Ramkrishna Forgings Limited (RKFL) is a significant player in the Indian forging industry and has completed its 32nd year of operations. This TS 16949, OSHAS 18001 and ISO 14001 certified manufacturer of open and closed die forgings of carbon and alloy steel, micro alloy steel and stainless steel forgings is the 3rd biggest in India, in terms of turnover. Mr M P Jalan, Chairman, graciously acceded to a request from Industrial Products Finder for this e-interview in this special section on Castings & Forgings. Excerpts.

With over two decades in this field, how eventful has been the journey in this arena that has a vast number of players?

"Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome." I have started my journey for more than 3 decades after completion of graduation in Mechanical Engineering from BITS, Pilani.Ramkrishna Forgings was established in the year 1981 and from the very inception we have been able to supply our components to the vital user industries like the railways, mining and earth moving equipment, farm equipment, automobiles, bearings industry, defence and general engineering industry, and in recent years, the wind energy sector, both in India as well as all over the world.

During this journey RKFL has already attained the 3rd position in the Forging Sector in India and we are looking forward to the 2nd position in terms of capacity and turnover as well very soon.

What is the process of forgings followed? Are there environmental concerns in this method? What are the advantages?

We always believe that technology is just like a bloodstream of the business. We at RKFL are reliant on technology in different areas, especially with regard to "Forgings". Technology is something that keeps us moving and keeping in view of such opinion and environmental conservation with regard to the pollution we have adopted induction heating furnaces. Compared with any old technology, the new induction heating furnaces are much technically upgraded compared to oil-fired furnaces which used to create more pollution and wastage due to burning losses. Further, after adoption of such technology our working environment has become much cleaner and healthier.

We have adopted the best of technology and introduced fully automated Ring Rolling line for manufacturing crown wheels and due to this we have overcome past manufacturing problems like heavy wastage and crack issues. It has also helped us in providing high yield up to 90% as against 60% by the old method. This in turn saved raw material wastage. Also we carefully study the environmental impact of the technologies and aim at developing products and processes that are environment-friendly and thus we have gone ahead with 5S implementation and our company has accreditations like ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

What is the product range that is manufactured - industry wise as well as sizes?

We manufacture a wide variety of products from 1 kg to 125 kg in closed die forgings and the same is supplied in as Forged, Heat Treated, Fully Machined and Assembled Condition. With the vast range of products we have been able to serve all industries with the desired forgings and we are catering to all the vital industry segments mentioned earlier, all related to the core sector.

What is the primary focus market? Do you cater to the pan Indian market? And exports? Our primary focus is for automotive sector and we are acting as a one stop destination for our buyers wherein we are currently supplying them the forging requirements in terms of rear axles, transmission and gearboxes and in near future we can meet all the requirements for front axle and engines as well, thus we will supply forging for all areas required in any vehicle.

We cater to all the zonal railways in India along with all the major OEMs located in pan India for commercial vehicle manufacturers like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Volvo India and Eicher Motors, and also to reputed Tier1 companies. Further, we have been exporting our items mainly to the four continents:

• North America - USA, Canada and Mexico
• South America - Brazil
• Europe - Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Glasgow, and
• Asia - Turkey, Bangladesh and Singapore.

Proximity to the market is of vital importance in view of sourcing of raw materials as well as delivery of finished products. How does this plant score on this front?

We are patronising steel manufactured in the eastern belt for our requirements, i.e., the three major sources available and this helps in minimising the logistics cost.

Tata Motors being our major client located in the eastern zone also helps us in terms of proximity of the market and we score the best in view of our plant locations, availability of infrastructure, manpower and reasonable electricity cost and close proximity to the steel source and also to the end customer.

Competition is a reality in any field of business. How is the current scenario in forgings?

Competition makes us to put on our thinking cap for better ways to add value. Creative thinking forms the bedrock of any success-minded brand. At present, we are competing with all big forging companies of the world by the sheer dint of our quality products at competitive prices because India has been acclaimed as a forging hub in the world market and is already termed as the best cost country.

However, in the Indian forging industry there are a lot of small players which are growing incessantly but reputed buyers desire quality products and the same can be achieved from companies with big scale operations and as we are one of them we have been able to create our footprints in India and throughout the world.

What are the main product lines designated for exports?

There are 3 major product lines, i.e.,

• Components for rear axle like crown wheels, pinions and rear axle shafts
• For front rear axle shafts - front axle beams, steering arms and knuckles, and
• For engine products - crankshaft, connecting rods and camshafts.

All these are in fully machined condition and ready for fitment (except crown wheels and pinions are only in blank condition).

How is the present business environment?

In 2012-13, the economy is expected to grow at the GDP rate of 6.7%. In 2007-08, India has seen GDP growth rate of more than 9%. However, last year the Indian market was not up to the mark and is expected to revive in this year as our government has planned better reform measures.

Global turmoil no longer hogs the limelight, but it has receded as this year India sees a consumption-led recovery with improved agriculture, lower interest rate and highest government infrastructure to revive growth. Even the industry forecast of GDP growth as per CRISIL in 2013 is expected 5.4% as against last year 3.7%. Further, globally, the South American market has revived, North America has been steady and Europe is expected to be a flat market. Overall we can expect a positive growth.

What are the future plans?

RKFL is expanding in a major way. We are installing a series of press lines like 2500 tonne, 3150 tonne, 4500 tonne and 12,500 tonne press lines which start from 2013 itself and 6300-8000 tonne press lines from mid-2014. With this ambition and zeal to reach the pinnacle of success we believe that we will be the biggest forging company in the country with a variety of product range wherein under one roof per customer will be having all the forging technologies which will be catered to all the world-class customers' worldwide.Further, we also plan to venture into the "Near Net Shape" forging in 2014.