Ster, the Polish manufacturer of high quality seats for inter-city coaches, buses, mini-buses and trams of the highest European standard, has come out with its latest innovation – the ultralight seat family for city buses. The new range of seats showcased at the Busworld show in Kortrijk last year comes with a host of advantages to customers, including significant fuel savings.
Since inception in 1993, Ster has grown into a preferred supplier of seating systems to a number of major European bus and coach manufacturers like Scania, Volvo, Iveco and MAN who have shown a special liking for the products known for their world-class quality and ease of maintenance. The seat maker, with its state-of-the-art plant at Szamotuly, Poland, produces all types of seat elements like plastic, metal corpus, plastic inserts, foam cushion, upholstery, etc., with the latest knowledge in ergonomics and design, to offer an optimum blend of high comfort and maximum safety for passengers. It has recently set up its new production facility in China to further expand its production capacity across the globe.
The company has already identified a partner in India and is working with Indian vehicle bus and coach manufacturers as well. Talking to MOTORINDIA on the company’s plans for the Indian market, Mr. Piotr Nowak, Key Account Manager, Ster Sp. Z o.o., said: “India is a fast-changing market with the Indian seat manufacturers doing very well, especially in the inter-city bus segment. In order to have our presence felt in India, we have partnered with our ex-customer who owns a metal works unit close to Chennai. We are already working with major OEMs like Ashok Leyland in the Indian market and will continue to expand our presence in the country. We also work with Tata Hispano in Spain.”
Ster is in the process of setting up an assembly facility near Chennai and is expected to have full-fledged operations up and running in the next two years. “Since we have just commenced our operations, we need to be more organized, and I am confident that we will be ready in a couple of years. Initially we will focus on assembly operations and then move on to injection moulding and further technology transfer. We shall provide the same quality as we provide to our customers in Europe but at a competitive price to suit the requirements of the Indian market”, added Mr. Nowak.
Ster’s manufacturing facilities are equipped with world-class automated machines that contribute to the top-notch product quality. The company holds a 90 per cent market share in the city bus segment in Central Europe and also has good presence in other parts of the region.
A significant share of Ster’s production is exported to global markets, including North America, China, India, Australia and others, in addition to countries in the European region. One of the key factors which has contributed to Ster’s global success has been the product light-weight. It manufactures seats that weigh as low as 13.5 kg, just half the weight of traditionally manufactured seats across the globe. Over the years, the company has had its strong focus on R&D and innovation and has recently stepped it up with a new R&D centre at Swadzim in Poland.