Fasching to invest in a facility in India
With an eye on the regulations as well as the growing CV market, Fasching is planning to invest in a new safety belt facility in India
With an eye on the regulations as well as the growing CV market, Fasching is planning to invest in a new safety belt facility in India.
Austria-based Fasching Salzburg GmbH entered India almost a decade ago. Starting by visiting various exhibitions and shows, the company has come to steadily build a customer base in the country. Specialising in the development of safety belts for buses, coaches, LCVs, trucks and wheelchair applications, the company offers a wide range of twopoint, three-point and special belts in different versions and technologies like static, ALR, ELR and buckles. Planning to invest in a new safety belt facility in India with an eye on the growing CV market, Fasching is keen to leverage its global product portfolio to address the local needs.
With the global product portfolio of the company comprising of automatic locking retractors, emergency locking retractors, two-point belt systems, three-point belt system, buckles, and special solutions like H-belts, bicycle tethers, fall protection belts, YoYo belts and five-point belt systems, Fasching is looking at investing in the region of Euro 10 million towards the building of the new facility in India. Selling between 60,000 and 80,000 seat belts in India for the past four to five years, the company, according to Harald Pessl, Director, is looking at the Indian market contributing a good deal to the company’s growth aspirations. “If we want to grow further, we need to have our local manufacturing footprint in India,” said Pessl.
Currently serving the Indian market through its facilities in Austria, the company is keen to carve out a bigger share of the CV market in India. Keen to target buses since they provide good numbers, Fasching is confident that a facility in India, its second in the world, will provide the much need thrust for growth. With Holmbergs Safety
System Holding AB signing an agreement to acquire Fasching Safety Belts GmbH, the company is looking at an opportunity to localise each and every product that goes into the manufacture of seat belt assemblies. “Doing this would give it a distinct cost advantage. This, will also tag us as a local supplier,” said Pressl.
Planning to produce seat belts with technical inputs from the parent company and supply them to buses, mini buses and mini vans, the target group would be tier-2 and tier-1 suppliers. Around 80 per cent of its supply will go to tier-2 suppliers and 15 per cent to tier-1 suppliers. The remaining 5 per cent will be balanced equally. Supplying safety products to customers, the company is looking at working with seat manufacturers on structuring the seat, in positioning the retractor and to make it function flawlessly. Averred Pessl, “Unless we get the required layout, our seat belt will not function properly. As we sell a safety product, we need to double verify the things before going on with the order book instructions.” Of the opinion that the Indian market is still at a nascent stage when it comes to the adoption of safety products, delivered as a stand-alone feature, Pessl stated that it would serve to extend the regulations of seat belts to buses. Inter-city buses especially.
Banking upon global manufacturers like MercedesBenz and Volvo to influence the Indian market to move up the safety ladder as far as buses are concerned, Fasching is hopeful of the Indian market replicating the growth and technological trends in Europe. Said Pessl, “We can only manufacture and supply the product.
As an extended move we could explain our product needs with certain videos. “Mercedes, Volvo and others are the players who could direct the Indian market to their set standards.” Pointing at the difference between two-point and three-point seat belts, and about how they could be explained, Pessl added that the ratio of two-point versus threepoint seat belt was 70:30 in 2004-05. Today, it is 50:50 accompanied by the European norms. Four years down the line, it is expected to be 20:80 (two-point: threepoint),” he explained.
Not expecting any big seat belt business in local city buses in the near future, Fasching is hoping that inter-city buses will soon feature seat belts in India. Manufacturing patented three-point flex system that provides safety in every situation, the flex-sensor, according to Pessl, makes it possible to install the safety belt in an adjustable backrest by up to 27-degree. A special sensor compensates for the strap range. Fasching, claimed Pessl, is setting new standards with its tested three-point belt systems in the area of personal safety. The three-point belt systems offer the highest possible strap capacity of 2,200 mm with the lowest possible clearance. The multitude of tilt-lock sensors always offer space-saving installation in the most diverse installation situations and highest possible ergonomics and safety.
Apart from belts, Fasching also manufactures buckles in different models. They comprise of strap, wire and bracket buckle. The company’s wire and straight bracket buckles are available in twopiece, ultrasound welded cover or with its new monocover made from only one piece. They provide more protection from vandalism and extreme-use conditions. That is, when the buckled are used only in combination with the Fasching safety belt, according to Pessl.