Many milestones have marked this incredible journey to success including an approximately one billion dollar turnover. Other highlights of the journey include a joint venture with Renault Agriculture in 2000 and a joint venture with Yanmar of Japan for manufacturing of tractors in India in 2005.
The Company also developed four wheel drive front axles as well as transmissions of tractors for Yanmar in 2006 and launched the technically advanced worldtrac tractor series in 2009. It later launched the Gardentrac tractors. The Company also started a new plant in Bihar for manufacturing of rotavators and other agricultural implements.
"Strategic investments into the Group by leading international brands like Yanmar of Japan and JM Financials only reinforce the global recognition achieved by the Group. World's largest Private equity player Blackstone picked up 12.5 percent stake in International Tractors Limited (ITL) in 2012.
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Strong focus on manufacturing Manufacturing has been a key strength for the Sonalika Group and has been instrumental in its successful journey. The ITL's integrated manufacturing facility consists of Production, Quality, Supplier Development, Finance, Marketing, and Human Resources under one roof. The manufacturing unit works closely with all functions including forecasting, Supplier development, quality, R&D and customer care functions to meet customer demands. The facility has been divided into what the Company calls as Production Excellence centres. These include Tractor assembly division, Engine division, Transmission and Gear division, Hydraulic assembly division, Industrial engineering division and Tooling manufacturing division. The tractor assembly division sees seamless manufacturing of tractor from engine marriage to final tractor PDI and dispatch. The assembly line is equipped with stage wise quality gates to ensure that only quality products come out. "We have surface paint booth with CED technology process to give durable products to sustain in various atmospheres." The engine division is built to have a dust free ambience to build powerful heavy duty and reliable engines. Its production units consist of high end German and Japanese machining centres is also equipped to produce TREM-III, Stage-IIIB and Stage IIIA compliant products with emission validation centres. The transmission and gear division manufactures gears, shafts and power transmission 4WD axles. It has also heat treatment with controlled temperatures to meet desired hardness to bring reliability in the products. The hydraulic assembly division has facility for internal validation tests. Industrial engineering division implements latest manufacturing trends to ensure quality. It also ensures efficiency of the assembly line process through PokaYoke and TPM practices around the manufacturing cycle. The ITL manufacturing facility is certified with ISO-9001, ISO-14001, and TS 16949 certifications accredited by TUVNORD. |
This strategic investment has put us on the world map for tractors," Mittal believes. "Today, the Group's worth is more than Rs10,000 crore with an average growth of 30 per cent," he adds. Exports, obviously has been a big focus for the Sonalika Group. "We have presence in 75 countries and export is contributing 20 percent to our revenue," Mittal shares.
A few years back, the Sonalika Group had also forayed into the automotive segment with International Cars and Motors Ltd. (ICML). However, it has not been able to make any significant progress in that segment and hence has decided to shelve it. "We are converting the resources at ICML for developing new generation tractors for export at the ICML plant now," he says. Tractors remain its mainstay but Sonalika is also pursuing diversification into other segments like auto components and diesel generators.
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