BKT focuses on digitalisation and smarter automation with ‘Atmanirbharta’

By OEM Update Editorial April 4, 2022 4:59 pm IST

BKT is committed to developing world-class products, has a footprint in different countries across the globe and is now ready to display the latest innovations at CII Excon.

Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT), is a leading name in the Off-highway tire industry all set to display its latest product range at CII Excon, to be held 17-20 May, 2022 at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru. For over 3 decades, the company has successfully focused on specialist tire segments such as agricultural, construction, and industrial as well as earthmoving, port and mining, ATV, and gardening applications offering an extensive product range of over 3200 high-performance specialist tires. BKT exports to more than 160 countries – making it one of the major players in the market. Headquartered in Mumbai, the ‘Made in India’ brand has five tire production sites in India and three business units in Europe, USA and Canada.

Strength of BKT’s tyre manufacturing 

Constant innovation to address and meet the market demands has been BKTs strength. Innovations have centred on tyre technology, machinery, manufacturing methods, and all allied areas. The company has a mammoth manufacturing facility in Bhuj. It also has a dedicated R&D centre where the product experts engage in design and development of innovative products. The new manufacturing facility is in Waluj, Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district and it has an annual capacity of approximately 30,000 metric tons of off-highway tyres. The cutting-edge facility is intended for the production of medium and small-diameter tyres. BKT is investing in R&D profusely and has more patentable machine manufacturers that have developed different types of compounds for tire manufacturing.

Last year, the company completed a 450 crore capacity expansion to better incorporate connectivity into its operations. It emphasises on technological upgradation of current equipment. The installation of automated material handling systems improves world-class offerings imbued with the highest quality with a focus on seamless service. This is to ensure that upscaling occurs in order to integrate digital and physical aspects of manufacturing.

Commenting on expansion, Mr. Arvind Poddar, Chairman & Managing Director, Balkrishna Industries Ltd., stated, “The last two years have been unprecedented, probably wondering what the lockdown is and challenging times. Everything at BKT has been about doing things concurrently. It’s been about venturing into the unknown and striving. We kept on carrying out expansion work at plants.” He further added that the company works with all the leading OEMs.

The company continued with its growth streak even during the pandemic, with an average growth of 20 Percent y-o-y in the last two years. The company is investing over 2500 crores as part of a larger expansion plan.

“The growth has been consistent. The investments would be in tyres, which is our core business and also in carbon black – a new segment we have ventured into,” said Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, BKT. He further added, “We have also done technology upgradation at Bhuj, and revamped the old Waluj plant. More so, BKT is actively pursuing products for the mining segment under the sub-brand, MineForce.”

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Digitalisation at BKT plants 

There has been a lot of focus and emphasis on infrastructure development. Along with that, the company is looking for ways to upgrade and enhance their existing infrastructure for data. Mr. Rajiv A Poddar, Joint Managing Director, Balkrishna Industries Ltd., stated, “We already had all the data and we have structured it further. Instead of having manual feedback from people, we now have machines that will incorporate the data with continual live auto-updates. That was something we have been focusing on during the last few years. Understanding the utility of such digitisation, we are incorporating it into our systems. There is a long way to go but we are moving in that direction.”

Staying ahead of the curve 

BKT currently manufactures a range of products, each offering something unique to the OTR tire market. They are the only Indian company to produce world-class all-steel radial tires. Also, they have an all-steel radial plant dedicated to the same, wherein the latest best in-class offerings are produced. The company has also pioneered its new product, the 57” EARTHMAX SR 468, which is the largest tire ever manufactured by BKT.

The company has invested $103.3 million to expand the Bhuj plant, which will add 50,000 metric tonnes of tyre manufacturing capacity. The production plant features state-of-the-art machinery and infrastructure.

Mr. Arvind further added, “The worldwide demand for agricultural tires is on the upswing. There is a strong indication that growth in this sector is here to stay and, in keeping with the company vision of growth and quality, the present expansion would meet the expectations of our loyal customers.”

BKT foresees great demand from the mining sector and has enhanced its product portfolio for the Indian mining market by launching ‘MINEFORCE’. The company has also enhanced its All-Steel Radial tires range and launched its 57 inches tires and will be shortly launching its 63 inches tires to compete in the Indian and global mining market. BKT is the only Indian manufacturer of these sizes of tires.

BKT is deeply rooted in India, with a wide network of dealers reaching across the country. It is a global powerhouse that services over 160 countries. With a strong belief in the values of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ BKT is rapidly developing new solutions through co-engineering collaborations, sensing the needs of many industries. BKT is continually integrating its belief in “Growing Together”.