TOTAL Oil India Private Ltd. (TOIPL), a part of TOTAL S.A., that started operations in India in 1993 has established itself as a global integrated energy producer and provider. The company has growing presence in businesses namely lubricants for automotive and industrial applications, LPG for domestic and commercial applications, modified bitumen products, special fluids and solar. As a group, TOTAL has been active in the Asia Pacific Region since 1982 and has established its presence amongst the leaders. TOTAL not only has products from international range but products also developed to suit the local markets.
With a view to extend its world renowned technical edge, and act local with global perspective doing research and developments, TOTAL made a strategic development in 2012 to open a new Technical Centre for the Asia Pacific (TCAP) region in Mahape, Mumbai. With increasing growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific Region, TOTAL had to be close to the customers and provide better technical support to all the TOTAL subsidiaries in the Asia Pacific Region.
Technical & research assistance
TCAP’s initial aim was to provide technical assistance to the product lines as well as scientific support to the subsidiaries and their customers in the APAC
and Middle East region. However, now it interlaces these technical skills and expertise in the areas of R&D as well. The Research Center carries out R&D work in different areas, including developing lubricants using local components, developing a new customized formulation, and improving the performance of an already existing lubricant.
The Research Center has now gained a lot of recognition in formulating and developing lubricants that meet even the highly specialized demands of their industrial customers. In terms of Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) standards. Mr. Dilip Vaswani, Chairman and Managing Director of TOTAL for South Asia, said: “TCAP will facilitate development of products that can meet the unique needs of customers to save costs, reduce downtime and improve performance; test products in simulated conditions in-house before they are used in actual conditions; and train customers on product selection, application, and best practices. At TOTAL, we constantly aim to deepen our partnership with our customers and therefore TCAP will help us strengthen our base in the entire Asia Pacific and Middle East region.”
The TCAP team consists of 30 highly skilled researchers and the technicians can conduct more than 150 tests and analyses with the help of some 100 scientific instruments. The Research Centre is fully equipped with all modern and cutting-edge equipment; the range includes both traditional as well as specialised equipment to perform various functions such as quality control, analysis and various tests. Recruitment of Engineers and Technicians is very selective and of high level. Most of the Engineers have PhD degrees and have international working experience. 90 per cent of the technicians have masters in science degrees while the others are engineering graduates.
Motorindia spoke exclusively to Mr. Franck Eydoux, Managing Director, Technical Center Asia Pacific, TOTAL Oil India Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Karoly Repas, Senior Vice President – Sales, Marketing and Technical of TOTAL Oil India Pvt. Ltd.’s Lubricant Division to know more about TCAP’s operation and TOTAL’s presence in India.
Could you please elaborate on milestones achieved in terms of product research and development from the TCAP since its inception in 2012?
Franck Eydoux (FE): Engineers at TCAP Research Center have developed the 0W-20 factory fill product for Maruti Suzuki India in 2014.We actively worked on the Re-formulation of 5W-30 product sold to Honda India in 2015. Many Optimization of fuel additives Cold Flow Improvers and Wax anti-settling additives for summer and winter grade diesels of Neste Oil have been developed in 2015. Lubricity Improvers are constantly optimized and developed at TCAP as well.
Please highlight a couple of research, analysis or field testing activities that are currently being done from the TCAP for the Indian Commercial Vehicle space or Off road and Construction equipment sector, particularly related to lubricants and oils for engine, transmission and gears.
FE: TCAP is recently working on new UTTO (Universal Tractor Transmission Oil) development for Indian requirements of Yanmar, a well-known Japanese OEM. Time to time, the Research Center is also supporting local development related to Indian OEMs e.g. Mahindra and TAFE. We are also globally supporting development of new oils meeting Valtra and ZF agriculture/off-road transmission requirements.
Indian Automotive Industry has recently moved from BS III to BS IV and by 2020 will migrate to BS VI emission norms. In what capacity, can the TCAP help achieve these requirements of the Indian industry? How prepared is TOTAL for the same?
