There is no stopping for Raltronics India

With a turnover of Rs 400 million in 2007-08, the company is surging at the rate of 15 per cent every year. This year, Raltronics is targeting a 20 per cent growth

By Jesus Milton Rousseau S

Friday, June 19, 2009: The biggest achievement for Raltronics India Pvt Ltd has been meeting the stringent quality and delivery requirements of demanding customers. N K Verma, managing director, Raltronics India Pvt Ltd, says, “We understood the requirements of customers by judging the gaps between their expectations and our offerings and then prepared our team to upgrade its skillset.”

Raltronics is an electronic manufacturing services (EMS) company that provides services for through-hole and surface mount technology (SMT) printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), including auto insertion, SMT placement, manual insertion, wave and reflow soldering, final assembly, etc. It offers these services in the areas of energy meter PCBA, colour TV chassis, colour TV PCBA, CFL populated PCBA, inverters and inverter PCBA, UPS, automotive electronics populated PCBA, switch mode power supplies (SMPS) of all applications and office automation products. The company’s turnover was Rs 400 million in 2007-08 and is growing at the rate of 15 per cent every year. This year, it is targeting a 20 per cent growth. Raltronics focuses on the consumer electronics, lighting, energy meter, power conditioning and auto mobile segments.

Raltronics was acquired in 1996 when the business scenario for EMS providers was good, as strong Indian brands and MNCs needed to develop the outsourcing model to source goods against their own specifications. This opened up opportunities for organisations which were able to adapt to the fast changing scenario, to offer services in EMS.

Business strategies

The EMS business is sustainable in India as the nation is emerging as the preferred destination for global leaders, offering an ever increasing demand to EMS providers. Raltronics offers its customers designing, delivery solutions and procurement from global resources, which makes it very attractive for large companies who tend to focus more on research and development (R&D), marketing, sales and services.

Raltronics India is an ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 certified company. The company has manufacturing units in Manesar, Haridwar and Noida. At present, the company has a daily production capacity of 1.5 million components in through-hole auto insertion and 500,000 in SMT component placement. Its manual components insertion capacity is 0.5 million components per day.

“Our main business strategy is to offer services to customers, with a focus on competitive pricing and quality as per customers’ requirements. Also, offering customers the best inventory optimises the capital deployed,” says Verma. He further adds, “Our operating principles are to work in complete harmony and unison with customers, suppliers and employees and try to deliver them what has been promised, emulate the best business practices, innovate to remain ahead and challenge employees and business associates to achieve customer satisfaction. Also, we believe in being impartial and unbiased with all employees, customers and business associates.”

Challenges faced

The company faced a number of hurdles before it reached the heights it is at today. The biggest challenge was the ever rising input cost and the reducing cost of finished goods. This problem requires focusing on economy of scale, building efficiency and wastage reduction. Above all, people across the organisation need to be educated and trained. The factors that aided Raltronics in cutting costs were the availability of quality raw material from India as well as overseas and skilled manpower. “We have been able to improve largely by educating our workforce and segmentalising responsibilities into key work areas,” adds Verma.

Regarding the sourcing of components, Verma says, “Some of the critical components like wound ferrite components are manufactured in-house. The sourcing of other components is possible through global sources as the duty structure is rationalised now.”

Having multilocational facilities helped in taking business potential higher for Raltronics as it facilitated next door availability for clients. However, it was an enormous task to ensure that all the multilocation facilities worked in unison. “We are connected through our IT infrastructure and we try to maximise our productivity by sharing and utilising resources optimally,” shares Verma.

Some of the impediments that Raltronics overcame while trying to accelerate productivity were the need for continual training; harmonising industrial relations and the need to develop a work culture akin to that of world class standards.

“Our future plan is to attain our growth targets by associating with leading companies in the chosen areas of consumer electronics, lighting, energy meters and power conditioning,” says Verma. “We are also considering a technical tieup with a company to produce power supplies for the telecom segment and solar inverters,” he reveals.

MACHINERY USED

Auto insertion machines setup comprises of:

• 2 numbers sequencing

• Dual head jumper insertion machine

• 3 numbers dual head

• Single head axial insertion machines

• 2 numbers radial components insertion machines

SMT assembly setup comprises of:

• Glue dispenser

• Solder paste screen printer

• Chip shooter

• Fine pitch components placer

• 8 zone reflow oven

Manual insertion setup comprises of:

• 2 numbers wave soldering machines

• 2 numbers conveyor lines

• Test and measuring jigs and setups

Utilities

• Diesel generator sets for 500 KVA power generation

• Air compressors and air driers to produce and handle 500 CFM compressed air

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