Raymond: Engineering with Total Competitiveness [July 2012]

July 20, 2012 5:32 am

Harshal Jayavant, President – Engineering Business, Raymond Limited shares his views with Subhajit Roy about Raymond’s Engineering business and the strategies that make it a globally competitive player
Raymond’s Growth StoryRaymond Ltd. started its engineering business with the establishment of J.K. Files & Tools in the year 1949. In the last 5 decades, the company saw major progress in this business and gradually expanded its base across the globe. Today, J.K. Files & Tools is the largest manufacturer of steel files in the world with a global market share of over 30 per cent in the files business.
Subsequently, the company ventured into the hand tool business which was completely new and began manufacturing a whole range of hand tools. “Today we are the second largest pan India player in the business after Taparia. This way we have established our presence across the country. The business is also growing around 40 – 45 per cent year-on-year”, said Harshal Jayavant, President – Engineering Business, Raymond Ltd.
Ring Plus Aqua, the auto component business acquired by Raymond in 2005 in turn acquired Trinity India Ltd., a Pune-based forged component manufacturer in February 2012, marking its entry into the forged components. Talking about the significance of the forging business for the Raymond Group, Mr. Jayavant said, “Going forward we foresee significant growth in this particular sector. This year Trinity India is expecting a growth of around 40 per cent”.
Industry StatusIn the current market scenario, the Indian forging industry is likely to witness a modest growth during the current fiscal. As a result this year the Engineering business of Raymond is targeting a turnover of around Rs. 800 crore with a fluctuation of Rs. 10 – 15 crore. Talking about the impact of recent economic slowdown over his business, Mr. Jayavant said, “The business could well have gone above Rs 800 crore but recession is slowing down the growth process”.
Explaining Raymond’s growth in the Engineering sector, he said, “In 2005, Rs. 800 crore would have been a mammoth target as we were at a mere Rs. 165 crore then, but we set off on an ambitious target and achieved revenues of Rs. 620 crore in the financial year 2011-12”.
Emerging as Global PlayerOwing to several significant acquisitions, Raymond has a strong customer base in the automotive sector. Further as a sign of progress, lot of enquires are coming in from the forging industry as well. “Being in the forging industry opens up a wide spectrum for us. Five years down the line, we expect the business to be a significant global player in its product category. We may not be the largest or second largest in the world but will definitely be a globally competitive quality player”, said Mr. Jayavant.
He further added, “We have a significant presence in the non – auto sector and 20 – 25 per cent revenue is generated from this sector which comprises of industrial, defence, process industry, railways etc among others. With these plans, the company has a long term growth strategy”.
Beating Inflation through Productive StrategyRaymond never looked at the hardware business as a dying business. The company kept moving forward with an optimistic approach. Giving that the file business was considered a traditional one, its growth potential was not seen to be significant however Raymond challenged this assumption.

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