The NORMA Group is a pioneer when it comes to innovations in design and manufacture of automotive clamps, connectors and fluid solutions. The German brand which has a strong presence in the Indian market, with its production facility in Pune, is working on further expanding its offerings for customers this year by sharpening its focus on solutions related to exhaust systems.
The year 2015 started on a positive note for Norma in line with its anticipation of strong growth in the auto segment following new Government initiatives such as “Make in India” and setting up of specific business zones, freight corridors and industrial parks, apart from developing highways, ports and railway infrastructure. The company made good progress during the year and bagged new projects and pumped in fresh investments into its manufacturing facility.
Says Mr. Atul Gambhir, Managing Director, Norma Group Products India Pvt. Ltd., in an exclusive chat with MOTORINDIA: “For NORMA India the year 2015 was exciting. We made further inroads with our existing customers by offering them superior Engineered Joining Technology products. We secured many new projects during the year in the field of cooling water systems, urea transfer systems, including heated and non-heated lines, as well as fuel and oil transport systems. Apart from that, we invested in our local manufacturing capabilities and capacities: for instance, we started manufacture of our renowned V band clamps for use in heavy duty diesel engine exhaust systems and turbo-chargers. We also started in-house manufacturing of polyamide tubes for our flex solutions. With these initiatives backed up by a special focus on Project Management and Quality systems, we were able to provide the right solutions to our customers at the right cost. This has been acknowledged with various accolades and awards won.”
This year, Norma’s focus would be on emission-related products such as exhaust clamps, Urea transfer systems required for Selective Catalytic Reduction or on clamps required for charged air applications. “We would certainly like to provide our solutions related to exhaust systems to OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers. We see a rise in demand for quality worm-drive hose clamps, and hence our focus to strengthen our portfolio of localized clamps and grow our market share. Our T bolts and spring loaded T bolts will be further refined to suit the customer-specific requirements”, adds Mr. Gambhir.
Norma’s solution in the exhaust gas after treatment segment is the NORMAFLEX urea lines. It is used for transport of urea fluid from the urea supply module to the dosing module of the system. Urea is used in the “Selective Catalytic Reduction” (SCR) technology and is injected into the exhaust system in order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. Stricter emission regulation and exhaust treatment standards raise the need for OEMs to turn to innovative solutions such as SCR products in order to comply with the standards. The thermoplastic lines that transport the urea fluid can be heated and non-heated. Since urea freezes at -11°C, an electric heating is required to unfreeze the system and ensure that it functions and keeps the urea liquid.
Mr. Kalyan Deshpande, Head – Business Development, NORMA Group Products India Pvt. Ltd., explains: “The second generation of NORMAFLEX urea lines has the heating rod inside the urea fluid instead of having it wrapped around the tube. This design enhances the heat efficiency, which goes directly into the medium and helps to reduce the amount of electrical power used. In addition, the system is weight-optimised due to specialised plastic materials used, contributing further to reducing the overall weight of the vehicle.”
The perspective of outsourcing the components from OEMs has evolved with major changes over a period of time with quality and reliability becoming a must. While every supplier is expected to deliver parts at the required acceptance quality level, Norma’s focus is on educating the OEMs in adopting new technologies which would enable them meet their targets on multiple fronts such as emission, weight and leakage reduction, quick and easy assembly, serviceability, etc.
With the recently announced emission norms by the Government to move directly from BS IV to BS VI standard by 2020 likely to create the need for highly reliable joining and connecting solutions, Norma is well placed to meet these requirements. “As we move ahead with stricter emission norms in India, we can support our customers in the passenger car and M&HCV segments with solutions such as the urea lines, exhaust clamps, clamps for charged air applications, etc., that help them meet the emission-related requirements”, adds Mr. Deshpande.
As for the future, the company expects sustained growth for the Indian automotive industry in line with the growing economy and rising demand from B and C cities. It believes that factors such as the opening up of the mining sector and the Government plans to improve infrastructure by building better quality roads, ports, freight corridors, etc., would help grow the country’s automotive sector faster in the coming years.
“We still have some untapped areas, and we also see a lot of potential for our solutions as the emission norms are becoming more and more stringent. We are introducing the group’s know-how and design expertise at an optimum cost by locally manufacturing the products. We will work with the OEMs’ R&D teams, so that the new technologies and solutions can be worked out as per their requirements”, concludes Mr. Gambhir.