Bangalore based Maini Precision Products (MPP) recently completed the acquisition of Austria based Mec.com and its subsidiary Precis metal based in Zilina, Slovakia through Maini Precision Products Holding in Spain for an undisclosed price. Mec.com manufactures mechanical components at its unit in Kindberg, Austria.
‘Mec.com was undergoing bankruptcy proceedings but has come out of it. It possesses technology for manufacturing high end fuel injection parts for the common rail systems. By having a ‘front end’ in Kindberg, we will be able to give a much stronger technical and development support for new projects and product development effort to our customers across Europe,’ Managing Director, Maini Precision Products, Gautam Maini told Auto Monitor in a telephonic conversation. Maini plans to make further investments in the Austrian company to enable it to notch up a turnover of around 18 million euro this calender year itself. The acquisition is also likely to enhance the overall capability of MPP for execution of larger orders for assemblies and sub assemblies. There are around 170 employees in Austria and another 80 working at Zilina. It customer base comprises tier 1 auto components suppliers in Europe including Denso, Delphi, Deutz, Meiller, Detroit Diesel, Bosch.
The current machines and set up in Austria includes CNC multi-spindle machines, which is likely to aid in the development and manufacturing of critical components at a faster pace. As the components develop and get ready for commercialisation, MPP has the option to move manufacturing of these components to either its Zilina facility or to India as required by the customers, Maini added. The acquisition is also likely to increase the technical service level and logistical support to MPP’s existing customer base in Europe. Critical assemblies or sub-assemblies when required to be done closer to the customer’s facility in Europe can be done at Kindberg, while machined components is likely to be provided from either Slovakian facility or Indian facilities to keep the cost structure low and ensure global competitiveness.
MPP currently has four units at Peenya Industrial estate in Bangalore and a facility located at Bommasandra Industrial area on Hosur Road in the outskirts of Bangalore. The company is in the process of structuring and expanding the facility at Bommasandra while consolidating its activities at Peenya into a single unit with an additional facility near Peenya Industrial area. Subsequent to this restructuring, the total area under operation is likely to nearly double to around 400,000 sq feet from around 200,000 sq feet currently. In an earlier interaction with Auto Monitor, Maini
had indicated that the idea behind reducing the number of facilities was to consolidate workplaces to bring consistency in production processes and have large operations at fewer locations for better management.
Localisation effort
MPP’s objective is to participate and assist in localization programmes of global automobile majors present and planning to come to India. It has formed a crack team for the purpose to aggressively tap this segment. It is especially keen on working at import substitution of critical components, which are currently imported but could be manufactured locally at lower cost.
MPP was established in 1972 and is the flagship company of Bangalore based Maini Group which is more popularly known for its battery operated Reva electric car and material handling equipments and vehicles. It manufactures a range of components for diesel engines, hydraulics and aerospace segments. The consolidation comes even as the company is staring at increased business from its existing and newer customers in automotive, material handling, hydraulics, aerospace segments it caters to.
The company plans to enter into the assembling business for customers in a major way where it manufactures critical parts of a component or a system and could partly or fully outsource other components to other vendors. It has three third party warehouses in US, two each in UK, Sweden and France and one in Germany to customers in these countries.
The company derives around 75 to 80 percent of the current turnover of around Rs 100 crore coming from international markets with Mico Bosch being the sole domestic customer. Its customers include global auto and industrial equipment majors like Eaton, General Motors, Honeywell, Stock Equipment Company, Emerson Climate Technologies, Delphi, Volvo, Mico, Renault, Logitrans, Deutz, Redler, Copeland, Snecma Moteurs, Safran, Hindustan Aeronautical among others. Though automotive segment will continue to remain a focus area with major share of revenue, the aerospace division of the company is growing at a rapid pace and could constitute around 25 to 30 percent of the turnover in the next three to four years.
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