Chennai-based component suppliers’ production lines start humming again

With the sun shining brightly and Tamil Nadu’s capital city limping back to normal after the spell of torrential rain and floods last fortnight, a number of automotive component suppliers have reported normalcy in their operations.

Most of them had been adversely affected due to ingress of water in their premies, power cuts and absence of workforce. While some managed to maintain supplies to vehicle OEMs using existing inventory, some ran partial production. Nevertheless, their supply schedules were disrupted but their production lines are humming again.

Chennai houses several Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers located around the city, most of whom not just supply to vehicle manufacturers in Chennai but across the country including Pune, Gujarat and the National Capital Region.  Force to shut production for several days not only causes adjustment with supplies schedules but loss of working days and key parts.  However, most of the suppliers managed their regular supplier though inventory or by running partial production. In some industrial areas companies had to shut production completely due to rain entering the premises.  

Integral Component Manufacturers, which supplies engine components, brake components, transmission components, and is located at Sipcot Industrial park, Irrugattukottai, Kancheepuram where several Tier 1 and 2 suppliers have manufacturing facilities, was fortunate not to have experienced floods or damage. Speaking to Autocar Professional, V S Karunakaran, managing director, ICML, said: “We have not suffered any production loss or damage due to flooding and our production is running in normal shifts. However, some of our customers located at industrial areas like Guindy, Ambattur and Thirumudivakkam had to stop production as water entered their factories. However, they are slowly restoring regular production levels.”

G Murrali, director and plant head, BorgWarner Thermal Systems, said, “Our plant has not been affected due to rain but we have to shut the plant for two days as our staffers couldn't report to work. We were running 50 percent production for the first week and have now restored 100 percent production this week. Several of our suppliers faced a hard time as the flood stopped their production. However, we have managed with whatever inventory we were carrying and now things are getting back to normal. Still, some of our suppliers have not yet fully recovered.”

Visteon Automotive Systems, which supplies climate control systems to Renault-Nissan, Ford India, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra, had to stop operation for a day as there was ankle-deep water inside the Maraimalai Nagar plant. According to a spokesperson, the company which is currently operates all three shifts (as it supplies its products to the high-on-demand Hyundai Creta compact SUV Renault Motor India’s Kwid hatchback) had to run only a single shift on December 1 and had to shut production on December 2; December 3 and 4 saw only single-shift runs. However, from December 5, the company has restored full production with all its three shifts running. There has been some damage to inventory due to water seepage but it is marginal, says the company spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the company’s India corporate office, which has 600 staffers, located near Guindy has fully suspended operations due to water inside the complex. It has shifted critical operations to its plant and asked employees to work from home. It will take another 8-10 days before it starts functioning again.

Most of the TVS Group companies had to stop production for 3-4 days at Padi Industrial area due to water and power cuts. Wheels India Company officials told Autocar Professional that at the time of the rains, production was affected badly and employees had to be evacuated from inside the plants by using buses. The company had shut production for 5-6 days due to unavailability of power but all the important functions were running on power back-up. Things are back to normal now.   

Rane TRW Steering Systems, a Rane Group company which makes steering gears, seatbelts and airbags, saw production losses at its two plants. The company had shut production for 2-3 days. “However, due to customer support, we have been able to recover quickly and restor all the production levels,” said company officials.

Similarly, all major OEMs including BMW India, Force Motors, Hyundai Motor India, Nissan Motor India, Renault India, Ashok Leyland, Daimler India Commercial Vehicle and TVS Motor Co, which experienced disruption of production, are now returning to normalcy after almost a week of operational trouble.