FE: Indian Automotive Industry is moving from BS IV to BS VI by 2020 and with the up gradation of the emission norms OEMs would be focusing on the engine development for BS VI requirement. With some minor modification, PCMO (Passenger Car Motor Oil) segment would be able to achieve the emission norms of BS VI. The major efforts would be required in the area of heavy duty engine development. The engines development for BS VI in India will not be the same for EURO VI, the engines development for BS VI will focus on low cost engine development to achieve same emission norms and will have to develop engine oils accordingly to meet the BS VI specification. The selection of right components for the formulation development will hold key for the development of engine oils. This is the opportunity for TCAP to work closely with Indian OEMs like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra and other major heavy-duty vehicle OEMs.
The India OEMs will follow:
- Viscometrics 15W40, 10W40, 5W40 oils
- API specifications like CJ4, CK4 and also some OEM may go for FA4 level.
- ACEA E6 – Low SAPS, extended drain intervals and ACEA E9 for low SAPS, standard drain intervals
- OEM Specification: OEM will have their own specification like MB 228.1 HD, TATA specifications etc.
The BS VI will have major focus on the long drain intervals, durability and Fuel economy, so the importance of higher BS VI requirement will hold key for the selection of base oils. To achieve desired performance levels, use of Group III and Group IV in combination will play crucial role.
TCAP is strategically located in the Indian market close to the OEMs and very well equipped with the Physico chemical testing laboratory as well as tribology testing facility. Also, TCAP is connected with the external testing facilities like Intertek, SG and test houses like AVL, ARAI, FEV, ICAT. With the technical capability and facility TOTAL in India is prepared to take the challenge for BS VI.
Where are TOTAL’s manufacturing plants located for the Indian requirements, what is the overall capacity and the level of utilization? Is expansion planned, given the growth in the automotive industry in India and APAC region?
Karoly Repas (KR): TOTAL India’s state of the art lube blending plant is situated at Mahape, Navi Mumbai and has blending capacity of 80,000 metric tons per annum. In the continuing commitment towards excellence, TOTAL has established HSEQ management system in line with international standards. The plant has certifications such as ISO/TS 16949:2009 for quality, ISO 14001:2004 for environment protection and BS OHSAS 18001:2009 for occupational health and safety standards.
How many direct distributors, retailers and sales/technical service personnel do you have in India? Are you pushing your brand in some unconventional manner? Highlight some of the BTL or ATL activities done for engaging people in the Indian market that covers all the vertical of your operation.
KR: We have a strong network of over 300 distributors and over 30,000 retailer base in India for our aftermarkets business. The lubricant business, as such is a low involvement category and hence to stand out, clutter breaking marketing is a given ask. Thus, our focus is on creating a strong brand recall for the master brand i.e – TOTAL via sustained media and communication investments. The objective is to reach out to the vehicle owners and make them aware of the brand to create positive disposition. The media mix involves Television, Out of Home and digital medium.
To push the brand in non-conventional manner, we adopt to lots of innovations in out of home and digital space. Besides, we have strong focus on retail branding and visibility. We have introduced a concept of TOTAL Lubes Station, a chain of TOTAL branded retail outlets. We also have innovative initiatives like TOTAL Bike Workshops and TOTAL Quartz Auto Care which is a chain of TOTAL branded mechanic garages in Motorcycle and Passenger cars segments respectively. With this, our aim is to provide professional and efficient vehicles servicing experience to our customers.
At a trade level, there is not one size that fits all approach considering different market needs. Our objective for BTL is to penetrate newer markets, strengthen our existing presence along with creating new viable relationships with our business partners and stakeholders via strong incentive program and engagement activations. The idea is to drive home our brand promise at the ground level.
What are your goals for TCAP? Do you see it growing even bigger than the one in France and how are the synergies in terms of learning and knowledge sharing between the technical centres? 
FE: Our goals for TCAP are to be recognized as an excellent Research Center not only internally within TOTAL organization but externally as well and to be active in the development of crucial new products for business lines. We are working on developing partnership with Universities, IIT and other companies.
We have only one Research activity for TOTAL Marketing and Services done in two Research Centers in France and in Mumbai even if some research activities are only done in one location (Bitumen in France, textile lubricants in India as example). We are not in competition but working closely together and have weekly meetings to exchange on our activities and to share our knowledge and skills; all TCAP researchers were invited to participate at the annual R&D seminar in France and gave their input in several workshops. Every year, we organize visits from our French colleague in Mumbai and send our researcher to French research center for cross-fertilization.