Doing More with Less

This space is dedicated to SMEs and their resilient spirit to rise despite the blocks they encounter on their way to success. This time’s spotlight is on Arihant Honing & Finishing Technology (i) Pvt Ltd, which is the perfect embodiment of all that takes to succeed and thrive.

With majority as SMEs in the Indian manufacturing indu-stry, it should ideally be easy for the smaller and medium manufacturing units, rightly termed as the ‘engines of growth’, to gain access to the resources they need. However, the ground reality is quite contrary. SMEs are still grappling with even basic issues such as procuring formal credit and skilled personnel to catapult themselves ahead in their path of progress.

Arihant Honing & Finishing Technology (i) Pvt Ltd is an SME that has overcome the quintessential smaller unit-hurdles that paved its way to the successful position it currently enjoys. The company today is reckoned as one of the prime manufacturers and suppliers of a wide spectrum of Honing and Superfinishing machines for Automobile, Oil & Gas, Aerospace and Bearing industries. The machines comprise Horizontal Tube honing machines, Precision Vertical honing machines, Special Superfinishing machines, Throughfeed Finishing machines, Bearing Races, Roller Finishing machines, Flat Finishing machines etc.

Honing and Finishing are high-precision processes designed to handle the most demanding manufacturing challenges and, hence, are relatively expensive. Most of the companies in India import these machines in concern of quality. Sameer S Kartha, Director, Arihant Honing & Finishing Technology (i) had been working for US- and German-based machine tools companies for 16 years. That’s when he recognized an opportunity to indigenously make such machines at international quality standards and offer at a lower cost to cater to the needs of the Indian companies. “The cost at which Indian customers bought these machines was too high. That prompted us to start a manufacturing company under the ‘Make in India’ scheme,” he shares.

Under the guidance of the company’s experienced Technical Director and with the support from the team, Arihant succeeded in delivering equally efficient machines at 40-50 percent lesser cost than the imported ones. Now the company is receiving orders from countries like Germany and the US, where most of the competitor companies head their offices.

“Since inception, Arihant has been efficiently meeting the quality requirements of our valuable clients while keeping in mind international quality standards and norms. We are committed towards delivering a range of machines and equipment that exhibit efficient performance, operational stability, designing impeccability, and minimal maintenance requirements,” stresses Kartha. The other two Directors are Dhanalakshmi Sameer Kartha and Melwin Joseph Dcunha. All are professionals having years of experience that has helped Arihant reach the next level of business.

Overcoming challenges

Initial hiccups: One of the key challenges faced by Arihant during the initial stages was that its proposal would get rejected by the customers who feared that the company’s machines would not render the same quality and efficiency as the imported machines. However, Arihant proved its efficiency in its first order itself from an international company and at a much lower price.

“It was difficult to convince customers that we could produce the same quality machines with 40 percent lesser cost, and which can be import substitute. We used to travel extensively all over India to visit prospective customers and offer technical presentations. Then we made some prototype machines and invited them to visit us and witness the process. It took us lot of in-house preparations. Finally, we could prove to them and gain some orders,” he adds.

Financial constraints: To compete with the infrastructure and marketing strategies of international players that have offices in India, Arihant requires a solid financial backup. “The continuing challenge we face as an SME is raising of capital for upgrading our operational activities for establishing in-house facilities for which we have approached several financial institutions. The response from them has been not favorable as of yet,” shares Kartha.

“We have open orders from the customers and are under ‘Make in India’ and MSME registered, still banks have shown no interest to support us. In our case, the order in hand is the guarantee that we can pay the loan back. There should be some scheme for financing small companies taking the order as a guarantee for repayment,” he adds.

“However, a few companies trusted and supported us and placed orders with us. Now, we have also begun to export and are trying for a collaboration with a German company for technical upgradation,” he adds. Meanwhile, the management is hopeful with the policies of ‘Make in India’ and is working towards the same.

Dearth of skilled labor: The skilled labor shortage is one of the biggest challenges manufacturers face. “Getting skilled engineers and workers is a major issue. Newly graduated engineers do not have even basic engineering knowledge. The workers are also unskilled. To address this, we now conduct frequent training sessions on quality parameters, geometrical tolerances, quality mentality etc. We have also made all our employees responsible for quality and even have a QA cell. Employees can suggest improvization and good suggestions get rewarded,” shares Kartha.

Reaching higher

Arihant Honing & Finishing Technology is now looking to export its machines to the US and Germany. “Accuracy and consistency are important aspects when one exports. We have a tie-up with a company to sell our machines in Europe. We also outsource many of our machine parts. Since we are facing issues on quality and on-time delivery, we plan to have an in-house facility for machining for which we need machines such as VMCs, Turning Centers, Surface grinders and Wire cutting machines,” informs Kartha.

The company’s German counterpart is helping it improve its quality to German standards. “They study our machines, run it, and guide us as to which area needs to be improved. This will help us to sell less expensive machines with better quality,” he concludes.

Honing and Finishing are high-precision processes designed to handle the most demanding manufacturing challenges and, hence, are relatively expensive. Most of the companies in India import these machines in concern of quality.