Winds of change can be felt at Prakash Seating’s Attibele plant near Hosur in Bangalore. Not only is it indication to the planting of multiple saplings of ‘neem’ at the newly made-over industrial unit, but also to how the company is looking at creating a strong identity in bus seat manufacturing. And transformation is the key word here brought in by Mr. S. Rengarajan, Director, Prakash Seating, a veteran with more than 35 years of experience in the automotive industry.
The four-year-old Prakash Seating is known, but in three southern States currently, for making bus seats par excellence.
Mr. Rengarajan is ready to kick-start a well-planned and aggressive growth phase for the company. “Exceeding customer expectation is our motto. And key to it is offering ‘stakeholder or customer delight’. Prakash Seating is all about quality – be it the product, services, business processes and systems, giving our employees good working environment, giving our suppliers and customers value-addition.”
He and his young associate, Mr. Pradeep Ambavaram, also a Director at Prakash Seating, are enthusiastic about the term they have coined between them – ‘shareholder delight’, which according to them is the catalyst for Prakash Seating.
Delightful offer
If Mr. Rengarajan believes that ensuring the delight factor of his shareholders is imperative to get wider reach, then Mr. Ambavaram feels that the spirit behind the term extends to their aftersales services as well. And that is their endeavour – to reach out to major transport hubs across the country with their product.
Mr. Rengarajan observes: “Customer’s delight is fundamental. Anyone who sits on our seat in a bus is our customer. My aim is that people derive the delight factor from the business we do – from the seat’s quality, comfort and reliability.” For him, prior to business come the customers. And, hence, giving them small delights to win them over, permanently!
Mr. Ambavaram agrees: “With a bus seat, the impact is immediate. So, our seats have the AIS023 certification which means they are ready for the domestic markets, and we can take it forward to the export markets even. And our seats are specific to people in different regions as well.”
A brand, which till now has been under major business dependence from its group firm – S.M. Kannappa Automobiles and Prakash Roadlines Group – is now coming into its own identity with the expanding customer base and channel partners.
According to Mr. Rengarajan, this is possible only when Prakash Seating makes continuous improvements in delivering efficiency and comfort, besides being in compliance of all standards, systems and procedures making it a rule-following entity and, in turn, achieving total quality management.
New haute seats
Dhruv, ATX – 17, Prince, Royal Touch, Legend – UG, and Pallakki – UG are some of the new haute seats that were unveiled recently at the Prakash Seating plant. The star seat, Dhruv, has the best-in-class features such as comfort and ergonomic seat design, besides being light weight, user-friendly adjustable foot rests, mobile charging ports placed between the seats and retractable arm rests.
Mr. Ambavaram explains how a seat, especially made by Prakash Seating, is not just any seat, “Our seats are built for dynamic conditions. Comfort and safety are two USPs that are imperative for us to have in our products. Our seats have limited recline and retractable arm rests because in case of emergencies while rushing out these two will not hamper the movements of a panicking passenger. Then the backs of the head rests have cushioned pads which aim to protect the passenger’s head from hitting a hard surface in case the driver brakes suddenly.”
Not every seat is born the same, says Mr. Rengarajan, “An engineered seat is all about value addition. If I make my seats lighter in weight, then not only does the bus operator benefit but the bus chassis manufacturer does too. Reduction in every gram of seat weight results in, may be, better mileage, saving of fuel, lesser wear and tear of tyres because the weight of the bus is lessened to that extent. Prakash Seating makes seats which on an average offer 150-200 kg reduction in weight per bus compared to other seats.”
Front row seating
With such a resounding benefit, coupled with pressure mapping of seats to evaluate ergonomics of their seats, Prakash Seating is creating much-sought-after hot seats, “A seat can be evaluated scientifically where pressure mapping checks the physical comfort of a passenger by checking the distribution of body weight in the seat, contact and pain points and their impact on the body if any during a journey of a few hours. Mapping of the seat to arrive at an average of 90-95 per cent rating is the difference between an engineered seat and an ordinary one,” explains Mr. Rengarajan. It is all about re-inventing the existing concept to make it more valuable.
Internationally, the seating comfort standard is close to 95 per cent even as the expected average hovers at 80 per cent. Prakash Seating is aiming for higher levels of comfort and to address issues wherever their products travel.
Mr. Ambavaram shares: “We have started creating outsourced service points so that we can attend to issues the same day. This addresses the biggest challenge which we have been facing till now. We aim to offer the most dependable and comfortable seats. Our bottom line is – no seat goes empty.”
Though since inception Prakash Seating has made a name for itself in the staff bus category, the energetic duo wants to make their presence felt at the State-run road transport corporations in a big way. “One of the new models is meant for the average commuter on our Indian roads travelling in RTC buses in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, besides an extension of them going into Tamil Nadu as well. These new models specifically suit the people demographics of the south Indians,” says Mr. Ambavaram.
Prakash Seating is aware of the in-built obstacles in the journey to achieve the various goals it has set for itself. “Challenges are many, from speed of delivery, cost reduction to making our existing capacity increase its yield. I believe that feeling hungry is crucial to achieving lofty yet tangible goals,” he adds.
With its current installed capacity of rolling out seats for 5,000 buses per year, Prakash Seating wants to up it by a 1,000 by next year. And this requires considerable efforts, time, clear strategies and planning to consolidate the core business.
‘Seated’ right
In a highly fragmented market of seat manufacturing, the unorganized makers hold a strong sway over the market. Breaking into such a market and competing with established brands with a quality product will require patience, besides consolidation and aggressive marketing. Until recently, before the GST roll-out, the hefty logistics cost made a dent into the operations of Prakash Seating. But Mr. Rengarajan is confident enough. He says: “With more clarity on the GST’s positive impact on the economy, we can now plan ahead to transport our products across the country quickly, efficiently and at a lower cost. By next year, we should have expanded to three to four markets minimum.”
Prakash Seating is slowly and steadily working towards the organic growth of its existing product and aiming for nearly 30 per cent growth rate per annum. With Mr. Rengarajan at the helm of affairs as the strategist and with the unconditional support of Mr. Ambavaram as a promoter, the company is all set to become a name to reckon with in bus seating sooner than later.