Back in the early 1990s, when the other tire companies in India were busy producing highway tires for mass use mostly, the leaders at Balkrishna Industries (BKT) foresaw a unique opportunity in international business and audaciously initiated production in the off-highway segment. BKT’s products, owing to their state-of-the-art make and unmatched performance, found immediate recognition in world markets, and there began an unending story of BKT’s triumph and innovation.
BKT now is a global player and enjoys a strong presence in a staggering over 130 countries along with India. Quality conscious users who adhere to stringent conformity standards in countries like Europe and America prefer BKT as their supplier, thus underlining the fact that every BKT product is superior in creation and delivers expected performance. This is achieved by using the foremost quality of raw materials that are processed through the most advanced and developed technology creating a BKT product. ‘Each product passes over 450 stages of tests. The result of this rigorous practice being that BKT products are known for their reliability and have the lowest claim ratio in the industry,’ says Rajiv Poddar, Executive Director, BKT.
As of today, BKT has three functioning state-of-the-art manufacturing plants spread across India and a fourth plant at Bhuj, Gujarat, is expected to start production by the end of 2013. Currently, BKT provides over 2,100 different Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) for various kinds of applications. The company has products from 5-ö rim diameter to 54-ö rim diameter for vehicles ranging from trailers, forklifts, etc, to technologically advanced machines like high horsepower tractors, combines, harvesters, GPS controlled vehicles, articulated dump trucks, high-speed cranes, sophisticated port vehicles and container handlers.
Port tires: BKT has established itself as a one-stop-shop for all OTR solutions, be it for mining, industrial or OE applications. And staying true to the image, BKT has initiated production of port tires. And once again owing to excellence in product performance and make, these have found tremendous users not only across ports in Asia but around the world. There is a wide gamut of tires available in this line, ranging from port reach stacker sizes to RTG sizes, BKT has them all. BKT has been selling tires to major companies like Kalmar Sweden, which is the world’s leading reach stacker machine manufacturer.
Mining opportunities: India is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of mineral deposits which opens doors to possibilities of immense infrastructural growth. There has been a lot of talk revolving around mining activities in India recently. The government and industry are waking up to the prospects of the gains that lie underneath in the country’s huge mineral resource reserves. India is already the world’s largest producer of coal, and producer and exporter of mica and iron ore. Then there are the abundant resources of manganese, bauxite, limestone among others which aren’t being fully tapped into.
Identifying these opportunities, BKT has ventured into full-fledged production of mining and industrial solutions providing a huge range of tire variants for various applications.
Research, develop, innovate: BKT’s R&D team is touted to be one of the best in the country amongst other companies in the business and has many advancements and original creations to its credit, developed in response to the needs of their elite customers all around the world. BKT is the first tire company in India to produce the all-steel radial OTR tires. All of this is possible because of the interest the leaders of the company take into the possibilities of research.
‘We invest heavily every year into R&D, to upgrade our plant facilities and develop new products,’informs Arvind Poddar, Chairman and Managing Director, BKT. ‘Our competition is with global tire giants, so we always have to have an edge over technology if we have to compete with them. If you look at all steel OTR radial tires for mining, we are the pioneers from India,’ he further adds.
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