The Plain Bearings unit of KSPG Automotive India Private Ltd. has set up a new plant for producing the upstream materials that go into the manufacture of plain bearings. Among those attending the ceremonial inauguration at Supa, India, at the end of October were representatives of government, environmental agencies, and company employees.
The new factory, which covers an area of over 40,000 square meters, will be chiefly used for producing materials for making plain bearings. One of its features is to allow expansion at some future date to provide an aggregate floor space of just under 60,000 square meters.
The move to Supa proved necessary in the wake of the takeover completed in 2011 of Kirloskar Oil Engines' plain bearings business by global auto-industry supplier KSPG. With the expiry this year of the lease for the building at Ahmednagar, 26 kilometers away and the home of manufacture hitherto, bearings production has been split. The facilities for making the engine bearing shells are at present at the central KSPG location in Takwe near Pune, even now the source of most of KSPG's products destined for the Indian market. The move means that Supa has become the source for the upstream materials, its facilities including a sintering plant for producing bronze alloys as well as casting and roll cladding lines for aluminum-based materials used in plain bearings.
Joining in the migration from the previous factory in Ahmednagar to the new location at Supa-Parner MIDC Industrial Park, some 75 kilometers east of Pune, are nigh all of the 141 employees. Production on this land with an area of around 60,000 square meters and specifically acquired for this purpose, has been flowing since October 1, 2016. Only recently did KSPG Automotive India, moreover, acquire an additional plot of just under 20,000 square meters and hence the option of expanding the location some time in the future.
KSPG Automotive India Private Ltd. manufactures engine bearing shells, bushings and thrust washers for cars, commercials, farming equipment and rail vehicles. Included among its customers are Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Honda, Cummins, and Kirloskar Oil Engines. Its products are also aftermarketed. Besides the plain bearings typically installed in I.C. engines, the Company manufactures sliding elements for transmissions, brakes, etc. At Takwe, KSPG manufactures oil, coolant and vacuum pumps plus EGR valves.
Source: KSPG
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