India's rail system has made significant strides over the years and now ranks as one of the largest single-managed rail networks in the world. Given that the Indian railway system is being modernized and that the ministry of railways is constantly integrating new technologies into every aspect of the railway system, there are numerous opportunities for component suppliers. What is driving the market's expansion is the government's and the railway minister's ambition to bring Indian railroads up to par with those of Europe and Japan. With 37,000 km to be fitted with ‘KAVACH’, the in-house Train Collision Avoidance System, and 15,000 km being converted to automatic signalling, Indian Railways is advancing and inventing the technology in fields like signalling and telecommunication.
Since its founding, Avadh Rail Infra, formerly known as Avadh Rubber, has consistently provided the necessary innovation to close the quality gap between Indian Railways and Urban Metro Rail and those found elsewhere in the world. The company has steadily gained market leadership in polyurethanebased components for Indian Railways thanks to strong R&D and technical collaborations in the sector. The Indian Railways use robustly engineered rubber, rubber to metal bonded, and polyurethane products made by Avadh for their rolling stock, track, and civil construction. Moreover, it provides the Indian Ministry of Defence with essential combat vehicle components. The main issues and demands that customers have are that the reliability and durability of components do not live up to expectations and that vendors take a very long time to develop new components to meet project deadlines. The company has been able to meet all of these demands. To simulate all new development, Avadh Rail has a very effective R&D setup, and to spot opportunities, it keeps a close eye on all new technologies.
Avadh Rail is one of the first suppliers to the Indian railways. It provides necessary and extremely secure components for coaches, wagons, locomotives, and tracks. Its primary products are highly engineered, and only a small number of companies worldwide have access to the technology required to design and produce them. To support 'Make-in- India', the company collaborates with global leaders, brings the newest technologies to India, and localizes manufacturing. Avadh Rail has long been one of the top producers of rubberto- metal bonded components for ICF and LHB coaches, freight wagons, and locomotives. The company is currently working on components for the ‘Vande Bharat’ project. “We have been producing precision-machined parts and assemblies for rolling stock, OHE, track, and civil applications for the past ten years. More than 30 items from RDSO and Production Units of Indian Railways are approved sources for Avadh Rail. We have a dominant market share in the majority of the products that we sell”, says Abhishek Saraff, Managing Director of Avadh Rail Infra.
Supplying Products with Guaranteed Quality
All of ITS's production facilities have received the endorsement of the International Railway Industry Standard (IRIS). The implementation of IRIS and IRIS certification helps the rail industry adopt best practices developed by the biggest rail companies worldwide. To ensure quality at every stage of production, Avadh Rail has a system that was created specifically for that purpose. The company uses a 4-stage inspection process, starting with raw material arrival inspection, then moving on to manufacturing in-process inspection, final internal inspection, and finishing with customer inspection. Each product has its inspection check sheets, and the quality team ensures that all the specifications unique to the manufacturing process are being followed. Moreover, Avadh Rail routinely performs inter-unit audits to ensure that it upholds the highest quality standards when providing delivery to its clients.
Avadh Rail offers full in-house testing capabilities, including material, environmental, and product performance tests, along with production facilities for rubber, rubber to metal bonded, cast polyurethane, injection moulded TPE, and TPU products. More than 30 Compression, Transfer, and Injection Type Moulding Presses with capacities between 50 and 1000 Tons, Modern metal treatment/surface preparation facilities, such as automatic degreasing lines, sand and shot blasting machines, vacuum degassing machines, and more, are equipped with open and closed mixing facilities, automatic weighing batching systems, and vacuum degassing machines. Machines for automatic cast polyurethane dispensing and plastic injection moulding that weigh between 150 and 650 tonnes. “Our testing facilities allow for high and low-temperature tests on rubber and polymers as well as tests under chemical, physical, Rheological, environmental, and ozone conditions. We also have six axes of endurance testing equipment with a maximum load of 300 kN, one of the best CMMs in the world made by Carl Zeiss for measuring precise geometrical dimensions and tolerance to maintain and produce high-quality products”, says Abhishek Saraff, Managing Director, Avadh Rail Infra.
Avadh Rail's Various Growth Factors
Avadh Rail has established itself over the past 40 years as a market leader and producer of premium rubber and plastic moulded anti-vibration and damping products for a variety of applications in locomotives, wagons, and passenger coaches. Overhead Electricals, Rolling Stocks, and Track & Civil are the three main business segments that Avadh Rail has expanded into. To introduce cutting-edge technologies to Indian railways, Avadh formed strong partnerships for its 40-year journey with companies of renown around the world, including CRRC TMT in China, Alstom IBRE in France, Integrico Composites in the United States, Galland in France, and Delkor Rail in Australia. At the moment, four manufacturing facilities are operating, with the Lucknow headquarters, two facilities in Haridwar, and one facility in Chennai. From 20 crores to 200 crores in the last ten years, the company's turnover has increased.
In terms of price versus quality, Avadh Rail provides the most affordable products. The quality of the product is never compromised to increase sales. Even if the product segment has nothing to do with its current product line, the company is open to implementing new technologies and is ready to diversify its product line. Its R&D team uses cutting-edge Computer Aided Designing (CAD) and FEA tools to create FEA models that characterize the performance and lifespan of products while simulating the service environment. This method enables the company to develop new products faster than other Indian companies in this industry because it has internal resources to conduct material characterization testing on linear and nonlinear (hyperelastic) materials.
We follow the motto, 'Profit follows if quality & consistency are maintained'
India is already one of the top three countries in the world for Mainline Railways, Metro, and Semi-High Speed. More quickly than Avadh Rail could have predicted ten years ago, the market is growing. There are numerous opportunities throughout the railways/metro. Avadh Rail examines both organic and inorganic growth and it is growing laterally and integrating upward and downward. “Our future road map calls for us to maintain a firm footing while cautiously expanding in niche markets that will benefit both Indian Railways and Avadh Rail. I believe that in the sea of opportunities, those who can cleverly spot distinctive opportunities while maintaining cost-competitiveness and utilizing the most cutting-edge technologies will come out on top. This is more challenging than it first appears because many non-railway players have entered the market and numerous suppliers to the railway industry are rapidly diversifying and growing”, concludes Abhishek.
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