There is a famous saying that ordinary people travel by road or rail, but economists travel by infrastructure. These words resonate with the concerted efforts being made to develop infrastructure, the backbone of the India growth story. As industrialization goes into overdrive and infrastructure development gains momentum, there is a growing demand for specialized bearings for heavy industry and infrastructure-centric sectors. Meeting this demand is IKL India with its extensive industrial heritage and expertise in customized heavy-duty bearings.
IKL India, empowered by the 75-year global legacy of the IKL Group, has been a part of India’s growth journey and is poised for the future to come. Standing for Innovation, Knowledge, and Loyalty to customer expectations, IKL India combines the strength and technical prowess of the global group with its unique insights into the Indian market. Thus, it offers its customers an unparalleled advantage.
Established in 2011, IKL India is a subsidiary of the IKL Group, a company founded in 1948 and spanning various industrial growth phases. Over the years, the group has emerged as one of the leading bearing manufacturers in Eastern Europe with subsidiaries in the US, the EU, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan, Ghana, and India.
IKL India is the brainchild of Manjunath Ampar. A certified auditor from the C&AG of India with a master’s degree in Commerce and Economics, he has extensive experience working in infrastructure and aviation Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). His work led him to study the demand for high-precision bearings, and during his deputation with the public sector bearings industry, he realized the need gap for an established global manufacturer in India. He forayed into this space by associating with EPK Bearings, a Russian company operating in India. However, by 2011, his vision broadened to reflect India’s vision for its growth as it opened up to FDIs.
Thus began his entrepreneurial journey, backed by over 30 years of experience in the bearings industry. Taking on the role of Managing Director, he launched IKL Group’s India subsidiary by partnering with the marketing team led by Bob Vladimir, now one of the Directors at IKL India. The Indian team soon expanded to include professionals from various fields. Recently, Sree Teja Ampar, Manjunath Ampar’s daughter, joined as the Director of IKL India. With a master’s degree in Business Administration, and over 15 years of experience in the customer service industry, she envisioned the need to personalize the customer service aspect of the business.
As a result, SPM India was founded in 2019, with Manjunath Ampar's daughter, Sree Teja Ampar as the CEO, to become the Asian distributor of IKL Bearings. This move contributed tremendously to the expansion of IKL India’s market share.
Equipped with technical know-how and the diverse experience of the Indian team, the company’s products have evolved through innovative breakthroughs, resulting in cutting-edge, sustainable bearings. The patented designs and constant upgrades have stayed ahead of the curve.
The IKL Edge
Today, in India, with rapid industrialization, scaling-up of infrastructure projects, and growing automotive demand, the need for advanced bearings systems and high-valued bearings for critical applications is even more in focus. This is IKL’s forte. It has always been at the forefront of producing specialized, industry-specific, cost-effective bearings.
IKL’s well-equipped Industrial Kinetic Lab (an R&D Lab) and IKL Innovation Limited (an R&D center focused on insulated and vibrating screen bearings) are at the core of its creations. Among its most notable innovations, IKL has insulated bearings to counteract electrical pitting; the most versatile plasma spraying and coating processes; bearings with extra capacity, minimal friction, and robust cages for highly contaminated environments; patent for vibrating screen bearings used in mining, construction, steel manufacturing; and general industrial equipment where heavy loads, vibration and impact loads are common.
IKL specializes in heavy-duty application spherical roller bearings, screen duty bearings, insulated bearings, spherical thrust bearings for power generating equipment, bearings for gas turbine application, bearings for the shipbuilding industry, bearings for high-speed railway, bearings for aviation industries, and more.
Diverse Industry Application
IKL India, under the leadership of Manjunath Ampar, caters to various industries in the infrastructure sector. From steel to power, railways to shipbuilding, and mining to defence, the offerings are consistently of high quality. The products have a controlled composition of materials, the requisite hardness, toughness, fatigue resistance, and
dimensional stability. They are designed to stay compatible even in extreme environmental conditions, meeting the load and rotational speed requirements. Each product offers a longer service life and higher reliability. IKL’s patented and specifically designed cages have sufficient strength and raceways that are resistant to wear and tear.
