A strong process Tata Group

A STRONG PROCESS

An integral part of the global Tata Group and India’s largest business house, Tata Steel Processing And Distribution Ltd is dedicated to providing a metal and Steel Service Centre across the Group in India. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the Vice-President of operations, Om Prakash, to learn more.

Global conglomerate Tata Group was founded in India nearly 150 years ago. Serving a very large industry sectors, the Group created a revenue of USD 109 billion in 2015 and employs over 600,000 people worldwide. With world-recognised wholly-owned subsidiaries including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consulting Services, Taj Hotels and Tata Power, the Group is comprised over 30 publicly-listed enterprises.

Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Ltd is part of Tata Steel, multi-national steel-making company. As the 5th largest steel producer in the world and the largest in India, Tata Steel has manufacturing sites in 26 countries and employs around 80,500 people. Tata Steel Processing & Distribution Ltd (TSPDL) is a wholly-owned division of Tata Steel and is focused on delivering an effective metal and steel service centre operation for its parent company.

Following Tata Steel’s 2007 acquisition of Anglo-Dutch company Corus, which at the time was four times larger than Tata Steel in terms of steel production, it has enjoyed strong presence in the UK as part of its impressive global footprint. Prior to this acquisition Tata Steel was the world’s 11th largest steel producer.

Part of the family

TSPDL’s Vice-President of operations Om Prakash spoke to Industry Europe to illustrate how the division’s dedication to service means that it consistently delivers a valuable part of the supply chain for the Tata Steel steel mill. Mr Prakash said, “The Tata Group is the leader across many industry sectors, with a huge number of products, services and functions that see the Tata name in the number one position worldwide. Tata Steel Processing & Distribution Ltd is known as TSPDL and we are the metal and steel service centre for the Tata Steel India operations.”

Mr Prakash went on to explain how TSPDL’s current focus is perfectly in tune with the entire Group’s long-term drivers. He noted, “Our main focus is growth. But it is not growth at any cost. The whole Group takes growth very seriously within the framework of excellence and responsibility. The Tata Group is famous worldwide for our ‘leadership with trust’ promise, which means we have a transparency with our suppliers and our customers. We only work with people in this way and we believe this is why we have continued to grow in such a positive manner. Across the whole of the Tata Group, we always want to be a benchmark for excellence and a leader across our sectors.”

Formed in April 1997 to support the Tata Steel operations in India, TSPDL is still considered ‘fairly young’ in the Group. Mr Prakash continued, “We have grown rapidly in these nearly twenty years as we add great value to the steel operations. Today we process and distribute steel material of around two million tonnes each year, with our primary sector being the automotive sector in India, at around 80 per cent, with the remaining 20 per cent coming from lifting and excavation appliances, general engineering and construction.”

With such a high volume of its activities coming from the Indian automotive sector, Mr Prakash is clear that the strict quality demands of this industry is key to TSPDL’s successful growth. He said, “The automotive

industry requires a very high quality, Just-In-Time service. Customers do not want a high volume of steel stock or a block in working capital so we are here to effectively manage the supply chain of any steel user. We are also highly skilled at customising whatever our customers need in terms of JIT steel, such as manufacturing rectangle blanks or helping to reduce the weight of the vehicle.”

Quality and customisation

This customisation is possible thanks to TSPDL staying closely connected to the latest trends in the steel industry. One area where this is clear is its ability to manufacture normal steel to a higher strength but with a lighter weight. Mr Prakash added, “As you can imagine, this material is in a great demand for the automotive industry. We have learned so much about our potential alongside the automotive industry; we stay close to our mill and can develop steel grades with the mill that are perfectly processed to the right weight and strength, which we then handle as required.”

Mr Prakash explained how the automotive industry is very ‘surface sensitive’, meaning that any materials used in the automotive process, particularly those used on the outside of the vehicle, must be clear from any defects and very hard to scratch. He noted, “We have worked very hard with our steel mill to be able to supply material with far fewer defects than our competitors. For example, for Toyota, we provide a parts-per-million (PPM) level of just 25 to 50 defects in every million parts – it’s a very high standard. Other mills may only deliver a 100 or even 200 PPM defect level.”

TSPDL is also a key supplier of processed plates to the lifting and excavation sector in India, a sector growing very fast with infrastructure growth in India.

Continued growth is both predicted and expected for Tata Steel Processing & Distribution Ltd, with exceptional growth in Asia, particularly India, on the cards. Mr Prakash concluded, “Our growth plan for the next five years will see us double our processing capacity. It’s an ambitious plan but it fits well with what we have achieved and how we see our markets developing. With Tata Steel generating over USD20billion in 2015 and TSPDL accounting for around USD 300million of that, we expect that to increase considerably. We already have a network of 15 sales offices across India and eight processing plants in India, so as the demands increase for the steel industry, so too do the requirements of our metal and steel service capabilities.”

TSPDL takes pride in its corporate social activity for upliftment of the weaker section of the society and concern for the environment by reducing carbon footprint of its operations. n