Pennar Industries, a key player in the engineering components business, revealed its focus at this year’s Excon, with CEO Shivakumar Kappana stating, “Pennar as a group has identified Hydraulics as one of our key areas of growth.” Emphasizing the significant potential in hydraulic cylinders, he highlighted the company’s aim to grow the business tenfold in the next three years.
“To achieve this growth, we’ve invested in a plant in Chennai with a current capacity to produce 500,000 cylinders. We are further expanding by adding new machines such as a friction welding machine, skiving and burnishing machine, and line balancing equipment,” said Shivakumar, underlining the company’s commitment to infrastructure and capacity building.
Explaining Pennar’s product offerings, Shivakumar shared, “We started with standard cylinders and gradually moved to customized products. Currently, our standard range constitutes 30%, while the customized range is 70%. Our primary focus areas include construction, earthmoving, agricultural, material handling, and truck hydraulics.”
Addressing the challenge of high acquisition costs, Shivakumar clarified Pennar’s approach: “We are clear about the product development cycle, which generally takes 12 to 16 months. We invest time and energy in developing robust products, implementing best practices from the automotive industry, ensuring good engineering, and delivering high- performance products.”
Reflecting on the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24, Shivakumar noted, “The hydraulic industry has performed well, driven by the China plus one strategy. We have experienced steady growth over the last five years and plan to continue this trajectory. Our major markets include the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and a strong focus on the growing Indian market.”
Shivakumar projected a balanced revenue distribution, stating, “We anticipate 40% of our revenues to come from international markets and 60% from the domestic market in the next three years, with India playing a crucial role in our growth strategy.”