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Follow UsRUDRAPUR: Riding high on the retail wave HCL Infosystems is all set to create more retail by the end of next year informed Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman and CEO of the company. “We would like to increase the number of retail chains to 100 by the end of 2007,” Choudhary announced during the inauguration of HCL Infosystems' second manufacturing unit in India at Rudrapur in Uttaranchal (the first one is at Pondicherry).
Talking more on the retail plans Chowdhry added, “Some of our channel partners have shifted from dealers to retailing, while some (we) are in the process of upgrading for our Digital Lifestyle Stores (DLS).” He also informed that the smaller cities will have a mix of both dealers and retailers. Initially he sees more revenues pouring from the A class cities, as more high end products will be targeted towards them but gradually the smaller cities might take over, though it is difficult to predict, he declared.
Inaugurating the facility, ND Tiwari, Chief Minister, Uttaranchal, said, “We are sure that this new facility of HCL will further enable them to take computing and ICT, right till the most remote corners of the country ad will also prominently display the state of Uttaranchal on the Indian IT map.”
The new manufacturing unit is spread over 10 acres of land at SIDCUL Industrial Estate at Pantnagar in Rudrapur. This facility will enhance the overall capacity of HCL to 2 million PCs per annum. Beginning with desktop computers and LCD monitors the plant had the capability to manufacture an entire spectrum of ICT products-including notebooks, servers as well as thin clients. While HCL has recruited more than 200 local employees, it plans to recruit 500 people in various capabilities as it commissions to its full capacity. George Paul, Executive VP (Marketing), HCL Infosystems Ltd, gave the reason for choosing Rudrapur on availaibility of technical skill and the development of real estate in the region.
Talking on advanced capabilities and projected future plans Chowdhry said, "This facility will complement our existing manufacturing base at Pondicherry – taking our overall annual capacity to two million PCs per annum. Besides enabling us to manufacture a wide spectrum of ICT products, this facility will also allow us to offer more enhanced value to our customers through better logistic efficiency, lower time to market as well as de-risk our complete manufacturing portfolio – with strong facility base in both southern and northern India. Moreover it makes us future-ready to take on expected strong growth potential, being expected in Indian PC market."
Completed in eight months time after commissioning, the new HCL manufacturing base has already received its ISO 14001, ISO 9001:2000 certifications. The new HCL facility has installed several state-of-the-art processes as well as advanced testing techniques. Some of these initiatives include components especially sourced and tested for their tolerance towards temperature, humidity & heat, special wireless LAN-based Reliability tests, extreme temperature tests, 5-feet drop tests and other tests like which (electro static discharge) ESD test, Earth Leakage test and etc.
Further still, HCL also demonstrated the 'Build-to-order' (BTO) capabilities of the manufacturing plant. This enables HCL to manufacture and design ICT products with specific configurations – customized to suit the needs of particular customers, in a matter of few hours. SAP is used right from the entry point till the shipment, while the order entry is also done through automated configurator, which ensures technical compatibility and correctness.
The plant is networked and online with HCL branch and head offices. State of the art IT systems in MRP, ERP, Online configurations are also in place to leverage the power of IT in delivering optimum efficiency.
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