Suguna group JV with Israel's Shatal Engineering

Pumps and motors major Suguna group has tied up Israel-based Shatal Engineering, with manufacturing base in the city, for marketing light construction machinery in the domestic market, top company officials have said.

Shatal Engineering, which manufactures light machinery like tiles cutting and levelling machine, was exporting its entire production of four types of machinery, so far.

It would now earmark 25 per cent of its production for Indian market, initially for the Southern markets, V Lakshminarayansamy, Chairman, Suguna Group and Josef Levy Chairman, Shatal Engineering told a joint press conference here.

The joint venture, Suguna Shatal, would be officially launched tomorrow and Suguna would manufacture motors for the entire machinery, Lakshminarayanasamy said.

Stating that the company would be targeting a conservative share of the huge Indian light construction machinery market estimated at about Rs 9,800 crore, he said that it was expected that it would sell 4,000 machineries in the first year, with markets expanded to Northern and Western parts of the country.

The products would be distributed through a wide network of dealers and an extensive service network was also being put in place, Josef said.

Josef said the company, which started 18 months ago, has so far invested $1.5 million and considering the new venture, it would pump in more investment.

All the machinery would have advantage over manual machines, at present used by the, as it would have two to three times more productivity, he said.

With Indian construction equipment market ranging at four billion dollars, the company would also enter into larger machinery manufacture in the near future, L Anishkumar, Director, Suguna Shatal said, adding that Suguna would produce and additional 10,000 motors to meet the machinery requirement.

LAI, a strategic supplier of precision components and subassemblies for original equipment manufacturers,  has combined its three Arizona facilities—its manufacturing plants in Phoenix and Tucson, and corporate headquarters in Scottsdale—into the 32,400ft2 Tempe facility, expanding the size of its production space in the state by one-third. LAI operates additional manufacturing plants in Minneapolis, MN., Westminster, MD, and Scarborough, ME.

“Our new center of excellence spotlights LAI's precision manufacturing processes and innovations in advanced manufacturing technology,” says Patrick Gruetzmacher, CEO and president of LAI International. “Plus, we have available space to expand our manufacturing capabilities for producing make-complete components in our strategic markets.”

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) capabilities have been added to complement the facility's complete-part manufacturing capabilities. The facility features the company's core machining capabilities of advanced waterjet and laser machining in separate production areas, in addition to secondary machining operations, including metal fabrication and finishing areas, tool shop, and a larger assembly area.

“The facility is producing product now and will be fully operational Dec. 24, after we complete our moves from the Phoenix and Tucson locations,” says Joe Wagner, V.P. of Manufacturing Excellence, LAI International, and site leader for Arizona Operations. “The production floor is configured and workstations laid out for efficient material throughput and increased production-line capacity.”