Gunnebo Steelage commissions plant at Halol

Gunnebo Steelage Industries, a subsidiary of the Gunnebo Security Group commissioned its latest state-of-the-art manufacturing plant at Halol in Gujarat on Thursday. The company has invested about Rs 13 crore in this plant which will manufacture security equipment.

The factory will become the 'manufacturing hub' for all modern safety products bearing the international quality mark and will be supplied to the European and Asian markets.

Inaugurating the hi-tech plant, Bjarne Holmqvist, president and CEO of Gunnebo Worldwide said, "Our board took a decision in 2001 to invest Rs 13 crore to enlarge the factory and upgrade the production capacity and product quality substantially. The project has been running very close to both time- and investment plans.

"Our new factory in Halol will meet the highest international standards when it comes to quality, design and aesthetics for our present product portfolio; and also for new and upgraded products. With our new factory we will be able to strengthen our position in the Indian market and also source other markets with products from the Halol factory," Holmqvist said.

Speaking on the occasion, Deepak Khetrapal, president, Gunnebo Asia Pacific said, "The investments at Halol to modernise and expand the factory is the most significant and far reaching step in re-positioning Gunnebo Steelage as the undisputed leader of the security market in India. Our customers, for the first time, will be able to get the products made to the stringent European standards and enjoy the level of security not available in this market so far. The investment, approved and funded by Gunnebo Group, is the most significant investments in the recent past for setting up additional capacity of physical security equipment in Asia. Besides enhancing capacity to over Rs 120 crore, the investment takes care of the technology transfer from the Gunnebo Group and also of all relevant safety and environmental issues. It will also lead to additional employment opportunities in Halol area."

Naresh Hosangady, managing mirector, Steelage Industries said, "The new plant will manufacture security products with the latest designs and certification and will step up our capacity four-fold. With this new plant, we are now geared up to meet global standards in quality and efficiency and provide world class products in India."

The company has invested in modern state-of-the-art machines including modern laser machines at the factory. The plant has acquired professional staff and technically skilled man power to handle production operations on these technologically advanced machines, Hosangady added.

The plant will roll out vault and strong room doors, grill gates, fire and burglary resistant safes, black-box safes and fire-resistant products for data protection.

"Halol is our most ambitious project. We aim to reach the highest international standards and set a benchmark for world class plants in this industry" Hosangady said.

Recently, Steelage Industries has been recommended for ISO-9001-2000 certification by Underwriters Laboratories. The company has also set its goal to achieve ISO 14001 certification for its Halol plant. Steelage is a subsidiary of the Swedish listed Gunnebo Security Group, an international fast growing security group with 110 companies located in 32 countries.