Moreover, IKL India leverages its global team research capabilities and expertise to deliver better offerings. For instance, the IKL bearings used in the railway sector are manufactured in its Kyrgyzstan factory with high-quality R&D for application for CIS. For durability and robust field performance, the military applications are designed by a technical team experienced in the Russian bearing industry, the pioneers in the military aviation bearings industry.
Manjunath Ampar says, “We take a multi-dimensional approach here. We have in-house experts and we collaborate with qualified consultants. The constant investment in research and innovation is crucial in staying abreast of the evolving industry demands.”
The team is constantly optimizing production, automation, and digitalization processes. Each strategic quality improvement is 100 percent compliant with emerging regulatory requirements. By stringently adopting sustainability policies, IKL is future-conscious.
Responsible, Sustainable Quality
As the underlying quality of bearings has a huge impact on efficiencies, IKL has special inspection equipment like Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). These are used in the estimation of the volume of retained Austenite. Retained Austenite is measured at various stages of the manufacturing process and the test results of raceways, retaining elements, rollers, and more, are stored for each batch of manufacture.
The company’s manufacturing process meets the international ISO quality standards. There are in-process quality inspections at each stage in addition to the inspection of the final product. A certificate of quality is attached to each bearing used in the infrastructure industries.
The bearings delivered to customers have an assurance of international quality requirements and a guarantee/ warranty for 12 months. “In our last 13 years of operations, IKL India has found that the percentage of warranty claims is zero!” says Manjunath Ampar.
While quality is important, sustainability is just as integral. The company’s ambitious goals are rooted in a long history of working with industrial sustainability. Plans are in place to move towards a responsible, net-zero environment with an emphasis on products that are more energy-efficient and long-lasting. The ultimate aim is to produce reparable, recyclable bearings. It is well-known that lesser friction equals better energy efficiency. To achieve this, IKL has high standards of material sourcing and proven R&D efforts. This conscious approach is extended to suppliers too. Their manufacturing facilities are continuously audited by the IKL quality engineers.
Emphasis on Service
While these innovations and specializations carve a niche, what truly distinguishes IKL, is its fairness philosophy of 'Quality-Service-Price'. Sree Teja Ampar says, “In recent years, we have adjusted production to satisfy the demand for new technologies. We employ specialists from industrial and scientific fields, and work with audited and approved suppliers of materials/components.” All this is done in an endeavor to provide the best quality and better value-adds to customers.
IKL specializes in heavy duty application spherical roller bearings, screen duty bearings, insulated bearings & more, meeting the demands of diverse industries
Great care is taken whilst onboarding new customers. The production team has in-depth interactions to understand their needs and challenges. Technical experts visit all customers on a regular basis to educate and assist with methods of mounting, lubricating, cleaning, troubleshooting, and maintaining equipment to increase the life and efficiency of the products. To complete the support loop, IKL also maintains a robust digital marketing network. The feedback received has helped in product development and enhancements to bearing designs and processes.
Sree Teja Ampar attributes the increased orders, longer contracts, and diversified scopes of supply to these measures. She also commends her branding team - Opposable Thumbs for communicating IKL’s value proposition to its prospective customers.
Innovating for India
As India grows, IKL is also emerging as a major catalyst in the bearing market. From the flagship product of the company the new screen duty bearings with patented design—to the fast-moving insulated and hybrid bearings, IKL India’s offerings have diversified with a few supply orders increasing nearly by four times in 2023-24.
Manjunath Ampar emphasizes, “The future of IKL India is intricately entwined with the India Growth story.” In addition to exports, the India vision for the company encompasses the development of high-precision products required in railways, specialized miniature bearings for the aviation industry, defence sector supplies, critical bearings for power plants, and an increased presence in the shipbuilding industry. The new plant set up exclusively for railway bearings that would cater to high-speed trains is expected to become the crown in its portfolio.
As India speeds towards its ambitious growth goals, IKL India too, is poised to shift gears, and continue along its exponential growth trajectory.
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