Making Headway With Progress

Sundaram Clayton is making headway with its progress. Ashish Bhatia with Sumesh Soman looks at the fine balance it has come to strike between enhancing productivity and minimising losses.

- Ashish Bhatia with Sumesh Soman

TVS Group company, Sundaram Clayton Ltd. began as a Joint Venture (JV) company in 1962 with Clayton Dewandre Holdings Plc. Today, it is treading a challenging trail with a good amount of success. The auto components manufacturing and distribution group is regarded as one of the leading players in aluminium die castings in the automotive industry and caters to requirements for machined and sub-assembled aluminum and magnesium castings. The company is involved in the early design stage to the manufacturing of the finished goods for global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or tieri suppliers. It has over the years, gained ground as a well-oiled establishment, repeatedly winning accolades for its manufacturing excellence. The latest feather in its hat is the recognition of Sundaram Auto Components Limited (SACL) in the category of 'Total Productive Maintenance Excellence Award' presented by the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) for its Mysuru plant. Conducted in two stages, a team of experts from JIPM assessed the TPM award. The assessment was aimed at evaluating the factory's policies, practices, and performances built around the pillars of the TPM.