TATA Motors Vendor Meet 2008 : Award Distribution Ceremony

Picture of Mr Kabir Singh receiving the Quality Award.

Mr. Kabir Singh, Managing Director, Sigma Vibracoustic receiving the Quality Award from Mr. P Telang, President Tata Motors Ltd at Mumbai on the 16 Oct 2008.

Global wheels can run on Indian parts: Sigma chief

Gaurav Choudhury
Tribune News Service

India has all the ingredients of becoming the global outsourcing hub for automotive components provided the government offers support through an appropriate regulatory framework and optimal infrastructure development, feels Mr Jagdip Singh, Chairman and CEO of Sigma Corporation (India) Limited.

“A time will definitely come when global wheels would be running on Indian components,” Mr Jagdip Singh told The Tribune.

Mr Jagdip Singh, who has led Sigma Corporation from a small exporter to one of the largest auto-component manufacturing companies in the country, feels that lack of suitable regulatory environment could decelerate the growth momentum.

Reeling out statistics from global research firm Frost and Sullivan, he said that India is ahead of many of its far-eastern neighbours, including China in such parameters as design and engineering capability, quality supply and customer and after sales support.

“However, we lag behind in government regulations which also brings down our price-competitiveness,” he said.

Sigma Automotive Components, the flagship company of Sigma Corporation, is supplying auto-components to mostleading automobile manufacturing companies in the world.

“Our customers include DalmierChrysler, Volkswagen, Volvo, Audi, and Ford,” he said. At present, the group has a combined turnover of Rs 150 crore. The group companies include Sigma Vibracoustic India Pvt Ltd, Sigma Freudenberg Nok Pvt Ltd, and Sigma Moulds and Stampings Pvt Ltd.

The company was initially exporting anti-vibration rubber components to Iran in 1970. “I was 26 years old then and nurtured the dream of conquering the European markets. The turning point for our company came in 1972 when we received our first overseas order from Germany. To make a product that conformed to German specifications was by no means an easy task. Yet we accepted the challenge and were successful in executing the order to customer satisfaction,” Mr Jagdip Singh said.

To be sure, Mr Jagdip Singh learnt the first lessons of enterprise at home. “Automotive components have been a traditional line of business, albeit it was retailing and not in manufacturing before the partition of the country.”

He said this exposure to global markets and their norms and procedures enabled Sigma Corporation to emerge as a major player in the global auto-components market.

“We made our first overseas acquisition by buying out a German plant in New Frankfurt in 1980. We sold it off in 1989 because we did not find ourselves very competitive. Today, the buyer is one of our major customers in Germany,” he said.

Driven by the success, the company started looking for a joint venture partner “because we always thought we needed an elder brother.”

The company has now initiated a dialogue to set up a plant in China. “It is still at the drawing board stage. I cannot give you a time frame for when the plant will be up and running,” he said.

The company, which has set a target of achieving a group turnover of Rs 300 crore by 2008, has stringent quality control norms in place. “Our quality focus is customer-centric in order to make products that meet and exceed customer expectations,” he said. The company has put in place a “very high quality pre-shipment quality control system,” he added.

Elaborating on the recipe of his and the company’s success, Mr Jagdip Singh said he strongly believes that “the function of the leadership is to produce more leaders and not more followers.” Today, at the age of 60, he believes his role in the company now is “more of an advisory nature, rather than operational.”

Parminder bowls Sigma XI towards victory

Express News Service

Chandigarh, October 12 : A fine bowling performance by Parminder (4 for 16) enabled Sigma XI defeat Airtel XI by 36 runs in the ongoing Second MG Cup League Cricket Tournament, being organised by the Chandigarh Sports Club here at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 on Sunday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Sigma XI had a disappointing start as the openers were back in the pavilion within two overs at a score of 10 runs. Sandeep Mehta steadied the ship for his team and made 32 valuable runs for his team and helped it to get to a score of 139 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 25 overs. Manpreet and Rajesh instilled a terror in the batsmen with their lethal bowling and a great fielding by their team-mates. They shared six wickets between them giving away just 40 runs in the process.

