Prabha Engineering, designer and manufacturer of wiper system, windshield washer system and industrial motors, has turned 60 this year. With a humble beginning in 1958 at the hands of Mr. Yeshwant N. Chaphekar, the founder, and the entrepreneurial excellence of the current Chairman, Mr. Jaywant Chaphekar, Prabha Engineering, has served the Indian automotive industry with innovative product offerings from time to time. All these years what has remained unchanged is the company’s insatiable quest for innovation and precision for engineering products.
Today Prabha Engineering is one of the leading players in India not only manufacturing wiper system & windshield washer system for commercial as well as passenger vehicles, but also exporting motorised products to the US, employing over 600 associates at two of its locations in Maharashtra.
On the company’s 60th year, MOTORINDIA spoke to the third-generation member of the Group, Mr. Shrikant J. Chaphekar, Managing Director, Prabha Engineering Pvt. Ltd., on the company’s recent developments. “We have been doing wiper and washer system for a long time and have addressed various factors such as NVH, weight reduction and Ingress Protection (IP) in the last 60 years. We have set ourselves in line with the global standards and our products are nearly 40 per cent lighter than what is available in the Indian and some of the global markets,” said Mr. Chaphekar.
The confidence of the company about its wiper systems also stems from the patented technology and features that it acquired from DY Auto, a leading South Korean technology company. “DY Auto is an expert in producing more than 50 million motors of various types, such as wiper systems, washers, blower fan motors, window regulator motors, etc. With its proven technology we have not only been able to achieve a decent reduction in the weight of the wiper system but have also been able to lower the noise levels and the IP (Ingress Protection) required by the Indian automotive industry,” he added.
Evolution of the industry
Given the change the automotive industry has undergone with smart sensors, telematics and batteries coming into play, how has been the growth of the key products at Prabha Engineering like? “Products have undoubtedly evolved, but packaging constraints have always been challenging. Factors such as weight reduction, and NVH levels of the motors have been getting stringent in the past few years. We are all seeing the cabins of trucks getting quieter, average driving speed getting higher and highways becoming wider. Amidst all this, our goal is to give as much clearer vision to the drivers as possible and hence our solutions focus on the efficiency of cleaning. With, in-house R&D, testing and simulation labs, we are working on how efficiently and effectively we can clean for the fact that, the trucks are now driven at higher speeds. One of the main areas where we have been focusing is how can we improve the safety by providing good cleaning efficiency for wiper system,” answered Mr. Chaphekar.
Modern electrical / electronic equipment & instrumentation make use of ever increasing sophisticated electronics, making them prone to malfunctioning / mis-operation due to issues related to electromagnetic interference (EMI) / electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) which can either permanently damage the equipment or can even cause damage to the vehicle in which the equipment may be embedded / networked. “To ensure that there are no failures related to electromagnetic interference stringent EMI/EMC compatibility test codes & procedures have been developed by the relevant national / international standards. We have been adhering to all basic levels of specifications of EMI/EMC compliance,” he added.
The way ahead
Keeping in view the growing demand from its OEM customers and the bullish market for automotive in the next few years, Prabha Engineering added a new manufacturing facility in January 2018 at Pune. Speaking about the unit, the MD shared: “We have introduced two new products, viz., 50 Nm motor for commercial vehicles and a 32 Nm motor for passenger vehicles. Apart from a new washer pump which doubles up as a high-pressure pump, the plant boasts of a capacity of 1 million units per annum, and along with our existing plant we will be able to produce 1.5 million units per annum on different lines.”
He asserted: “We, a company, also aspire to be a significantly leading player for wiper system & windshield washer systems in the years to come having a strong technology product packaged at a competitive price for passenger cars, M&HCVs, LCVs, etc.”
