All eyes are on the Milestone year 2020. For SM Kannappa Automobiles (SMK), 2020 will mean two things – one, as a brand name SMK would have already finished its Golden Jubilee, and two, it shall touch an all-time high production figure of 8000 or more coaches per annum.
Target 2020
Known to be a reliable bus coach body builder, SMK is aiming to become bigger and better by 2020.
Mr. Vaibhav Narang, Director, SM Kannappa Automobiles Pvt. Ltd., agrees: “We intend to be the biggest bus manufacturers in the country with respect to both OEs and otherwise since we look at ourselves as specialists in this industry. We also would like to be one of the leaders in all our verticals.”
And these verticals include bus bodies, bus components including seating, air conditioning systems, plastic parts, FRP components, ducting systems, doors, windows and hatches. Some of which are soon to come into existence! As a brand that is fully AIS 52 Bus Code compliant, SMK is enhancing its capacity to reach Target 2020.
New offerings
SMK sees itself as a one-stop shop to cater to all the needs of its clients. He explains, “Currently we manufacture buses mainly for tour operators. We have another firm, Prakash Bus Corporation, a subsidiary of SM Kannappa, which is now allied to an MNC OEM. In bus components, we are manufacturing only seats but soon we will manufacture air-conditioning systems and doors.”
Mr. Narang feels excited as SMK is now working on a brand new proprietary product, “It is a multi-axle sleeper coach and is probably the first to be manufactured with an integrated chassis.” And, SMK is aiming it to be a first-class product.
The foundation
As a ‘zero-debt company’, SMK is investing judiciously. Mr. Narang is confident that,” By adding a shift, technically I should have double capacity of about 5,000 buses. With small investments, we should be able to achieve that within two years.”
Though cyclical, he is confident that the market will grow to about 30,000 buses a year soon. Closer home, he feels, “With the processes that we are adopting, SMK will have 30-35 per cent of the market share.”
Naturally, Mr. Narang ‘sees a huge jump in the turnover in the next five years or so’.
Learning curves
A fickle market is known to challenge. Mr. Narang responds, “I hope to see less ambiguity in inter-State laws which govern movement of business. Also, severe manpower shortage is pushing the industry towards automation. Then OEs are getting more aggressive. It is easy to kill competition but I know that monopoly cannot happen.”
With the roll-out of the much-awaited GST, Mr. Narang anticipates a better organized market.
Areas of strength
SMK is focused on areas of strength, as Mr. Narang shares, “By 2020, we shall see higher number of rear engine buses. And we are working on one with technical knowledge sharing from an overseas partner. Second area of focus is strengthening the market, and third is automation.” Small forays into automation that need smaller investments is how SMK plans to become more efficient.
In a nutshell, SMK is all set for a robust growth by Milestone 2020.