Sanmar Engg. sets new sights in jubilee year

By K. T. Jagannathan

CHENNAI, JUNE 29. Sanmar Engineering Corporation (SEC), an amalgam of 13 companies spread across four locations, has set a sales target of Rs. 665 crores by 2005-06. This means that SEC is aiming at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 25 per cent, a far cry from the 14 per cent it had recorded in 2000-01. The current year is likely to see sales scale up to Rs. 297 crores from Rs. 218 crores in the previous year. It is projecting a profit before tax of Rs. 57.8 crores in the current year.

A part of the Rs. 1,000-crore Sanmar group, SEC is celebrating silver jubilee tomorrow. It has presence in areas such as plant upkeep, fluid control, weighing, measurement and automation, among others. After having seen 25 summers, SEC is gearing itself to take on the new challenges posed by an entirely new environment. Obviously, the thrust will be on exports. It is pining to reach an export sales of Rs. 100 crores this year.

Not surprisingly, it has put in position a new gameplan. The thrust of the strategy will be two-fold - gain domestic dominance even while making an aggressive foray into export markets. A calculated strategy appears to have already put SEC in an advantageous position to deal with the emerging competition, within and without. SEC, it may be recalled, has as many as ten joint ventures with predominantly American companies. Tyco, Emerson, Xomox, Flowserve and Fisher Control are among its joint venture partners. The ability to adapt to technology, products and processes of their overseas partners has, in fact, kept most of SEC units in good stead. Essentially, SEC is proposing to cash in on the brand equity of Sanmar Engineering Services.

This will be some sort of front-end for SEC. At the rear, Sanmar Foundry - which supplies key raw materials - will provide assured raw materials and competitive cost.

The ten JVs will form the crucial middle. Essentially, these will aid in the manufacture of global class products. SEC, like the rest of the outfits in the Sanmar group, has now been headed by Mr. M.N. Radhakrishnan, a professional.

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