Chennai: Chennai-based auto component manufacturer Lucas TVS Limited is on an expansion spree - locally as well as globally. In India the company is setting up production facilities in Pondicherry, Pune and Himachal Pradesh. Overseas, the company is setting up an assembly line in Iran in joint venture with Feiz Ghadir Industries to manufacture auto electricals.

Speaking about the Iranian project, T K Balaji, chief executive and managing director said, "We have shipped the assembly line to Iran. In one month the 1-lakh per annum units plant will be ready." The plant is located 150 kilometres from Tehran. (See: Lucas TVS plans to set up a plant in Iran)

Lucas TVS exports around 1-lakh units of starter motors to Iran. Recently a delegation from the Saipa Group, Iran has placed orders for the supply of starter motors to be fitted as original equipment in Pride cars.

Asked about the company''s China plans, Balaji said it was not on their radar now. "A Starter motor is not like any other auto component that could be supplied to auto makers. Lot of discussion goes with the vehicle manufacturer before the product is made for them." Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation from the Haiyan county of China had visited the company in Chennai. Haiyan county is part of Zhejiang Province where Sundram Fasteners Limited has set up its fasteners plant.

On the company''s expansion plans within India, Balaji said, a plant in Himachal Pradesh will be set up at an outlay of Rs10 crore. The plant will be ready by next March to avail the tax concessions declared by the state government.

Lucas TVS is also setting up a plant in Pune (outlay Rs15 crore) and in Pondicherry (Rs4 crore). The Pune plant is expected to be ready by this year-end and would cater to the needs of Tata Motors Limited. Presently the company has three plants in India - one each in Chennai, Pondicherry and Rewari in Haryana.

A delegation of top officials from leading Japanese industries - mostly comprising Toyota group and its suppliers - had also visited the Lucas TVS'' Chennai plant. The delegation is part of the central Japan Quality Control Association, an organisation promoting quality control in cooperation of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).

The purpose of the visit was to introduce the delegation to the best practices amongst the member companies and also outside Japan. In 2004, Lucas TVS had won the prestigious Deming medal. (See: Deming medal for Lucas TVS and SRF)

According to Balaji the Japanese delegation led by Tadashi Onishi, JTEKT Corporation, said that quality is not a magic solution but a systematic practice, and quality should not be measured by the absence of defect. A company should reach a condition where it innovates in quality. Further, all the stakeholders-employees, suppliers and others- should be involved in quality control. "The delegation also told us that quality systems should be at all levels of management and not only at the shop floor level," Balaji said.

According to him the company is expected to close this year with a turnover of Rs725 crore and targets Rs850 crore for the next year.