Hindustan Composites Ltd. (HCL) has pioneered the development, manufacture and marketing of automotive and industrial friction materials in India, setting high standards in quality and technology through collaborations and in-house research and development over the last five decades. Established in 1964, the company had initial association with Ferodo, UK, for 30 years.
The company today has modern manufacturing facilities at Aurangabad & Bhandara in Maharashtra, and a pan-India marketing network with regional offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
The company’s R&D Centre at Aurangabad is recognized by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. The R&D Centre is equipped with all testing facilities, including six dynamometers, to take care of the testing requirements of OEM and other customers across CV, PV, tractor, railway, 3- and 2-wheeler segments. The state-of-the-art dynamometers, testing and analytical equipment make it a truly world-class facility which has made significant contribution towards development of new products.
With friction material playing a vital part in all automobile braking and transmission applications, HCL has adopted a proactive approach by continuously upgrading its technology of friction materials to meet growing market demands. Brake linings which used to be considered as a low technology product have changed its perception in the recent years with advanced technology to improve the braking performance, increased lining life and above all noiseless operation. It is not only the market dynamics which has brought innovative changes in friction material development but also the CMVR regulatory norms towards passenger safety and environmental protection. The expectation of the customers to have application-specific friction material grades has opened out enormous opportunities in the R&D field, indicates Mr. P.K. Choudhary, Managing Director, HCL. His viewpoints on the subject follow.
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Mandatory and other safety requirements in products
Mandatory requirements are Performance, Fade, Stopping time and Stopping distance which has to be met as per CMVR regulations as per IS 11852 norms. Other safety measures like performance under over-loaded condition, performance at higher speeds are also taken care while designing the formulation though there are no specified requirement by regulatory authority. Vehicle manufacturer decides the performance level under those conditions. Formulations are designed in such a way that these legal requirements are taken care during Design and Developmental stage at HCL.
Safety features and highlights in applications
The brake liner wear characteristics and its consistency plays a major role in reliability of the product. The inconsistency in the product quality leads to premature failure during vehicle usage resulting in customer discomfort and customer irritant. Also the failures like, Brake grabbing, Wheel jamming contribute to customer dis-satisfaction. Similarly noise is the major concern for the passengers as well as drivers. Now the awareness on noise has increased to a great extent in such a way that even the truck operators are demanding noise-free products as one of the critical requirement for safe operation of vehicle. Hence the formulations at HCL are designed to eliminate those deficiencies by using certain new Generation raw materials that takes care of the failure and enhance the product reliability towards customer delight.
Safety apprehensions at higher speeds
One of the safety related requirement of vehicle OEMs and Foundation brake system OEMs that the friction material shall deliver certain level of performance at high speeds which has been mandatory by OEMs though it is not been emphasized by Regulatory authority. Certain requirements like High speed performance, Overloading performance, Overload high speed performance requirement are sought by OEMs from Friction industries and we at HCL are designing our formulations to give the customer a safe journey that enhances the customer delight.
Technology impact on safety in the times ahead
The customer perception has changed drastically from “Just meeting the legal requirement” to the level of enhanced performance level as Value for Money”. Hence even minor irritants during vehicle operation like noise, pulling, mileage, fuel consumption are being noticed by end-user. This is becoming more evident due to globalisation in Auto Industry with overflowing vehicles from Global Giants due to which the end user has multiple choice to select the BEST product at a competitive price with upgraded technology.The same is applicable for friction industry and HCL is gearing up ourselves to compete with Global friction players in terms of technology. Accordingly large investment have been made in R&D infrastructure.
Aftermarket segment safety aspects and challenges
As a responsible friction supplier, HCL too give utmost care in designing Aftermarket formulation ensuring that it is meeting the basic requirement of Safety, regulatory requirement, and customer comfort level. We provide excellent service oriented program for mechanics, Dealers thereby creating awareness among them on importance of genuine spares rather than using spurious products from unorganised segment at the cost of quality. Hence we play a major role in promoting Quality product through our all India marketing network.