Need for precision engineering is driving the bearings market: Surendra Choraria

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Need for precision engineering is driving the bearings market: Surendra Choraria

Need for precision engineering is driving the bearings market: Surendra Choraria

Interviews
Feb 24,21

In this exclusive interview with Industrial Products Finder (IPF), Surendra Choraria, Director, Premier India Bearings Ltd tracks the developments in bearings industry and explains how Premier Bearings is helping its customers to increase their productivity.

Need for precision engineering is driving the bearings market: Surendra Choraria

Industrial ball bearings - an intricate part of modern machinery - play a big role in smooth and efficient functioning of the manufacturing plant. Adoption of advanced technology solutions will be a key enabler for the industry to provide productivity benefits, believes Surendra Choraria, Director of Premier India Bearings Ltd. According to him, focus now also has increased on Industry 4.0 and predictive maintenance generating huge prospects for the component manufacturers. In this interaction with Industrial Products Finder (IPF), Surendra Choraria tracks the developments in bearings industry and explains how Premier Bearings is helping its customers to increase their productivity.

How is Premier Bearings serving Indian industries?

Premier has been helping Indian industries achieve higher productivity, profitability and growth for more than 4 decades. Our focus and commitment have always been to be customer oriented which has truly made us today the leading industrial distributor of India and recognised among the top 10 global bearing distributors.

Premier is a leading distributor for Schaeffler and Bonfiglioli range of products and has been delivering high-precision components, systems and integrated solutions under one roof for a large number of industrial applications. We have been delivering bearings solutions today for more than 60 sectors namely steel, cement, paper, mining, power transmissions and many others.

With state-of-the-art infrastructure, a competent workforce, unparalleled inventory and expansive reach, we take pride in providing insightful solutions while adhering to strict deadlines which help our customers staying ahead of the competition.

What is the present status of the bearing market in India? Which end-user industries are your leading customers?

In line with global market, domestic market can be broadly classified under industrial and automotive segments. In India, industrial bearings are manufactured by few players and mostly are imported from Europe, Japan and other countries. COVID has definitely impacted Indian industries and the slowdown has affected business. However, we expect bearing industry to grow at healthy CAGR over the medium-term post pandemic

Our product offering from Schaeffler are of high quality, dependable and critical for a wide array of applications around the world. You will find our solutions running in IndiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s leading industrial plants, chemical facilities, steel plants, mineral & mining operations, and oil and gas platforms.

Are you seeing a pick-up in demand in Q1 2021 and Q2 2021? What is driving the demand?

As the pandemic recedes and industrial activities slowly pick-up momentum, things seem to be getting back to normal to a certain extent. Industrial ball bearings are an intricate part of modern machinery and it is obvious that as manufacturing activities increase, the demand for ball bearings will also go up simultaneously. Hence, it is no wonder that market analysts are forecasting a significant growth in both the size and revenue of the ball bearing market in 2021.

As a distributor of Schaeffler, what do you bring to the table for your customers?

Schaeffler is a leading technology leader and has been driving forward ground breaking inventions and developments in the fields of motion and mobility for over 70 years. Premier is the largest bearing distribution group in India and is authorised distributor for Schaeffler solutions. As distributor partner, we help them deliver precision and reliability on time to industrial customers.

Our strategy is very simple; We have partnership approach with our clients which helps them attain productivity and increase profitability. With experienced professionals having technical expertise and round the clock support, we always believe in going the extra mile to deliver excellence and outmatching expectations.

Our commitment towards our customers and array of Schaeffler precision solutions under one roof gives us the edge to provide reliable solutions on time.

What are the latest trends in the bearing industry?

Bearings are getting more sophisticated in terms of technology. We have seen the evolution of bearing technology from a normal ball bearing to latest sensor bearings and hybrid bearings. Materials such as graphite, ceramic, alloys, etc are used extensively now as they provide flexibility to users and manufacturers based on special applications. Companies are streamlining the raw material in coherence with the market necessity leading to weight reduction, and more efficiency, reliability and safety. The bearings industry today is also working towards reducing the size of bearings and delivering more load bearing capacities.

Focus now also has increased on Industry 4.0 and predictive maintenance generating huge prospects for the component manufacturers. Apart from that rising demand for precision engineering across various industries is propelling the market growth.

Is increase in automation aiding the growth of the bearing industry? If yes, how?

Adoption of advanced technology solutions will be a key enabler for the industry to provide productivity benefits. The technological advancements can further open doors for newer designs; cleaner, lighter, and safer products, within shorter lead times and lower cost. I feel industry future will revolve around adoption of smart bearings whose conditions can be monitored constantly to predict faults prior to occurrence to deliver higher reliability, nullify human errors and lower production cost.

How is your company adopting digitalisation?

Smart phones and social media have transformed communications throughout the world. Now the Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to link together vehicles, machines and people. At Premier as well we are undergoing a digital transformation. The first approach is the optimisation of the value-added chain, internally at Premier and in interaction with our business partners. Secondly, we leverage additional sales potential with digital solutions.

Customers today value innovative solutions and high efficiencies. We believe that adopting digitalisation and systems is critical to our success and growth and are committed to investing in new products, technologies and processes.

What are your growth plans for 2021?

My vision is to make Premier Group No.1 choice of our customers. We are committed towards providing best of products and services to our clients at the same time bringing in new developments in technology. We want to grow and become a knowledge partner for industries with our strong customer relationships and technology partnerships.