The Hindu Business Line : Weiler Intl to tap auto sector for electronic circuits

Weiler International Electronics, which has a majority holding by the German major DigiSound, plans to cater to the auto sector and expand its contract manufacturing business.

The Pune-based company, which is a major supplier of miniaturised electronic hybrid circuits to India’s space and defence programmes, will invest in expanding its facilities near Pune to meet the demands from the automotive sector.

Each car has a minimum of 8 sensors to deal with water, air, speed, oil etc. All these will require an electronic circuit. Similarly, the wiper control, flashers and relays in the automobile require the circuits.

Weiler Electronics has the expertise to make miniaturised products to meet the demands of modern vehicles, hence the decision to tap this business, said Mr Subroto Roy, Vice-President, Business Alliances of the company.

The company, which is participating in the ongoing 58th International Astronautical Congress here, has already bagged a few orders in the automotive sector, Mr Roy told Business Line.

The other new area it is exploring is to make hooters and alarm systems for DigiSound, which in turn wants to embed them in washing machines and water filters etc, targeting the US markets, he added.

Weiler Electronics at present manufactures hooters and alarm system and exports them to DigiSound, which in turn supplies it to large system integrators like Honeywell. The potential of alarm systems in building management systems is large and the company wants to tap the market.

DigiSound also has plans to outsource jobs to Weiler International, especially in the areas of aerospace and defence electronics. “On our part we are talking with the Swedish and French Space agencies to supply key miniaturised hybrid circuits,” Mr Roy said.

The company is also strengthening its contract manufacturing division, which has a client list including Seimens, Honeywell, Tata Motors, ABB, L&T and Bosch.