About Caparo Maruti :Caparo, founded in 1968 by Indian born British Industrialist, Lord Paul of Marylebone, is a fast growing

UK based group with a 1bn Euro turnover. With business interests predominantly in the manufacture of steel, automotive and general engineering products, the group has a grown as a global entity. Caparo group is now a collection of over 40 companies operating from over 60 sites worldwide. Caparo India, the Indian business arm of Caparo Group, began its operations in 1994, as a joint venture with Indias largest car manufacturer Maruti Udyog. Today, through its two strategic business entities, Caparo Engineering India Pvt. Ltd. and Caparo Maruti Ltd, the group offers end-to-end solutions in designing, developing and manufacturing automotive systems, assemblies, advanced composites, modules and components to Indian Automotive OEMs and Engineering Industry. Caparo India leverages its exhaustive capabilities in metal Stamping, Fastening, Tubing, Forging and Aluminium Foundry businesses, coupled with its state-of-the-art Tool Room and R&D Centre, to service top-notch clients such as GM, Ford, Maruti, Honda, Tata Motors and JCB. The companys ability to offer complete lifecycle solutions backed by a global support system, technological superiority and customer orientation, make it a force to reckon with in its areas of expertise. "Caparo India currently employs 5000 direct and indirect employees across 25 world-class functional and upcoming facilities.

Business Type : Exporter / Manufacturer Products Manufacturing :

Stampings,body parts, chassis parts, long members, reinforcements, brackets, frame, fasteners icon, tubes, aluminium foundry.

CAPARO Differentiating Factors

Scale of operations

Caparo has set up 19 plants across various geographies in India. This is amongst the highest number of plants across all Tier I vendors in India. The Group has grown to this level from 3 plants in 2003.

The Group currently has a land base of over 500 acres, strategically located across Chennai, NCR (Gurgaon, Noida and adjoining areas), Indore and Pune. A large part of this land base is still unutilised, making it easier for Caparo to put its expansion plans into effect.

Caparo can profitably scale up to fill these capacities and yield more than INR 30bn of revenues by 2010. This would make Caparo India one of the largest Tier I vendors.

Investment in people and processes

The Caparo Group was founded by Lord Swraj Paul, a first generation entrepreneur, who combined strong ethics, astute business acumen and hard work to create a vast business empire in less than 4 decades. The same business philosophy and ethics have been extended by his son Angad Paul in developing the India business.

Caparo India is run by an independent and professional set of managers drawn from premier auto component companies in India. Unlike normal trade practices, this senior team has been put in place much in advance of the actual com mencement of production at some of the plants

Caparo has also invested in setting up a very robust and effective management information system (MIS), reflective of the professional nature of management and the strong corporate governance in place.

Quality of manufacturing facilities

Caparo, being a relatively late entrant to the automotive industry in India, has developed its key infrastructure over the last 2- 3 years. However, this has given Caparo the ability to set up new facilities and employ Best Practices in terms of

manufacturing equipment and processes. This is a key differentiator over competitors, who still rely on facilities and processes that were set up in a very different industry scenario.

The strong focus on manufacturing facilities and processes has also resulted in Caparo having the lowest rejection rates in the country. For the last 6 months, Caparo has been the #1 of 101 suppliers to Honda Siel, a distinction it has earned competing with Japanese vendors of Honda cars in India.

Diversified products and customers

Caparo has the unique distinction of being the only Indian automotive vendors with product capabilities ranging from metal pressing to forging, aluminium castings, tubing and fasteners.

Caparo is an approved vendor to practically all major OEMs across the passenger car, commercial vehicle and two-wheeler segments in the country another distinction available with very few automotive vendors in India.

Caparos large management team has extensive relationships across all IPOs in India and are leveraging these relationships to drive export business.

Caparo has been able to leverage these product capabilities in reaching out to its diversified customer base and being able to cross-sell various products to the same customer. This position insulates Caparo from the risk of product obsolescence as well as makes it neutral to the market share position within OEMs in the country. Moreover, the ability to sell a cross-section of products to the same set of customers will enable Caparo to out-grow their competitors at a much faster pace.

Access to technology
Caparo Indias superior design and development capabilities are a key differentiator vis--vis competitors. Tool room facilities, such as Caparos sophisticated tool room set up in Chennai, are available with a couple of leading independent specialist tool room companies in India, but no other auto component manufacturers has such facilities in-house.

Focus on technology is another aspect which will assist Caparo India in enhancing their profitability as there is a sig nificant difference in the operating margins of buildto-print products and engineered and designed components and assemblies.

As the Indian automotive industry gets more focussed on technology upgradation and produces automobiles for global consumption, there is a greater tendency for OEMs to develop strategic relationships with vendors who are interested in technology and who can partner them in meeting stringent quality norms.

The Group intends to continue passing on their technologies employed in European and North American markets, a key differentiator with other competitors who have to rely on external partners to get access to such technologies.

HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT:

It is the process of improving, moulding and changing the skills, knowledge, creative ability, aptitude, values, commitment etc., based on present and future job and organisational requirements. This function includes: (i) Performance Appraisal: It is the systematic evaluation of individuals with respect to their performance on the job and their potential for development. It includes: (a) (b) (ii) Developing policies, procedures and techniques. Helping the functional managers.

Training: It is the process of imparting the employees the technical and operating skills and knowledge. It includes: (a) (b) Identification of training needs of the individuals and the company. Developing suitable training programmes.

(iii)

Management Development: It is the process of designing and conducting suitable executive development programmes so as to develop the managerial and human relations skills of employees. It includes: (a) (b) Identification of the areas in which management development is needed. Motivating the executives.

(iv)

Career Planning and Development: It is the planning of one's career and implementation of career plans by means of education, training, job search and acquisition of work experiences. Internal Mobility Transfer Promotion Demotion

(v)

Organisation Development: It is a planned process designed to improve organisational effectiveness and health through modifications in individual and group behavior, culture and systems of the organisation using knowledge and technology of applied behavioral science.