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M. Ramesh

The Zhejiang plant.

Chennai , April 13

NO.1 Sundram Road, Wuyuan Town, Zhejiang, China, will see more activity from next week, as Sundram Fasteners' Chinese plant will start working a third shift — a reflection of the unit's growing order book.

In the period between September 2004 (when the plant went on stream) and March 2005, Sundram Fasteners (Zhejiang) Ltd sold fasteners worth a million dollars (Rs 4.5 crore), just as anticipated. In the current year (calendar 2005), the company is aiming a turnover of $ 3 million.

Currently, the orders are from European customers, but next month, Sundram Fasteners China will start supplying to John Deer, USA. The cost advantage in supplying to these customers from China, compared to supplying from India, is said to be only marginal. But the export orders only help the plant to get going.

The idea behind the Sundram Fasteners' China gambit was to take a share of the Chinese market — of both MNCs and their joint ventures in China as well as Chinese-owned companies. A break into that market, albeit on a modest scale, is likely to happen in the current year.

Asked about their experience in running a plant in China in the last six months, senior officials of Sundram Fasteners told Business Line today that the Chinese workers proved to be "keen learners". Language barrier is a challenge, especially in technical training. Trainers from India supplement the interpreters' skills with dictionaries and gestures.

Recruiting from the hinterlands of China and training them in engineering and English, Sundram Fasteners (Zhejiang) has raised its staff strength to about 70, including some 45 shop-floor workers and supervisors. Only a few more are needed for the third shift.

Meanwhile, in another geography, Cramlington Forge, Sundram Fasteners' UK subsidiary, achieves sales of about £3.5 million, just adequate for breaking even. Addition of Cramlington Forge's customers to the parent company "looks like" will begin to happen this year.

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