ZWZ Bearings to Commence India Operations

January 22, 2011 11:07 am

“Considering the standing of the world’’ two largest countries, China and India, there is an immense need from both the sides to steadily consolidate cooperative partnerships. As the China’s trade with India is around USD 60 billion, we see further scope for forging these bilateral ties through trade cooperation that will speed up the growth of trade and investment”, says Niu Qingbao, Consul General of China.

ZWZ Bearings, China’s leading bearing brand and the world’s number seven – enters into India with the plans to set up its operations. The Indian arm of ZWZ Group, will be named as ZWZ Bearings India Private Limited.  With this set up, ‘Wafangdian Bearing Group Corporation’, short named as ZWZ, will ensure its direct presence in Indian markets with its vast product portfolio and global expertise. To begin with, the Indian Company will mainly focus on sales and marketing of industrial bearings under ‘ZWZ’ brand in India.

ZWZ Bearings India has, thus, become one of the few enterprises from China to commence its operations in India. Niu Qingbao, Consul General of China, says, “Considering the standing of the world’s two largest countries, China and India, there is an immense need from both the sides to steadily consolidate cooperative partnerships. As the China’s trade with India is around USD 60 billion, we see further scope for forging these bilateral ties through trade cooperation that will speed up the growth of trade and investment. As ZWZ is number one brand in China, its entry into India is one such step towards attaining the same.”

With its entry, the USD 1 billion ZWZ Group is aiming to expand into the USD 2 billion Indian bearings market, which has been registering a CAGR of 20%. According to Zhao Yang, Global Sales Director, ZWZ Group, “We have always wanted to strengthen our presence in India with long–term plans. With Indian economy marking rapid strides, we find it an opportune time to mark our presence. We aim at becoming a prominent supplier to major industries of India and accordingly, we are launching a complete range of products that are ideally suited for Indian customers.”

Backed by its manufacturing and technological capabilities, ZWZ Bearings India has identified key growth sectors for supply of bearings. Accordingly, it will supply its high quality and precision bearings to actual users and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the industries like steel & metals, power, mining, paper, cement, machinery, engineering, petroleum, construction & infrastructure and railway. The Indian arm will first establish a network of long–term channel partners across the country with strong presence in select metro cities. As an early market initiative, it will launch about 5,000 types of industrial bearings in India and gradually take the portfolio to 15,000 products. ZWZ owns the intellectual property rights of all their manufactured products. Given the bearing manufacturing range, size and production capabilities, ZWZ India would be benchmarking against all the major bearing manufacturers operating in India and will compete with top five manufacturers.

In India, ZWZ Bearings will supply middle, large and extra large diameter bearings upto 6M diameter. As ZWZ Bearings are well–known for its shorter production lead times in comparison to other players, the same practice will be followed in India. Says Mr Nishant Vora, Director & General Manager, ZWZ Bearings India, “We are committed to supplying high quality, high precision, world–class bearing products with better delivery and compelling value.”

Mr Vora adds, “Globally, there are few countries that specialize in the manufacture of large range bearings. In India, bearings are manufactured from small to medium sized bearings range. There is a vacuum in the middle to large size bearings and extra large sized bearings, which are normally imported. Indian market is in a growth phase when many other global markets are experiencing sluggish or no growth; particularly in the west. Indian market is very fragmented and spread out geographically in a very wide area that makes it different from rest of the world. With ZWZ Bearings, we want to capitalize on these key differentiators.”

For first three years, ZWZ Bearings India is envisaging annual sales of Rs 100–crore from its operations and expecting to reach to Rs 500–crore in the long–run. During this period, the Company expects to garner higher revenues from verticals like steel & metal, power, mining, construction & infrastructure related supplies, cement and railway.

With a view to further scale up its Indian operations, ZWZ Bearings India also intends to set up a full–fledged manufacturing base in the next two to three years. Till the manufacturing facility in India is set up, ZWZ Bearings India will import all its product requirements from People’s Republic of China. Also, it will launch specialty products for steel, cement, thermal power and wind power applications as ZWZ has very strong and deep product portfolios in these segments, specifically in Wind Turbine generators where ZWZ is number one in People’s Republic of China and among the largest in the world.

ZWZ is also looking forward to provide supply chain solutions to bearing manufacturers in India. ZWZ is one of the largest manufactures of forged and semi–finished bearing components such as races, cages, balls and rollers. ZWZ can significantly augment the ranges of several local manufacturers by providing such long–term supply chain solutions in India. ZWZ is also one of the leading manufacturers for precision manufacturing machines used in the bearing industry. ZWZ intends to supply the same to the Indian bearing industry through a specialized program and marketing initiative.

“Through these avenues – in addition to our core bearings product range – we are looking forward to being both a manufacturer and enabler to the industry. Our large manufacturing expertise and technology will provide the platform for our growth in India” adds Mr Vora, who has been associated with the group for seven years.

Li Dong, General Manager, Exports, ZWZ Group, says, “Our presence in the Indian market through vast product portfolio will ensure good brand visibility. Indian market has started recognizing Chinese products as high quality products and the brand ‘ZWZ’ will further cement this trust among our Indian customers.” Leena Wang, Manager, India & South–East Asia, ZWZ Group adds, “Post our expansion in India, ZWZ would hopefully emerge as one of the top 10 brands and will be accepted throughout the country as a leading global manufacturer.”