Manatec looks at higher exports

Puducherry-based garage equipment maker, Manatec Electronics hopes to cross the Rs 100 crore turnover mark in two years from Rs 30 crore registered during 2006-07. The company, which has been growing at 35 percent CAGR for the last four years, will tap the domestic and overseas markets.

At present, exports account for about ten percent of sales and the idea is to increase this to 50 percent in three years. Exports go to 20 countries at present. As for the domestic market, Manatec will offer more options within the existing product portfolio which includes tyre care, pollution check, lifts, air-condition gas chargers, tyre inflators and headlamp alignment products.

ROAD AHEAD

General manager (operations), S Vijayaraghavan is confident of the road ahead especially with the Manatec brand well established in India and overseas. The company is appointing agents in Kenya, Brazil, Egypt and a handful of SAARC countries. Ten have been roped in so far and a similar number has been targeted this fiscal too. Manatec will also participate in select international events as these have proved to be useful in terms of customer enquiries.

For the Indian market, the company is developing a new wheel alignment system which will be ‘touch-free’. It will have wireless system to ensure more productivity and wear and tear of parts will be fully eliminated. According to Vijayaraghavan, capacity constraints continue to dog Manatec and this is being addressed with the move to go in for two new plants at an investment of Rs 9 crore. One will be a 100 percent export-oriented unit in the SEZ at Karasur, 15 km from Puducherry. Production is slated to begin next fiscal.

Another plant will be commissioned at Karikalamballam to cater to the domestic market. It will be fully operational in January 2008 and will also double up for exports till the EoU is set up. At present, the company operates out of seven sheds at the Thattanchavady industrial area which will eventually be used for R&D and training.CEO R Mananathan has been acknowledged for his initiatives by the Department of Science and Technology. Manatec pays a lot of emphasis to after-sales support in the garage equipment. Fresh service engineers are trained extensively for two months on all equipment.

BUYER COMPLAINTS

By the end of the day, the training will be effective only if customer complaints are addressed immediately. To ensure that this is done, the company evaluates the number of service engineers required for a region or sector based on machine population.

Apart from service engineers, Manatec does on-the-job and soft skills training for all employees. On an average, they get 24 hours of training a year.They are also given a monthly educational allowance of Rs 200 per child. A one-time allowance of Rs 2,000 in June supports school season demands. The company also has a training programme for vendors. It supplies to them tools, jigs and fixtures so that they make quality parts.

T MURRALI