Titan Engineering Automation Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titan Company Ltd, and part of the Tata group, has set a capex target of ₹350–400 crore for three years. The allocation of funds is primarily intended to support advancements in both its automation and manufacturing business divisions, according to a top company executive.
Titan, a leading lifestyle brand in the country, has had its engineering business operational since the early 90s; however, it was then primarily involved in the watchmaking business. It was in 2017 that TEAL became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titan, and today it operates in two verticals: automation solutions and manufacturing services.
Speaking to businessline, Sridhar Neelakantan CEO of TEAL, said the company recently crossed the ₹500- crore mark. “We closed FY23 at ₹502 crore in topline, of which automation would be closer to ₹280–290 crore, and the rest is from manufacturing services.”
Elaborating on the company’s automation solutions market reach, he said, “Any car that you see on the Indian roads has some system that is actually assembled on a Titan automation solution. That’s the degree of penetration that we have in this country today.”
Although the majority of orders stem from the automotive sector, TEAL also caters to industries like energy, consumer products, medical devices and life sciences.
Three facilities
Currently, it has three facilities for automation solutions to build and assemble all its solutions. “Additionally, we have also recently expanded as a result of the growth seen this year, which necessitates us to almost double our assembly capacity.” Overall, the company has more than 200,000 square feet of space for its automation solutions.
On the manufacturing front, it works in two segments: aerospace and defence. TEAL specialises in the production of high-precision components and sub-assemblies that go into aircraft. Collaborating with global leaders such as Safran, Collins Aerospace and Raytheon, a substantial 95 per cent of this business segment is oriented towards exports.
Additionally, as part of its manufacturing arm, the company has ventured into the wafer fab equipment (WFE) industry, which is a part of semiconductors but is the equipment that goes into making semiconductors.
Greenfield facility
Currently, TEAL has a 185,000-sq-foot greenfield facility in Muduganapalli dedicated to aerospace and defence work. “Additionally, we have also leased 3 acres of land to build another factory where we will grow our semiconductor business,” he added.
At present, there are close to 110 CNC machines with various degrees of precision on the shop floor. Going forward, it will add 39 more machines. “In the next few years, we’ll probably add another hundred machines as we are building a lot more capacity—all in Hosur.”
Moreover, keeping in mind the demand sentiment in the domestic market, the company is also close to acquiring 10-acre land for its future growth. “We would try to consolidate all of the leased factories and move to our own home. This will house a factory of 880,000 sq feet for automation.”
Taking into account the prevailing market circumstances, both domestic and international, the CEO said although there might be occasional fluctuations, the underlying performance outlook for all three segments appears solid in the long run. “Overall, long-term trajectories just seem to be quite bullish.”