Date:08/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/08/stories/2006070803340200.htm

Back Pricol Tech bullish on tech services foray

L.N. Revathy

To focus on product development; ties up with Italian co for design

New focus
The New Product Development (NPD) services group focuses on products that have mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronics content in them.
The 65-member NPD team is involved in projects from Europe and the US.

Coimbatore , July 7

Pricol Technologies is witnessing a paradigm shift in its growth path since its foray into technological services.

The Coimbatore-based engineering services company, part of the Rs 650-crore Pricol Group, took this strategic decision (of foraying into new product development services) when the rates for CAD services started to fall steeply. The group's strength in developing hi-tech engineering products helped support this initiative. "We did not want to be in the high volume low value-add CAD services space. We instead decided to focus on products and in our area of domain expertise," President and COO, Mr A.S. Ramaseshan, said.

It started to take up product development initiatives on a turnkey basis, offering the entire gamut of services from concept development to design, to the finished product under one roof, thus moving from engineering services to technological services company.

The New Product Development (NPD) services group focuses on products that have mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronics content in them. The 65-member NPD team is involved in projects from Europe and the US.

In the area of product styling, Pricol Technologies has entered into a joint venture agreement with Italian Styling major - Carcerano Srl. The NPD group draws styling expertise from this joint venture initiative called Carcerano Pricoltech India Private Ltd.

"Considering our access to our Group's manufacturing facilities, a majority of our customers have evinced keen interest in making of the product for them as well. The current order book in the NPD space is worth close to $3 million. We are hoping to fulfil these within the next 24 to 30 months," Mr Ramaseshan said.

The team has designed products for the flow control industry, real time data acquisition systems for automotive use, modular furniture, test equipment for rail pneumatic braking systems, control systems for avionics industry etc.

"The company is aiming to provide innovative solutions for various technological development programmes in high-end integrated mechanical, electronic and embedded systems. Though the current focus of the NPD group is projects for international clients through their sales network, we are also planning to extend the technology support for Indian OEMs and engineering houses in the near future.

The current trend in design outsourcing, particularly in the automotive and aerospace applications area is expected to be more demanding in terms of technology potential, adaptability and long-term relationships," he said and added that an estimated $1.5 billion worth global design could be outsourced to India in the next three to five years.