Chennai: Leading solution provider in the $2 billion machine tools industry, Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd (BFW) has stated that it is aiming to become one among the top 20 companies globally.
With their order books up by 80 per cent when compared to H1 last year, the firm is poised to grow 60 per cent this financial year, crossing the Rs 1,000 crore mark.
MD, BFW, Ravi Raghavan, while speaking at an event here, mentioned about the firms future plans. He said, “We would like to spend about 2-2.5 per cent in R&D and we have dedicated employees in the field.”
But the biggest announcement was about BFW aiming at building two new factories. In the first phase, the firm aims to invest Rs 50 crore. The plant is to come up at Hosur. Other plants in the pipeline are to come up at Tumkur Tech Park by 2020, while a fourth one is being planned at a much bigger scale being a 40 acre facility.
The total factory floor area to be included in the expansion will be around Rs 60,000 sq ft. The second phase will spread over another 60,000 sq ft area. The Industry 4.0 compliant factory is fully-automated and AI enabled.
Ravi Raghavan said the expansion was to meet future production plans. “We would like to expect production to be around 10,000 machines as opposed to 3,500 machines that are made today,” he said.
As for the market break-up, the top part of the country contributes 45 per cent while the rest is from other regions, he said.
BFW became the first company to get all its approvals online when the government of Tamilnadu inaugurated its single window clearance portal, Raghavan said, adding that the firm has created its own IoT solutions software, named iris, completely in-house.
When News Today Ravi Raghavan, whether the revenue plan was revised since the original trajectory was aimed at Rs 1,600 crore, he said, “No, the plan includes our German partner and we are in discussions with them.”
On a topic about the machine tool industry outlook on the onset of electric vehicles, he said, “We are vary of the fact that if electric vehicle comes, vehicle parts will reduce a great deal and the industry will take a hit. We have laid out a plan and are working towards it.”
Earlier in the year, BFW setup a solar power project that supplies power to the entire facility in Bangaluru. Its 980 kWp solar project generates 15 lakh units of energy which helps the company in meeting its power requirements. This plant will help BFW offset 1,350 tons of carbon emission every year.
The third edition of Manufacturing Day to be held today, was announced at the press conference.