bagged orders from all major OEMs including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Volvo-Eicher. “We are possibly the only supplier to guarantee deliveries in the shortest possible time. In the last one year, we have emerged as the global leader in manufacture and supply of electronic signs,” said Mr. Wels.
Mobitec’s display systems each contain MobiLED front, side and rear displays. Furthermore, MobiSTOP, the internal display for showing the next stop, and the digital announcement system MobiVOICE, including the control unit MobiMASTER ICU 600 with a GPS module, will be fitted.
“One of the important learnings for us is we never believed that such a competitive cost level can be achieved before we entered in India. We are taking the Indian knowledge and learnings into the rest of the organization. We are on our way to becoming the most efficient producer of Electronic Information Display Systems in the Industry through the highest leverage of global volumes. Our plan is to establish our Indian operations potentially becoming the base for export other markets in Asia-Pacific”, Mr. Wels added.
Currently Mobitec is the global leader in the bus segment and the company plans to become and major player in the rail segment. India offers huge opportunity in the rail segment with the upcoming Metro projects and expansion of railways.
