Investment in IT solutions may not be an issue for larger foundries, but the smaller ones in the unorganised sector often believe that IT enablement of their operations is still out of bounds for them.

“Such investments are prohibitive because the IT talent pool is reluctant to join small firms. If one does succeed in engaging a person with basic IT skills, there's no guarantee that he will continue to work for the same employer till the systems are put in place. Such issues make it difficult for us to consider IT enablement of our operations,” a foundry owner, preferring anonymity, said.

He, however, conceded that the units operating in the micro and small scale segment would find it difficult to sustain and survive in a competitive environment if they were not IT-enabled.

And, this is the space that TVS Infotech is focused on and is ready to tap. The Vice-President (Enterprise Solutions), Mr Mahendra Panchal, told Business Line that consequent to its tie-up with SAP, TVS Infotech has implemented the ‘Smart Foundry' solution in five foundries. “The solution is tailored to cater to the needs of the foundry and we have changed our strategy as well from ‘push' to ‘pull', to ensure speedy action.”

“It is not a mere ERP solution. We have developed a text (Short Messaging Service) trigger, a portal to link the customer with the vendor; work flow automation for approval and mobile application. It is a pull strategy,” he reiterated.

The solution helps capture data at the source itself, Mr Panchal said, adding “we are building an infrastructure for tomorrow”.

Pain points

Highlighting the pain points that foundries in general faced, he said lack of automation in terms of technology, particularly in managing inventories, frequent changes to mould and yield monitoring, and streamlining of processes are some of the issues. The Smart Foundry Solution is helpful for sand casting and centrifugal casting.

Asked about the market response to the solution, the Business Manager of TVS Infotech, Mr D Arun Prabhu, said “the market is huge.” There are 4,500 foundries in India, of which around 10 per cent can be categorised as large and have a good solution in place; another 10 per cent can be categorised as medium-size units and the remaining 80 per cent are small foundries. About 20 per cent of the medium and small-size units are into exports and are ready to implement the solution. “We are targeting 10–20 per cent of this market. There is no unified solution,” he added.

Besides exploring opportunities in the Indian foundry industry, TVS Infotech is looking to expand its operations outside India, albeit selectively, in the emerging economies.

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