Suprajit’s growth driven by customer-centric approach

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From left, Mr. S. Narahari Rao, General Manager – Operations & NPD, Mr. Ravi Khandelwal, Dy. General Manager (Marketing), Suprajit Engineering Ltd., Mr. V. Manjunatha, Dy. General Manager (Exports), Suprajit Automotive Ltd., Mr. Jayantilal Solanki, Asst. General Manager – Exports (Non–Automotive), Suprajit Engineering Ltd., and Mr. Ganesh Naidu, Sr Manager (Development), Suprajit Automotive Ltd., at the company stall at Auto Expo – Component Show

Suprajit has been a well-knwon brand in the automotive cable industry worldwide. The Suprajit Group, comprising Suprajit Engineering Ltd., Suprajit Automotive Ltd. and Suprajit Europe Ltd., is a global leader in the manufacture of automotive cables with highly competitive manufacturing in India. Along with its technical and logistical support worldwide, the group provides the optimal product development and manufacturing solutions to both domestic and international customers. With a compounded annual growth of over 30 per cent, the group has one of the largest manufacturing capacities in the world, of 150 million cables annually.

Suprajit’s success has largely been due to its capacity to undertake cutting-edge research and development technology for its customers. With multiple development centres across India and Europe, the company focuses on rapid development of cables for a large variety of projects and customer requirements for both automotive and non-automotive applications. Suprajit-pic-5It specializes in export manufacturing through its two 100 per cent export-oriented plants in Bangalore, one for the automotive space and the other for non-automotive cables. The company also excels in producing specialized small volume and extremely intricate cables from its Tamworth facility in the UK.

Despite the current slowdown in the Indian automobile sector, the cable manufacturer does not seem to be much affected, thanks to its stronghold in the export market. Suprajit has 14 manufacturing facilities located across the country and has facilities abroad as well. Dr. C. Mohan, Executive Director, Suprajit Automotive, says: “We are a customer-centric company who focus on adding new customers to our portfolio every year. With exports being our prime focus, our revenue from this front increased by 20 per cent in the financial year 2013-14. Being a Bangalore based company, we have seven facilities in and around the place, out of which two are export-oriented units (EOUs). Suprajit-pic-6We have one facility each at Manesar, Pathredi, Haridwar, Pantnagar, Wapi and two plants at Chakan in Pune. We have a separate division which caters to the aftermarket segment and also have a manufacturing unit outside India, in the UK, to cater to our European customers.”

A service-oriented company, Suprajit is driven by its focus on cost-effectiveness, quality and customer satisfaction. With a 70 per cent market share for its products in the Indian automotive sector, the company is planning to expand its product portfolio through backward integration.

Talking about the company’s sales performance, he observes: “Nearly half of our revenue comes from the domestic two wheeler segment and another 30 per cent contributed by cars, trucks and buses in the country. Suprajit-pic-4The rest is accounted for by exports which cater mainly to the off-highway segment.”

With a major focus on the North American and European markets, Suprajit targets a 20 per cent export growth in 2014. The company is a major supplier of indigenously manufactured cables to GM, BMW, Nissan, etc. In the non-automotive segment, it caters to leading players such as John Deere and Kubota, apart from working with other brands.