Hermes Electronics plans to expand its manufacturing facility and become a global OEM

From a PCBA sub-contractor, Hermes has transformed itself into a leading EMS provider in the country. Having evolved as an expert manufacturer specialising in high-mix low-volume operations, it offers its customers diverse process capabilities, high-end production technology and flexibility

By EB Bureau

Tuesday, October 15, 2013: Started in 1998 as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) sub-contractor, Hermes Electronics Pvt Ltd has evolved into an advanced electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company, specialising in developing high-quality electronic assemblies and providing value-added services to IT, consumer electronics, industrial electronics, telecom and automotive companies.

In the course of its journey, Hermes entered into many joint ventures with local manufacturers to provide customers with the right resources, technology and capacity to optimise their operations. Growing at 15-20 per cent, year on year, Hermes aims to double its revenue in the next five years.

Following business ethics in its operations, keeping customers happy and meeting their requirements is what Hermes lays emphasis on. By implementing Six Sigma, ISO9001 as well as QS9000, it has been able to maintain high standards of quality in its manufacturing processes.

The journey so far

Hermes’ growth has been marked by sheer hard work, passion, persistence and determination. A true electronics enthusiast,Anil Kumar, managing director, Hermes Electronics Pvt Ltd, has built the company by acting as a one-man army and chasing his dreams to develop cost-effective products locally. Over the past 19 years, Hermes has grown multi-fold to build a good reputation in the industry and among its clients, which include many big names.

Anil Kumar attributes the firm’s success to the way it has been able to ensure customer satisfaction, and win more and more loyal customers every year. This has been possible only through its excellence in design, manufacturing and quality. “Our growth has been customer-driven and we aim to provide our customers a one-stop shop for their convenience,” says Anil Kumar. “Today, end users demand flexibility, lower costs, on-time delivery and the best quality and service. Therefore, we need to do value addition as well as keep the cost low. This is quite a challenge,” he adds.

Hermes has had its share of hiccups and teething problems when it started out. “Arranging finances while starting the company was not a cake walk for us. Way back in 1994, raising an initial capital of Rs 20 million was not an easy task,” recalls Anil Kumar. To top it all, irregular delivery from suppliers was a major issue for the company, which was then just a start-up. “Due to the lack of prompt deliveries from our suppliers, we were unable to meet our delivery schedules. This affected our business tremendously. So, we had to change our strategy by keeping a bigger buffer in our delivery schedules and, simultaneously, we looked for more suppliers who could deliver on time,” he says.

Services offered

Making the Japanese manufacturing standards its benchmark, Hermes offers tailor-made services to match individual requirements of its customers. The company follows the Japanese manufacturing methodology of ‘5S’—sorting, set in order, systematic cleaning, standardising, and sustaining, also known as sort, straighten, sweep, standardise and sustain. “The implementation of the ‘5S’ principle is important for us to stay ahead in the manufacturing environment,” says Anil Kumar.

Hermes offers end-to-end operational services that include purchasing, designing, manufacturing, test solutions, logistics as well as marketing. Keeping in line with the trends of the manufacturing industry and to stay ahead of the competitors, Hermes strives to add value at every stage—from product design to product finalisation. Therefore it offers its customers low-cost, high-mix manufacturing with flexible support in design for manufacturing (DFM), material acquisition, PCB assembly, box building, systems integration and distribution support. “We pay special attention to quality control, cost structures, production capacity, timely delivery and logistics. This is how we have established long term relationships with our customers,” says Anil Kumar.

Manufacturing capabilities

Located in Navi Mumbai, Hermes’ manufacturing facility is spread over 929.03 sq m. “Our manufacturing lines provide the flexibility to accommodate high-mix, low-volume and low-mix, high-volume production. We keep upgrading our facility to meet the demands of the industry,” states Anil Kumar. “We understand the importance of responsiveness and flexibility during manufacturing; hence, our facility is such that it can handle functions ranging from prototyping and new product initialisation (NPI) to high-mix manufacturing,” he adds.

With its quick turnaround prototyping process, Hermes can deliver a finished product in less than a week’s time to 10 days. Its team of experienced engineers is always receptive to the wide range of requirements from diverse customers and is ready to address any challenge with a quick solution.

Playing on its strengths

Hermes’ biggest strength is its prompt delivery to customers, and the quality of products and services rendered. To add to it, its effective supply chain management process has enabled it to fulfil customer requirements like cost control, reduced lead time, product reliability, etc. Playing to its strength, Hermes has bagged contracts from some of the biggest companies of the industry (see box).

Maintaining quality is the company’s major focus area. Before taking the product to the volume production stage, its engineering team inspects and evaluates every aspect in detail—from individual components to the entire production line. “Our effort is focused on reducing complexity and eliminating manual operations wherever possible, while creating structured procedures to minimise human error,” explains Anil Kumar.

Throughout the design review process, Hermes strives to create a testing strategy that not only prevents defects but also ensures that problems are detected at the earliest stage and resolved at the lowest cost. “We make all possible efforts to satisfy a customer; for example, we even work with the customer’s design engineers to optimise their product and materials from the initial stage, even through the testing and manufacturing stages,” says Anil Kumar.

Moving ahead

Hermes has today made a name for itself in the EMS industry. It now plans to expand its manufacturing facility to a much bigger premises to support clients with higher volumes. Anil Kumar believes that with the government’s recent policies to boost local manufacturing, it is time to expand the firm’s business activities and manufacturing capabilities. Hermes also plans to expand its network in the overseas market. “Our main aim now is to become a global OEM provider by offering the lowest production costs and highest quality products,” concludes Anil Kumar.

 Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine