Bharat Fritz Werner plans unit in Germany

Machine tools manufacturer Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd (BFW) is planning to expand its activities beyond the Indian shores, by opening a facility in Germany.

The facility, planned in the Bavaria region near Munich, will be a wholly-owned subsidiary and would be established under the German legal structure, S N Mishra, president and chief executive officer of the company, said. The company would invest Rs 15 crore to set up the German subsidiary.

Speaking to the media after the inauguration of the company's newly built technology centre in Pune, he said the German subsidiary would service the company's existing clients in Italy and also look at building up customer bases in France and Germany as well as in other markets in Europe.

"We will make sub-assemblies and value-added assemblies in the German subsidiary to save costs of transport from India to the European markets," he said.

BFW manufactures vertical as well as horizontal machine tools for Automotive Axles, Bharat Forge, Bajaj Auto and a host of other manufacturing companies. In addition to the machine tools, it manufactures automobile components and components for the aerospace industry.

Mishra said the Pune centre would work closely with customers like Bharat Forge so that the company gets to know the latter's needs and design the machines accordingly.

"The component manufacturer will be able to satisfy the customers' queries about application, cycle time or process sheet generation." The company would also set up a modern computer-aided design unit to collaborate with its customers and conduct research and development.

Mishra said the company was expecting a significant rise in the components business, especially in the components supplied to the aerospace industry.

"We are currently supplying to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. We expect that about 30 per cent of our business in the next two years would come from them," he said.

The company recently completed an expansion programme involving a foundry upgradation and purchase of high-end machines, at an investment of Rs 70 crore.

Mishra said the company was planning to set up similar technology centres in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai and Bangalore to support the customers in those regions.

The company is also planning another manufacturing unit in Dobhaspet in Karnataka where it had been allotted land by the state government.