Precision Automation Robotics India (PARI) will soon move to a new site in its home city of Pune, India, where it will locate its manufacturing plant. The company’s current Pune location will then become home to the research and development center.The company's future plans include an integrated 50-acre campus, which also include facilities of its partners, vendors and suppliers. "The first phase of this campus will be ready in the 20 months," says Mangesh Kale, managing director of PARI. The promoters do not have any plans to dilute the equity as yet. They do plan to go public, but sometime in the future. "The park project will be funded by internal accruals and debt," Kale says."We have geared up to meet the growth with a $56 million capacity enhancement of automation projects per annum, up from the existing $29 million, as our global clients like GM and Volkswagen (an indirect customer through a Tier I supplier) are establishing their bases in India," says Kale. On the domestic front, major auto companies are also on the expanding spree, he added.Turnkey-readyPARI is now positioned as a turnkey solutions provider for the automotive sector, doing everything from building machines to designing and building solutions. "We believe the future of manufacturing is automation, providing smarter, faster and safer processes for the industry," adds Kale.PARI is in talks with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to have PARI reclassified to a knowledge industry company, as opposed to a manufacturing company. According to PARI President Ranjit Date, with this change, the company will be able to apply for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for its new project. "We are a knowledge-intensive company and have set up a separate body of automation companies to lobby the status," he adds.Focusing on automation as a core strength, the company is looking at partnerships and strategic alliances with specialized niche companies, as a way to tap the automation industry, which is growing at 100 percent year-on-year.Partnerships planned"By March 2007, we will have finalized a joint venture with Italy-based gauging technology company Marposs," says Date. "We are pursuing partnerships for 15 different manufacturing processes so as to be able to cater the entire manufacturing automation industry," he adds. Admitting that the company cannot be experts in all processes, Kale says it will form relationships with experts in these areas."At PARI, we have adopted a model different from the international model, where automation companies focus on one type of expertise. Ours will be a boutique of facilities where we assimilate all technologies and develop them in-house. Now, we are looking at partnerships with niche players with whom we can co-develop products," he adds.About the authorUday Lal Pai, [email protected], is a freelance journalist based in India.
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