On October 12th Oerlikon Balzers was celebrating 20 years of presence in India, the event taking place in Pune where everything started. Over the past years India has grown to a very important pillar of the company’s global business. The Oerlikon Balzers management team, represented by Bernd Fischer, Head of Oerlikon Balzers, and Balzers India’s General Manager Pravin Shirse, was on site to look back on the success story of this country’s business development.
The success story began in 1993 when the decision was taken to start the coating business in India; the first Indian coating center then opened its doors in 1994 in Pune. This was the first emerging market to be entered by Oerlikon Balzers. Having started with the business area Cutting Tools it has developed steadily and covers today also Regrinding, Forming Tools and Components.Thanks to consistent and constant growth, seven additional locations have been installed to serve the important local and global players in Tooling, Automotive and General Industries. With this strong position in India, Oerlikon Balzers spread out into the Asia region and extended the local management support to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
With an average growth rate close to 30 percent over the past 17 years, India has significantly contributed to the success of Oerlikon Balzers. In order to contribute to the future of the whole surface solutions technology, a RD Cutting Lab has been opened in 2012 to further deepen the know-how and expertise in the region. This strategic stepmade Balzers India an even more important hub of the company andthe coating business in SE-Asia in general.
Oerlikon Balzers today is very well positioned in India and the whole region. The future promises even more important developmentsand achievements for it; the extensions in Chandigarh in September and in Bengaluru later in 2014 are proving it. With a clear strategy Oerlikon Balzers’ target for India is to carry forward in an account the success of the past 20 years.
Bernd Fischer, Head of Oerlikon Balzers, and India’s General Manager Pravin Shirse expressed their gratitude to all employees at the celebration in Pune and all guests had the chance to get an insight of the production site with a tour. Special guest Dr. Roland Herb, CEO of the Oerlikon Surface Solutions Segment, expressed the importance of the Indian hub and its achievements: «India contributes significantly to our companies’ growth and profits. Without our Indian colleagues, none of this would have been possible.And with the new set up of the Oerlikon Surface Solutions Segmentincluding Oerlikon Balzers and Oerlikon Metco, India has a great future ahead».
