Manish Ludhra, a second-generation entrepreneur and President of Jagdambay Forgings, took over the charge of his family business at the young age of 22. He was brought up in an environment where he could hardly differentiate between his house and his ancestral forging unit. “We had a small house where my father and uncle started their forging business, employing a few skilled workers from the area. During my childhood it was exciting to watch the workers applying their skills to mould red hot metals into various shapes with their tools,” recollects Mr Ludhra. Over time, his fascination for the metallic sights and sounds of the forging unit grew, and he decided to lead the family business.

Jagdambay Forgings, engaged in specialised forging since 1952, is a renowned name in the domestic forging industry today. The company is involved in the manufacturing of special tools, steel and forged auto spare parts.

Changing for tomorrow

Right from the first day of taking charge of the business Mr Ludhra realised that there was a need to change, if the firm had to carve a niche for itself among several small and medium enterprises engaged in metal forging. “Unlike my father and uncle, I regularly accessed the Internet to be aware of the market dynamics,” says Mr Ludhra.

While his father worked with conventional tools, Mr Ludhra brought the first change to the manufacturing unit by introducing the latest manufacturing machines such as CNC lathe machine and the current welding, bending, cutting, drilling and boring machines to develop quality products in a short time.

As the second step towards the transformation, “We segregated our unit into different sections where various manufacturing processes such as annealing, normalising, stress relieving, hardening, welding and tempering were to be undertaken. By segregating all these processes we reduced the complications often faced during production, and at the same time made advances in the quality of our products,” claims Mr Ludhra.

Looking ahead

After revamping the production unit to suit the current manufacturing requirements, Mr Ludhra took a strategic move towards creating a brand value for the company. “Today, a company should have legitimate industry certifications and associations with notable industry bodies to achieve growth, and expand its reach,” explains Mr Ludhra. He took the initiative and acquired the ISO 9001:2000 certification for his company. He also acquired memberships to the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). These steps have worked well for the company. Today, the products manufactured by Jagdambay occupy a large domestic market.

Mr Ludhra feels that there is huge scope of growth for small and medium enterprises in the forging industry. He predicts, “As a result of the ongoing economic downturn, the demand for forged products has slowed down, but it will certainly surge once the market recovers.”

According to him, the demand for forged products will grow in future. Mr Ludhra believes that young entrepreneurs will be open to adopting new technologies and help the industry to meet global standards.