Perkins India – A ‘Make in India’ success story
By UK India Business Council (UKIBC)
UK India Business Council strategic partners, Perkins, are leading the way in making sure Prime Minister Modi's 'Make In India' becomes a reality
Chief Minister Dev Fadnavis inaugurates Perkins Aurangabad Engine Facility at Shendra MIDC in Aurangabad in November 2016
India is a shining star in the world economy and with an estimated GDP growth rate of 7.5%, it is on its way to becoming a global economic powerhouse.
High on the agenda of any rising economy is the opportunity to improve domestic infrastructure. Programmes such as Make in India, Skill India, Digital India and Smart Cities have enabled the country’s manufacturing industry to flourish.
Perkins India is at the heart of India’s economic growth having committed to a Greenfield investment project in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, built to manufacture the Perkins® 4000 Series diesel engine range.
The powerful 4000 Series engine is the largest in the Perkins portfolio and considered the engine of choice for the power generation market between 750 to 2250 kW. The 4000 Series supports a variety of applications, such as providing prime power for offices and factories, as well as standby power in buildings such as hospitals and datacentres.
The Make in India campaign aided a convergence of skills and expertise and the project progressed at pace until Aurangabad Engine Centre (AEC) was commissioned and operational in April 2015.
The aim
The objective was clear, achieve world class standards right from the word go in all aspects of performance including safety, quality, delivery and cost.
Richard Cotterell, Chairman of Perkins India, explains, ‘‘Our aim was to establish a world-class engine manufacturing facility equipped with state-of-the-art technology and proven innovative processes. At Perkins India we manufacture diesel engines of the highest quality with an unmatched level of service, catering not only to the Indian market but also to the rest of the world.’’
A ‘Zero Injury’ safety philosophy was adopted from the construction phase of the project itself and a comprehensive Safety Induction Programme was administered to more than 16,000 personnel, the result being 10 million man hours of injury free operation to date. The National Safety Council has acknowledged and commended this achievement as truly world class.
Achieving excellence
Data based analyses, stop to fix, process capability, right first time and built in quality are among the phrases commonly used in the manufacturing industry, and for Perkins India they have become mantras for excellence. This has helped the facility to achieve 100% adherence to Customer Shipment Dates (CSD) and As Delivered Quality (ADQ) within the first year of operation.
With a motivated team of over 500 local employees, operating in a safe working environment and taking advantage of an excellent local base of quality suppliers, the business has truly become a world-class global supplier of dependable diesel engines from the Aurangabad facility.
The commitment to Make in India is also apparent through our two distribution partners, Gmmco Power and Powerparts, each of who have made significant investments in modern, well-equipped facilities, across the country. They have also invested in people, establishing highly trained teams to provide advice and service support to Perkins end users.
Of course our Aurangabad facility is served by a network of established suppliers, many of are based in Maharashtra, and who supply a range of components for our dependable diesel engines. We continue to work closely with our suppliers and develop our Indian supply chain.
For Perkins, the Make in India ethos connects us to the India growth story while enabling us to win business all over the world.
