As the MD of Automag India Pvt Ltd, Nitin Bhave has been instrumental in taking his company to great heights by shouldering a diverse array of responsibilities. He has been responsible for developing niche-engineering products to meet the needs of the Indian market and has focused on enhancing quality of the products to cater to the global market as well.
He has transformed Automag from a small team of 10 professionals to an organisation of over 500 employees. Today, Automag specialises in designing and manufacturing steel mill equipment, material handling systems, conveyors and special purpose equipment.
On a different route
After earning his BE degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering Pune in 1984, Mr Bhave joined his father’s business of manufacturing non-destructive testing machines. During this period, he developed the first machine for bar/billet inspection in India for which he was honoured with the prestigious Fai Foundation award.
Mr Bhave’s passion for automation, robotics and material handling captured his imagination and he made up his mind to tread a different path. “I realised that I had a penchant for automation and hence decided to foray into the engineering sector. The experience that I gained while working with my father, albeit for a short period of time, helped me learn the basics of running an organisation,” says Mr Bhave.
Right place, right time
In 1985, when Mr Bhave established Automag India, the demand for sophisticated automated machines was growing in the country. At that time material handling and automation machines were in high demand, especially in the steel industry. In his words, “We forayed into the market at just the right time when there was a huge demand for such specialised engineering products. This gave us an opportunity to work with the best of clients. Apart from working with several domestic steel manufacturing companies we also undertook projects for Mannesmann Demag, ahighly reputed German company.”
Steering towards the auto industry
In an effort to diversify his company’s product portfolio, Mr Bhave started developing various automation products for the automobile industry. Initially it was difficult for him to get clients, but his company witnessed a major breakthrough when Maruti Suzuki placed orders for small conveyer systems and automation machines with it in 1996.
“We have proved that we are much more than a typical manufacturing company. We are an engineering company with an eye for technological innovation. This has helped us retain leading clients like Maruti,” says Mr Bhave.
Automag also works with global auto manufacturing giants such as Honda and Toyota. In fact, the complete assembly line of Toyota in India was originally built by Automag.
All for innovation
Being a technocrat himself, Mr Bhave believes that attainment of success in business, especially engineering, depends on innovation.
Under his leadership Automag formed a technological alliance with Japan-based NKC, a pioneer in the field of conveyer technology. “For more than 12 years now we have been working with NKC. Automag became the sole partner of NKC when it planned to foray into the Indian market,” says Mr Bhave.
Diversifying to grow
Mr Bhave is the kind of entrepreneur who is continuously exploring new avenues to expand his business. His penchant for developing futuristic products and passion to carve a niche in new markets resulted in a joint venture with Klaus Multiparking, a leading manufacturer of parking systems in Germany.
As per the terms of the agreement, Automag would design and develop parkassistents, stack parkers, semi-automatic-systems, fully-automatic-parkers, pallets and turntables for the company. |
