GANDHINAGAR, INDIA — German auxiliary equipment maker Rösler Group has opened its second factory in India, a joint venture in Pune with United Kingdom-based Acton Finishing Ltd.
“The new plant was opened in June as we think India could be key growth market for us in the near future,” said Thomas Reber, managing director and CEO of Rösler Schweiz AG, in an interview at Plastindia 2015, held in early February in Gandhinagar.
Untermerzbach-based Rösler has a majority stake in the joint venture, which has 26,800 square feet of manufacturing space. The facility will manufacture standard shot blast equipment and rotary vibrators.
The company said it was needed to compete with low-priced regional competitors.
“This is an important strategic step with the goal to successfully compete with Indian low cost equipment suppliers and to gain a dominant market position in India and South-East Asia,” the company said in a statement.
It said the facility will use “German equipment designs and adapt the manufacturing process to the Indian facility including the search for local component suppliers.”
The company opened a Bangalore manufacturing plant, Rösler SurfaceTech Pvt. Ltd., in 2007 but the Pune plant is larger, Reber said. Pune is a key auto making hub in Western India.
Family-controlled Acton, based in Coventry, engages in metal finishing solutions and manufactures various vibratory and high energy centrifugal finishing machines.