CHENNAI: Spot an opportunity and go the whole hog. That has been U Venkatesh’s policy from his attempt at an automotive dealership to making connecting rods and thermostats for automobiles to manufacturing high-precision components and assemblies for aerospace and defence.
Each of these ventures has become a new starting point for a high-flying enterprise.
Moving back to India leaving a business analyst’s job at JP Morgan, U Venkatesh took to automotive dealerships, starting with Hyundai before adding more OEMs to his portfolio. “The critical component for success is recruiting the right people with the right attitude and integrity, imbibing the right processes from the start,” says Venkatesh. Today, KUN is responsible for sales and aftersales of brands including Rolls-Royce, BMW, MINI, Hyundai, KIA, Honda and Daimler trucks.
A chance meeting he had with Magal Group-UK in 2008 resulted in the group getting into auto parts manufacturing. Investing capital and building a strong technical team gained the company a strategic foothold in the supply chain network across several Indian and international automakers. As a logical extension, KUN Aerospace was born in 2010 to produce high precision components and assemblies for aerospace, defence and medical applications.
Then came `Make in India`. “We had all the fundamental infrastructure and processes in place. This sudden push for local sourcing gave us bigger opportunities.
I travelled to the US several times, meeting many of our old customers and new clients, convincing them that we can produce high- precision components and assemblies to meet their stringent quality requirements. After many meetings, we started manufacturing these things at Ambattur, for leading international aerospace companies,” says Venkatesh.
The big moment came when Pratt & Whitney was looking for someone to make the complex titanium engine bearing housing for GT Engines, the latest range of aircraft engines. The bearing – as big as a wet grinder – is so critical a part that it has never been made outside the US. KUN offered to do it.
It demanded precision levels of 12-micron or oneeighth the thickness of a human hair. The part is as big as a wet grinder. The aircraft propellers, that are mounted on these housing run up to 18 hours non-stop and more than 15 years, for many million miles.
KUN Aerospace CEO Srinivasa Rao remembers the tense days when the new customer ran multiple security drills and audits. “After many such exercises, we were selected as a tier-1 supplier. That was a good break. But the cherry was when we were granted Gate C status that allows KUN to supply the component directly to the assembly line of Pratt and Whitney in the US. Simply put, it was a stamp of trust,” says Rao.
Having bagged orders for India’s defence projects, now KUN has set its eyes on high-precision medical components. “When the world starts flying all over again, the demand for planes will rise and that would be a great time for all of us. We are waiting in the wings,” says Venkatesh.
