Face-to-Face

February 201518

ead quartered in Bangalore, HDISA India Limited (DIL) is a l e a d i n g E q u i p m e n t

Manufacturer in India, offering a d v a n c e d F o u n d r y & S u r f a c e Preparation process technology. DIL is the Indian arm of the Denmark based DISA Holding A/s. The company was i n c o r p o r a t e d i n 1 9 8 4 f o r t h e manufacturing of modern foundry equipment.DISA India supplies complete foundry systems by integrating the international DISA range of moulding machines and sand mixers with proper combination of sand p lant equ ipment , sur face preparation machines and environmental control systems. DISA has a range of Sand Moulding Equipment that caters to different needs of the foundry industry. It serves customers across the country with its sales offices located in New Delhi, Pune, Kolkata and Bangalore; and two manufacturing plants, which are located in Tumkur and Hosakote, Karnataka.

Technology Upgradation- A must

With increasing focus on its Indian Operations, the group established a fully owned R&D Facility – named DISA Technologies Pvt Ltd – in 2007. This R&D Centre – in Bangalore - caters to the development needs of the group companies, worldwide.

In the year 2009, DISA Group - the leading name in moulding and casting technology - merged with the Wheelabrator Group - the world leader in surface preparation technology - to form the world's leading metallic parts enhancement company. The combined entity is now called the Norican Group. With strong legacy of over 100 years each, the DISA & Wheelabrator Brands are now housed under the Norican Group umbrella.

DISA encompasses a team of committed and highly skilled people, who bring forth their vast industry experience and knowledge to its range of operations that support the foundry and other engineering industries. In line with globalization and the strong integration drive to create a Global DISA, the Indian team is now looked upon as the major driver for growth of the company worldwide.

Currently Mr. Viraj Naidu is the Managing Director of DISA India Limited. Mr. Naidu has over 25 years of Industrial Experience in Indian Automotive & Capital Machinery Industry – with a diverse background of Maintenance, Sales & Marketing, Program, Projects & General Management – with significant exposure to Multi National & Multi Cultural workings. He had joined Disa India Ltd. in January 2007 and is Executive Vice President – India, at Norican Group Level. Mr. Viraj has also worked as Chief Operating Officer at TACO-IPD (Tata Autocomp Systems – Interiors & Plastics Division), Executive Director at Caparo Fasteners (a Div. of Caparo Engineering India Pvt Ltd), General Manager – North at Siemens VDO Automotive Ltd. etc.

. “We remain bullish about the medium to long term prospects of the Foundry Industry in India. With a young population - aspiring for the best in the world - the demand is only going to accelerate for Industrial Products, which will all lead to demand for high volume quality castings”, says Viraj Naidu, Managing Director of DISA India Limited in an exclusive interview to Metalworld. Excerpts:

- Viraj Naidu

Face-to-Face

How would you summarize 2014 for DISA India?

Overall the Indian Industry kept waiting for the long-delayed recovery in Y2014 also. Expectedly, we have seen a slowdown in the number of new foundry projects, and a corresponding impact on our Foundry Equipment Business. However, with a much wider range of new Wheelabrator equipment, we have been able to gain market penetration in many new applications for Shot Blasting & Shot Peening, outside of our traditional Foundry markets. This - to a great extent - has offset the slowdown on our Foundry side of the business. We have been on a spree of new product introductions over the last few years in India, and all these are well established and accepted by the market. These new products also have given us ample cushion against the o n g o i n g slowdown in India.

What are the opportunities for you in the Indian foundry sector?

Over the last few months, the commercial vehicles segment – specially the Medium & Heavy segment – has started showing a good growth again. This, we understand, is typically the early sign of pick-up, in the overall industrial activities. With this, we believe that the long term trend of Technology Upgrades – from Manual / Semi-automatic Foundries to Fully-Automatic High Pressure Moulding Lines – will pick up pace again from Y2015. With all our new products well established now, we see this coming

pick-up, as a significant opportunity for us in the Indian Foundry Sector. We are also introducing a new Wheelabrator Shot Blasting machine in April 2015, which will be targeted towards foundries. This new machine will have a host of new features, which will be new for the Indian Foundry Customers.

Which countries and markets will you focus in the coming years?

For DISA INDIA, the focus remains the Indian market, as we are convinced about the long term prospect of the Indian Industry. However, we have now been exporting about 15% of our turnover to various countries, eg. Poland, Mexico, Saudi etc. We believe this to continue in coming years.

How do you see the future prospect of Indian Foundry industry?

We remain bullish about the medium to long term prospects of the Foundry Industry in India. With a young population - aspiring for the best in the world - the demand is only going to accelerate for Industrial Products, which will all lead to demand for high volume quality castings. Added to this, is the inherent need for Technology Upgrades, as a significant majority of foundries are still way behind.

What are your expansion plans for India?

Over the last few years we have significantly expanded both our Plants – in Tumkur & in Hosakote. These expansions have been in Machining Capability & Capacity, as well as in Additional Floor Space for Fabrication & Assembly. We had actually started looking for a third plant, but the last three years slowdown held us back.

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