In reply, Airtel XI never seemed in the fray as their batsmen were giving away their wickets from the beginning of the innings. Parminder was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up four valuable wickets for the team and was pretty economical giving away only 16 runs. Manpreet was the highest run getter for his team as he made 37 runs. In the end

Airtel XI were bundled out for 103 runs in 19.4 overs.

In the second match of the day, INSCOL XI bowlers ripped through the bating line up of Citi Financial to hand their team a 39 run win.

Batting first, INSCOL could manage only 112 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 25 overs, as the batsmen were not comfortable at the crease and were under pressure as the fielders did not allow any ball to pass through. Mithun showed some finesse and chipped in with 40 runs for his team. Ashok Kumar was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 2 wickets for 13 runs.

In reply, Citi Financial had a bad start and the batsmen were throwing away their wickets form the word go. Only Amit Sharma crossed 20-run mark and Deepak and Loksh were the other two batsmen who got to double figures. Ramesh was the wrecker in chief as he picked up 4 wickets for 17 runs.

Brief scores:

Sigma XI : 139 for 8 in 25 overs. (Sandeep Mehta 32, Anoop 21, Manpreet 3 for 25, Rajesh 3 for 15, Alok 2 for 27); Airtel XI : 103 all out in 19.4 overs. (Manpreet 37, Vinay Bhardwaj 27, Parminder 4 for 16, Sukhwinder 3 for 6);

INSCOL XI : 112 for 8 in 25 overs. (Mithun 40, Rajesh 21, Ashok Kumar 2 for 13, Vikas 2 for 23); Citi Financial: 73 all out in 16.2 overs. (Amit Sharma 21, Deepak 12, Ramesh 4 for 17, Ravi 3 for 27).

Sigma Vibracoustic invests Rs 75 crore in Mohali plant

Sigma Vibracoustic India, a 50:50 joint venture between Vibracoustic of Germany [ part of the 4.5 billion-euro Freudenberg Group ] and Sigma India, has stepped up its operations in India by setting up another manufacturing unit in Punjab.The new unit has been set up at a cost of Rs 75 crore for the manufacture of anti-vibration parts for automobiles. Sigma Vibracoustic India already has two manufacturing units in Punjab.

According to Mr J D Singh, chairman of Sigma Vibracoustic, the state-of-the-art plant is equipped with the best in class equipment for metal treatment, vulcanization and testing. The new plant has a factory area of 1 lakh sq ft and has been specially designed in line with global safety norms, he said. The two companies have so far invested Rs.96 crore to set up manufacturing facilities for producing anti-vibration components such as engine mounts, bushings, tuned dampers and hydromounts for auto companies.

Sigma Vibracoustic exports nearly 75% of its production and the customers include European auto majors. The joint venture supplies components to global players like Daimler Chrysler, Volvo, Porsche, Ford and General Motors. In India, customers include the Maruti, the Tata Group and the Mahindras.

The joint venture is now adding new products to its portfolio. The list includes hydraulic engine mounts and truck air suspensions incorporating latest technologies. These components would be made available to Indian auto companies next year.

Sigma-Vibracoustic sets up Rs 75-cr manufacturing unit in Punjab.

Sigma Vibracoustic India, a Joint Venture (JV) with Vibracoustic, Germany and Sigma India, has injected Rs 75 crore in its third state-of-the-art production facility in Mohali to manufacture anti-vibration parts for automobiles.

With this investment the total injection of funds in Sigma Vibracoustic India in Mohali stands at Rs 96 crore having earlier invested Rs 10 crore and Rs 11 crore, respectively, in the two units, according to Sigma Vibracoustic Managing Director, Kabir Singh.

This new facility, along with the second Sigma JV(with Freudenberg Germany and NOK Japan for production of Oil seals) in Mohali together would provide employment to around 900 people from this region, he said.

"Sigma Vibracoustic will soon launch new products such as hydraulic engine mounts and truck air suspensions, which would be the latest technologies coming to India. The manufacturing technology for these products will also support the future needs of domestic customers. Talks are underway with Ashok Leyland, Tata and Mahindra in thius regard," said Pradeep Randhawa, Executive Director Sigma.