— Manish Motwani,
Managing Director, Kinetic Communications Ltd
Part of the
Firodia Group, Pune-based
Kinetic Communications
has emerged as a leading producer of printed circuit board
assemblies for diverse applications. KCL has so far manufactured
over 1.5 million PCBs catering to sectors like automobiles,
power electronics, among others. In this interaction with
Electrical Monitor,
Manish Motwani speaks about the
competency, product range and future plans of KCL. Motwani
construes power distribution as also green energy initiatives as big
business drivers for KCL.
To begin with, tell us in brief about the different types of PCBs
made by Kinetic Communications and the products/industry
verticals to which they broadly cater to?
Kinetic Communications Ltd is a part of the Firodia Group of
companies, one of the pioneering groups in automotive in India.
KCL is located in Pune-the auto-hub of India. KCL has been
offering electronic manufacturing since March 2000. Since its
inception, KCL has manufactured more than 1.5 million PCB
assemblies for various applications required in various sectors
such as automotive, industrial, power electronics, consumer
goods, etc.
KCL has its 20,000 sqm manufacturing facility located in
Chinchwad, Pune with over 140 employees and the best
equipments for PCB Assembly. KCL has an unique all round ability
for designing, proto developing, validation, assembling and
complete testing of PCB assemblies for diverse applications.
KCL's major customers include Tata Motors Ltd, Behr India Ltd,
BHTC India Ltd, Minda Valeo Security Systems, Mahindra Two
wheelers Ltd, Emerson Network Power India, Philips Electronics
Ltd, Ducati energia, Calearo (both from Italy), among others.
Tell us in some detail about the PCBs made by you for products
used in electricity distribution and consumption chain.
KCL's product range includes PCB Assemblies for various
application sectors such as automotive, consumer, industrial,
etc. Body Control Module PCB, Rectifier PCB, Clock PCB, AC
Control Unit PCB, UPS PCB are few products to name.
Which segments of the manufacturing sector will be your
biggest business demand drivers in the years ahead?
We expect growing demand in the areas of green energy and
energy conservation sector.
Please discuss your manufacturing facility and R&D setup.
KCL has world class, state of art manufacturing facilities for
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly & functional testing. Our
quality system TS16949:2009 has been certified by TUV Nord.
We have all the design expertise to take the product from
concept to mass production level.
We have very experienced team of around 180 employees
with 30 engineers to design and develop defect free products
including embedded system development. We are well
equipped with all automatic machines comprising of world class
machines from Yamaha, Fuji, Electrovert, etc.
KCL has expertise in concept designing, PCB designing and
programming, and is equipped with all the necessary
equipments for prototype development. We have various
validation facilities like burn in test jig, vibration tester,
humidity chamber, etc. Besides, all the equipments are
equipped for ROHS compliance manufacturing.
Having produced millions of high quality PCB assemblies,
quality systems, quality assurance and quality control are the
top most priorities.
Though KCL caters to a wide range of industry verticals, are
there some untapped avenues that you might like to explore in
the coming years?
We believe that the segment of medical instrumentation is a
potential area for KCL as more and more electronics are being
used in this field for diagnostics and other preventive tests and
treatments.
Various segments of the Indian manufacturing sector are
contending with competition from Chinese suppliers. What is
the scenario with PCBs?
In PCBs, we also have a huge competition as compared to
Chinese suppliers. Thus, at KCL, we have created a special
strength and positioning by catering to "full life cycle of product
development". We can add value by being an integral part of the
product design and development cycle from concept designing,
prototype development and validation to mass production.
A PCB is a "hidden" component in an appliance but still plays a
critical role. Can you elaborate on this criticality?
A well-designed PCB will perform up to the mark in field with
consistency in long term quality, reliability and throughput. All
the necessary protections should be taken care of during the
design level taking into consideration the various aspects and
the environment to which the PCB in a product is going to be
exposed to.
What are prospects from power distribution?
Yes, we definitely foresee growth of KCL in the power
distribution sector.
Please summarize the growth plans of KCL over the medium term.
Our focus at KCL will be on aggressive and exponential growth in
the coming years with a special emphasis on the automotive
segment. This is based on two key trends. First, the Indian auto
market is itself growing by leaps and bounds and is slated to
grow at the rate of 20 per cent annually. Secondly, we now see
more and more electronics in a car that ever before. In fact, it is
seen that use of electronic technology in an automobile may
exceed the use of mechanical-based technology. Today's car
riders are seeking more and more functionality that gives them
a convenient ride, more gizmos and more comfort are becoming
key differentiating factors in a car.
These features, such as automatic climate control,
interactive and graphic user interface, automatic switch on and
off of lights based on external conditions, are all based on use of
electronics in automobiles.
KCL, thus, aims on capitalizing on these trends and leverage
its existing base to grow rapidly by providing the PCBs for such
applications, based on a complete solution approach- from
concept to manufacture.