York Transport Equipment, Singapore, is a leading manufacturer of trailer axles, mechanical and air suspensions and other trailer accessories in Asia Pacific, Australia-New Zealand, Middle East and Africa regions. York has three manufacturing units, one each in Singapore, Melbourne and QingDao in China.
The York Group has a wide range of products covering axles (5” round, 6” square) from 12 to 17.5 tonnes; disc brake axles, self steer axles and ABS ready axles; mechanical leaf spring suspension (both under slung and over slung) from 12 to 17.5 tonnes; mechanical bogie suspension from 20 to 40-tonne capacity; walking beams suspension from 24 to 40-tonne capacity; and air suspension from 9 to 12-tonne capacity.
York’s most popular axle in India is the 5021 which is a 6” square axle with 14mm wall thickness. These axles are specially designed for trailer application and can carry 12 tonnes at a speed of 105 kmph. York products meet the European ECE quality standards, certified by RWTUV of Germany and have compliance approvals with the Australian Design Rules.
YTEI plans to soon start manufacturing other variants of these axles, viz., 5021 with wider track of 1950mm and 5021 with antilock braking system (ABS) ready. Another popular axle, 2021, a 5” round widely used in air suspension applications, would also be produced very soon.
York’s products have been sold to trailer builders in India since last five years. Tata Motors is a major user of York axles and other products in the trailers that they sell along with their prime movers.
Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Sudhir Deoras, TRF Managing Director, Chairman, York Group, said that YTEI would build capacity to produce over 100,000 axles in the future.
Record production
TRF celebrated record performance of all its divisions in 2008-09. All the divisions reported better performance over the previous year and made commitments to further improve the company’s performance to achieve the aspiration of becoming five times bigger in five years time and an international name in the area of bulk material handling, under the Vision-2013 campaign.
However, in the midst of the celebrations a note of caution was also struck and suggestions to combat the economic downturn were discussed to ensure that the company would continue to maintain its successful march towards its goal.
Speaking on the occasion, Hemant Kharkar, Chief Operating Officer, said that, compared to last year, the company would have to face the challenges of the economic downturn throughout 2009-10. He emphasized the need for adopting process improvement techniques which would help to sustain the performance of the company.
RC Nandrajog, Executive Director, suggested that the best way to face the challenges of the economic downturn is to implement the strategy of cost control, cash management and corporate efficiency. This, he said, would not only help the company to tide over the impact of recession but also prepare well and reap the benefits of economic upturn in the future.
The Tata Robins Fraser labour union, general secretary, RK Rahi, assured that they would continue to give unstinted support to all the growth plans of the company. He hoped that the company would further increase the emphasis on training in the future.
Sudhir Deoras congratulated the efforts of all employees of the company towards the success in fiscal 2008-09. This, he said, was the outcome of a well planned strategy.
He prescribed that by adopting advanced and relevant technology, upgradation of human resources by training and timely completion of projects and delivery of products, the company would be able to satisfy its customers much better than before.
