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By N. N. Sachitanand
What has been outsourced to India in the past in this field is mainly high volume, low value work like scanning drawings and converting them into digital format, markup of old drawings and migration of CAD data from one system to another. This kind of service fetches around $10 to 15 per man-hour. However, in recent times, with data connectivity between India and rest of the world improving vastly and Western companies facing tremendous cost and time-to-market pressures, we are seeing more high end engineering services work coming to India. Among these are tasks such as 3D modelling, 2D to 3D conversion, finite analysis, CFD analysis, drawing up technical specifications for tenders, plant engineering, redesigning for improved cost/performance ratio and value engineering. These tasks could get anywhere from $25 to $35 per man-hour. One of the handful of companies which is leveraging the Indian potential for high-end engineering services is Quality Engineering and Software Technologies (QuEST). Founded in 1997 in Schenectady (New York) by a group of young engineers from Hubli (Karnataka), QuEST now has offices in India, the U.S., the U.K., Italy and Japan. It now employs over 520 engineers of whom 10 per cent are doctorates and 40 per cent post-grads. The main development centre is in Bangalore with around 300 engineers. QuEST's areas of expertise include turbo machinery design, automotive engineering design (both at component and system levels), engine design and analysis, global fabrication services and detail engineering support for plant design and layout. It is interesting to note that QuEST had located a company in Gujarat for fabrication work but the recent communal troubles put paid to that connection. Now QuEST is using the services of Chinese and Taiwanese fabricators. QuEST's services include full system and component design, analysis support, field failure investigations and solutions and custom design tool development. The firm has experts certified in using such cutting edge methodologies as Six-Sigma and Design of Experiments. According to Dr. Ajay Prabhu, Vice President of QuEST India, there is no shortage of engineering work that can be procured from developed countries but the tough part is gaining the confidence of customer companies. Design is a core activity with IPR implications and very critical to the enterprise. It is the last activity outsourced by any company. But QuEST has succeeded in breaking the confidence barrier and today has a global client base of over 40 corporations including several Fortune-100 companies, such as GE, Pratt and Whiteney, GM, Ford, Nissan, Honda and Fujitsu. About a year ago QuEST started an engineering development centre (EDC) dedicated to jobs for Pratt and Whitney and has recently signed up with another MNC to start an EDC for it. Among the projects QuEST has undertaken are several worth thousands of dollars each and even a few in the million dollar range. Prabhu says the company's revenues have touched a scorching growth rate with turnover slated to climb from $14 milion in FY '02 to $23 million in FY '03. The company is looking at doubling its strength in the next few years. To accommodate this expansion new campus is being established on a four acre site near here on the way to Whitefield.
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