After a series of product innovations, SKF is now investing big time in people. SKF Global Technical Centre India in Bangalore is one of the largest outside Europe and the second in Asia after China with a capacity of 400 engineers. A new SKF College in Singapore is coming up. The Group already has five colleges across globe.

Over the years, the emphasis on knowledge has helped SKF graduate from a bearing maker to gain expertise in seals, mechatronics (combination of mechanical and electronic engineering), lubrication and services. The company is represented in over 130 countries and 40 market segments. It has over 100 manufacturing sites.

In the next coming years, SKF will build a solid competence pool for research and development in India to attract the best people, said Rakesh Makhija, President-Asia, in an interview to Business Line . We are scouting for the “hungry” ones who are humble to absorb knowledge, Makhija sums up.

Where does India rank in SKF’s global business?

We already have a clear leadership position in India. Our business has expanded rapidly over the last decade and we believe this strong growth will continue.

Asia contributes 23 per cent of the Group’s revenues and India accounts for 20 per cent of Asia. (SKF India revenue increased 17 per cent to Rs 2,440 crore in FY’11. Group revenue was SEK 66,216 million (about Rs 52,973 crore) last fiscal). Our investments over the last few years demonstrate our commitment in this market.

Given the economic uncertainty, how do you see the Indian market?

At this point of time, we are possibly seeing the lowest level of activity in Asia over the last decade. China has been the growth engine for Asia, and perhaps, for the world for the last decade, and India is struggling as well. However, we still believe that the economic and industrial growth will come back shortly. Especially, with our portfolio of product and services, talented workforce and competitive manufacturing footprint, we are very well positioned to address this market.

What is the impact of global slowdown on SKF?

The macro economic development and increasing uncertainty which was evident during the last few months has clearly influenced our business. Our sales weakened mainly in many of our industrial markets as well as in Europe and particularly in the Asian region. Europe is slow and will remain so for the foreseeable future. In Asia, China and India may be slow this year but we expect the markets to start growing next year.

What measures have been taken to combat slowdown?

We took additional steps to reduce our production to both meet this lower demand and to reduce inventories. But the Group delivered a very good performance and a very strong cash flow. We managed to adjust our cost base in the quarter. We will run our production below sales to reduce inventories and support cash flow.

Which segments contribute most in Asia?

In Asia, China and India constitute almost 70 per cent of our business. Given our market presence, we are perfectly positioned to address the growth opportunities in growing automotive market, industrial segments such as metals, mining, pulp and paper. In addition, we also work directly with OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations).

>Suresh.iyengar@thehindu.co.in

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