- Sanjay Koul, Chairman & MD, Timken India Limited

US-based The Timken Company has products, solutions and services that have a presence everywhere. Whether it is innovative technology for space exploration; aiding transport on land with specialised services for rail; managing friction in a fire furnace for a steel mill; setting up oil rigs in the deep waters; or bearings in a wind turbine, the company supplies a wide portfolio of products and services that go from anti-friction bearings to mechanical power transmission solutions. In this interview, Sanjay Koul, Chairman and Managing Director, Timken India Limited, replies to queries about the company's presence in India. Excerpts...

"The Indian market has huge potential. If we analyse the import data for the past 7-8 years, engineering goods around USD 500 billion were imported by domestic companies. You can imagine the potential if we can replace those imports and this will also immensely benefit the country's economy."

Could you provide a history of Timken India's operations and its earlier partnership with Tata?

Incorporated in 1987, Tata Timken Limited was a joint venture between Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) and The Timken Company, USA. In 1999, Timken acquired all the stakes from Tata Steel in Tata Timken Limited and consequently the name of the company was changed to Timken India Limited effective July 2, 1999. Timken India started manufacturing at its Jamshedpur plant in 1992 and in 1998 Timken Engineering Research India (P) Ltd (TERI) was established in Bangalore. TERI is one of the four Timken innovation and development centres across the globe, which provides our customers a unique opportunity to access a global pool of engineering expertise and the latest technological advancements. It is part of our vision to leverage technology and people to deliver a sustainable and competitive advantage to our customers. In 2008 the Chennai plant was added to cater to the growing market and in 2013 an Industrial Service Centre was founded in Raipur.

What are the company's products and the application areas?

Timken's friction management and power transmission solutions help customers operate faster and more efficiently - increasing productivity, uptime and performance in a wide range of applications and markets. In our earlier product range, we focused on expanding and upgrading our offering of high-performance bearings. In the later part of 2010, we took the decision of moving beyond bearings and introduced roller-housed units, drives, chains, couplings and augers through varied acquisitions. We have expanded our portfolio to transform from anti-friction solutions to mechanical power transmission solutions. We provide solutions for most of the key segments like aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer, defence, energy, industrial equipment, health, heavy industry, machine tool, positioning control, power generation, rail and industrial bearings markets.

What kind of specialisation does the company provide in the production of bearings?

Timken is not only investing in new products but also in new process capabilities and capacity to meet future demands. Our products are backed by our extensive expertise in design, specification and maintenance. Our expertise in advanced material conversion, finishing, gaging and assembly ensure high-quality production of every Timken-made product. Our design and analysis technologists specialize in using advanced engineering tools to design Timken products and analyse their performance. They also work directly with customers to analyse their applications and develop customized solutions that overcome special challenges.

What is the total market size of bearings in India and what is your market share? How do you see this improving over the next couple of years?

The Indian bearing market is estimated at Rs 85 billion and it constitutes less than 4 per cent of the global bearing demand. In terms of supply, about 60 per cent is catered through domestic production while the remaining is met through imports. Timken India has the lion's share in tapered roller bearings and components' market in India. We also meet the demand for other types of bearings such as large-size tapered roller bearings, spherical roller bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, specialty ball bearings and other products by leveraging our global footprint.

Growth and expansion has always been a fundamental aspect of Timken's operations strategy. We see tremendous opportunities opening up for the bearing industry. As we move forward customers will look for better and cleaner technologies and more value-added services like maintenance of equipment, reliability monitoring, and re-manufacturing that keeps their equipment running longer and more efficiently. We will continue to offer better technology, products and services with our consistent objective to increase our customers' value proposition.

How does The Timken Company contribute to your growth strategy?

With more than a century of expertise in tapered roller bearings, The Timken Company has been spreading across providing wider solutions in the space of mechanical power transmission over the last decade. Such strong lineages of research, engineering and design have helped Timken India to manufacture superior products and provide our customers extended product lifetime and lesser downtime. Meanwhile, acquisitions made by The Timken Company have added more global capabilities, enabling us to extensively explore and launch new products and services and thereby expanding our market penetration across the subcontinent. Timken Global has worked with almost all the world's leading aerospace, infrastructure and manufacturing companies. Global expertise and experience, especially in aerospace and cement segments, has given Timken India an edge over competitors and enabled us to build a highly skilled pool of professionals.

Could you provide details about the production infrastructure?

We have state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Jamshedpur and Chennai, which cater to our domestic as well as international customers. Our Industrial Service plant in Raipur, Chattisgarh caters to combined gear and bearings' services. Our manufacturing facility in Jamshedpur is highly modernised and operates on higher technological capabilities following the cellular manufacturing process which provides us the flexibility of manufacturing any part of our products in a short lead time. This lean manufacturing benefit extends to inventory, scheduling and production control. It also contributes to savings in inventory, coordination and quality.

What are the company's growth and expansion plans for the next couple of years?

We endeavour to provide value solutions to customers by partnering in their operations and have a sizeable chunk of market share in the Indian bearing markets we choose to play. The Indian market has huge potential. If we analyse the import data for the past 7-8 years, engineering goods around USD 500 billion were imported by domestic companies. You can imagine the potential if we can replace those imports and this will also immensely benefit the country's economy. We are focused beyond bearing portfolios. We are providing end-to-end services to our customers and not just selling products. Our Raipur facility will continue to exploit its full potential in gearbox repair, journal rebuilding and chock repairs. We are also working toward expanding our customer base in our on-site MILTEC program. The next couple of years will be very exciting for Timken India as we plan to launch new India-specific products and services. We understand the market needs and cater to customised product and solutions. We are working massively on indigenisation programmes and we will continue our aggressive market expansion.

Does Timken India export products? If so, to which countries and how will this be expanded in the coming years?

Timken India is a very important link of Timken's global supply chain; so exports is always in focus and we are progressively increasing our export capability. We are one of the fastest growing exporters in India and were recently recognised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) with Council's Star Performer Export Award. Timken is the only company in India, which produces high-speed passenger bearings; we produce them not only for domestic consumption but also for export. We export to North America, Europe and South Asia.

What kind of R&D does the company do for the India market?

We are strongly focused on design and engineering research aspects. This helps us manufacture market-specific products and provide customised services and solutions. Aligned with our business units, our technology and engineering centres are driven by Indian market demand, helping customers improve their performance by enhancing the effectiveness of our products. We understand the pulse of the Indian market; there are instances where we have completely indigenised all components for standard bearing and substantial indigenisation for AP bearings (self-contained, pre-assembled and pre-lubricated bearing design for rail industry). We have developed solutions for our customers like Indian Railway, Tata or JSW and we continue to provide tailor-made services to reduce downtime and increase efficiency in their performance. This was possible because we invested heavily on research in the Indian market and its requirements.

How will the government's plan to boost infrastructure benefit the company?

Manufacturing is a key engine for India's economic growth and with the launch of the 'Make in India' campaign the industry's pace of expansion will increase. It will also place India on the world map as a manufacturing hub. I feel that the recent initiatives by the Indian government on skill development, etc. will boost productivity and generate an increase in per capita value-addition.

What are your strengths and competitive advantages over your peers?

When we serve the global market and we have to compete with global companies, our strength is our expertise in friction management and cutting-edge research in the field of friction management. Timken is a premium brand. With 100 years of expertise in mechanical power transmission and industry know-how, we are known for our technological prowess, superior quality products, wider product portfolio, and the capability to provide consultancy and total solutions, services and training programmes. Due to this, Timken India has a solid customer base, which is ever expanding. Again, we only make and sell what we know.