Sundaram-Clayton inaugurates air brake plant

Sundaram-Clayton inaugurated its Rs 58-crore air brake systems manufacturing plant at Ambattur near Chennai on Friday. The plant, which would manufacture air brake systems for commercial vehicles, was inaugurated by Ravi Kant, executive director of Tata Motors.

The new plant, which is meant to meet the demand that would come from higher technical standards required for commercial vehicles in future, would supplement Sundaram-Clayton's significant presence in the supply of air assisted and air brakes for commercial vehicles.

It may be recalled that the central government had introduced regulations that make anti-lock braking systems in commercial vehicles mandatory from October 2006. The plant is also expected to feed overseas demand.

Addressing mediapersons , Venu Srinivasan, managing director of Sundaram-Clayton, said he hoped that the new facility would become a major base for exports to WABCO, the American company that took over the overseas promoter Clayton in 1977.

WABCO is now part of American Standard. The inauguration was attended by American Standard's representatives, and Vinod Dasari, chief operating officer of Ashok Leyland.

Three of the speakers at the inauguration ceremony, Suresh Krishna, Sundaram-Clayton's chairman, Frederic M Poses, chairman and CEO of American Standard, and Ravi Kant drew attention to the causes of globalisation, and the movements it had triggered.

Suresh Krishna said that the western original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were under tremendous cost pressure, a development that presented opportunities for Indian companies, while Ravi Kant pointed out that there was a two-way movement in the automotive industry.

"Western manufacturers had begun to move towards Indian costs, while Indian companies are trying to catch up with quality standards of the west," he said.

Poses used a team game such as cricket as a metaphor to show how globalisation had made it necessary for disparate units to function as a cohesive team.

Suresh Krishna also took the audience through the TVS group's (of which Sundaram-Clayton is a part) early days in manufacturing. He lauded the role of T S Srinivasan, late father of Venu Srinivasan, in nudging the TVS group toward manufacturing.

Sundaram-Clayton, in collaboration with Clayton Dewandre Holdings, UK, commenced operations in 1962. The company was among the earliest to enter the auto component sector in India. In addition to air brake operations, the company has die casting units.