Forging is considered the backbone of the manufacturing industry. In India, the contribution of forging to major segments that drive economic growth like Automobile, Railways, Defence, Heavy Engineering, Mining, Construction, Oil & Gas, Power Transmission and many more has taken the country’s industrial growth to new heights. The installed manufacturing capacity of the Indian Forging Industry is 38.5 lakh MT which is responsible for Forging a huge range of components out of Ferrous & Non-Ferrous Metals.
However, only Forging of the component is not enough. It needs to be delivered in Fully Machined condition that even sometimes includes assembling the whole Product. Earlier, it was not a necessity of the Forging manufacturers to get the machining done as well in their inhouse facilities or setting their own Machining Plant, but with changing customer expectations, it has now become imperative.
Many players in the forging industry are working hard to overcome this obstacle but one of the company which has already established its machining units in modernised way with adoption of latest technologies and has begun full-fledged supply to meet the customer’s demand in the market. The company is Unique Forgings (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Vinit Sherasiya, Director (S/O Vrajlal Sherasiya, Chairman), Unique Forgings (India) Pvt. Ltd states, “Previously, the way of business was different. The forging part of it was executed in-house after which we used to transport the components to the concerned regions with client businesses. Vendors were tied up with our organisation at those locations that used to do the machining part and then supply it to our client.
But in the last five years, a lot has changed. Now, clients want the deliverables in fully machine condition from one end only which is why we have started expanding our own machining units that help us respond to the client expectations in a better way.”
Committed To Delivering Quality
Being in the market since 1987, Unique Forgings is not only the witness of self-growth, but also the growth of the industry over time. There were not many players in the forging segment in the initial stages when there was monopoly of certain giant players. The manufacturing was done locally and the forging manufacturers were just enough to cater to the limited demand. But with time, growth & development multiplied in all sectors which gradually increased the demand of forging in the market. The sectors that influenced this demand are automotive, material handling, heavy engineering, heat ex-changer manufacturing and several others.
According to the Director, the ultimate growth of the forging industry has been motivated by the growth in lifestyle of the population. Thirty years ago, there were very limited brands that used to cater to the consumer demand of the whole country. Eventually, there was emergence of more and more brands which resulted in increase of number of products in the market.
He says, “As the number of products increased in the market, there was increase in quality consciousness of the consumer which resulted in improving product & service quality of the forging industry. As a company that has been in the industry for so many years, we always believe in providing the perfect quality as well as best service to our clients which adds value to the client’s business at the end of the day.”
The Growth Story
Unique Forgings was founded by Vrajlal Sherasiya (Founder & Chairman) along with his two real brothers Gunvant Sherasiya (Executive Director) & Pravin Sherasiya (Managing Director) and their brother-in-law Haresh Sarkhedi (Finance Director) three decades ago with a very small scale forging plant.
A lot of dedication and hard work went into the inception of the company by these Four Pillars (Persons). The founder started out as an employee in this sector and gradually gained enough experience to start off on their own. From that day, Unique Forgings has only seen growth. The company was established to cater to the demand of only one company but now it offers various products to numerous companies belonging to different segments in the industry.
As the Director states that with the increase in demand of components, the number of players in each and every client segment grew and so did the competition in the industry. It became a necessity to keep up with the modern technology and at the same time offer competitive pricing. As of today, Unique Forgings has Four Forging units that can manufacture components ranging from 1-100 kilograms single piece component (closed die forging) & 100-3000 kilograms single piece component (open die forging) respectively. On the other hand, the company also has two machining units where the forged components are fully machined to obtain the final deliverables.
Vinit states, “As it stands, our company caters to some of the primary engineering sectors of the industry that include the automotive industry, gearbox manufacturers, material handling equipment manufacturers, mining machine manufacturers, heavy engineering industries, heat ex-changer manufacturers, dairy equipment manufacturers, refineries and petrochemicals, power transmission industry, railways, defence, and many others. We have also extended our wings to Export of similar engineering products.”
The installed manufacturing capacity of the Indian forging industry is 38.5 lakh MT which is responsible for forging a huge range of components out of ferrous & non-ferrous metals
Future That Lies Ahead
A lot has been achieved by Unique Forgings since it came into existence. When COVID-19 hit the country in 2020, the forging sector experienced massive decline in production and supply which resulted in a declined gross turnover of the sector during the financial year. Unique Forgings, being a player in this domain also had to face the consequences. Despite that, the company was able to conduct 300 crore of business last year which stands testimony to its experience and stability. The company’s motto is always to serve the customer with the best possible quality in deliverables & services and it stood up to it even in the most challenging times.
Looking Ahead At The Future Plans Of The Company,
The Director states, “We are soon planning to become a public limited company. It is because of COVID that the processes got paused for a period of time but soon we are moving ahead with our plan. We are hoping to acquire investments in the coming or next financial year after which we want to get enlisted in the stock exchange.”
Vinit kept on saying during the Interview “I am blessed and I feel proud to say at whatever stage we are right now is only because of hard work & dedication of our each employe and especially our Four Strong Pillars (Persons), who started the company without whom it would never have been possible. Even the second generation including me have emerged into business from last 4-5 years, the team has been expanded now which will result into multiple growth”.
The company aims to keep adding value to the Indian Forging industry. Their motto being “the delivery of best quality end product at best competitive rates to the customer”, it is what they exactly want to focus on in the future course of time. It is about to launch its Third Modern Machining Unit that will be of major help to the operations of the company which will still not equalize the current Forging capacity and machining capabilities of the company. So, they will keep on adding High End Machining & Assembling Facilities continuously. Along with it in coming time they are expanding their Forging & Machining range in Open Die Forging segment which will produce single piece/component of 10,000 kilograms (10 Tons) with fully Machined Condition which they have already started into action.
Speaking About The Future Prospects
For the company, the Director concludes, “We want to majorly add ourselves into manufacturing for the Defence & Railway sector of the country which are one of the important primary sectors to the nation and we look forward to serve our nation for it. We are also looking forward for Automation,3D Printing, Robotics, Aerospace, Components for Electric Vehicles and much more in coming time itself...
We want to reduce Imports in critical components, for that we are ready to join hands and its an open Invitation to all firms who can help us in Technology and we are ready to set up the State-of-the-art R&D Centre, which vision most Indian companies are lacking.
We also want to venture into Product base company along with on-going supply of customer’s demand base components company in 2-3 years”.
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