New entrant into EMS sector, SGV Industries plans to enter overseas markets

The company plans to shift from doing job work to taking on turnkey projects, where it will supply ready to use products to its clients. It also plans to provide turnkey solutions and services, and establish an overseas presence in Europe and the US

By Richa Chakravarty

Saturday, November 02, 2013: Established in 2007, SGV Industries was initially into manufacturing consumer electronics under its brand Markson. Its major focus then was to cater to the consumer sector by providing MPEG cards of good quality at competitive prices. But due to the evolution of high capacity USB, its business was hit to a great extent. This prompted the company to venture into the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry.

SGV Industries was set up by Sunil Gupta, CMD, and the late SK Mathur (past CEO). Jagdeep Thakur was appointed as the new CEO of SGV then, who reinvented the company. With the common goal to take the company to new heights, the three founders reinvented the company by providing superior quality end-to-end manufacturing solutions to leading OEMs across various industry segments.

The reinvention journey

Starting out with two factories in Haridwar, SGV Industries has seen a quantum jump in terms of growth, its facilities and production output in a short span of a year-and-a-half. From just two clients to 35 customers currently, SGV has earned a respectable position in the EMS industry. Its client list include industries like telecom, IT, defence, consumer durables, industrial electronics, power, etc. “Since we had a good set up that could compete with any major MNC and fulfil the requirements of our OEM customers, we decided to enter the EMS business which is very successful today, as our customers are satisfied with our services,” says Jagdeep Thakur, CEO.

With just 80 employees earlier, the company has grown to a strength of 200 today. “Over the years, our ability to accelerate new product and prototype development, shorten product life cycles and improve time-to-market has made us the chosen manufacturing partner for many of our customers. Our main goal is to run our customers’ mission critical and time sensitive operations, while they build on their core competencies,” says Thakur.

Overcoming the hurdles

Being a well-recognised brand within the industry did provide an edge to SGV when it started its EMS business. So though it was new to the EMS industry, SGV did not face problems in gaining people’s trust and, hence, new business. Having proved its mettle in the sphere of quality with its brand Markson, which was popular in south India, it had a smooth sail as far as contract manufacturing business was concerned. However, the company did have some teething problems.

Finding qualified and skilled staff, selecting land at the right location to set up manufacturing facilities, and selecting the right machinery and suppliers were some of the initial challenges. Selecting a location for the facility, where the company could avail maximum benefits from the government, was the first major challenge. “Though we were new to the EMS sector, we could overcome all the challenges and cope with the stiff competition as we already had experience in manufacturing. We provide regular training to our staff on quality and manufacturing practices to keep them up to date,” informs Thakur.

State-of-art infrastructure

SGV’s production services are flexible and based on the customers’needs. Spread across 3344.51 sq m, its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility supports turnaround assembly of high mix, low to high volume circuit cards for through hole, surface mount and combinations of the two technologies. It can handle multilayer single sided or double sided PCBs. The company can handle the complete product lifecycle, starting from design to procurement, manufacturing, shipment and distribution of the product to the end market.

All four of SGV’s manufacturing facilities are fully automated with SMD assembly lines, conveyorised box assembly lines, testing equipment and environmental chambers to conduct stringent tests. The company follows international, local and customised workmanship standards.

SGV follows international ISO 9001:2008 standards for its quality management system as well as IPC610 for workmanship standard. These standards are strictly followed and implemented at all stages of manufacturing—right from the purchase of raw material to the dispatch of finished goods.

Playing on its strengths

Focused on providing superior quality end-to-end manufacturing solutions, SGV boasts of delivering high-quality products and services on time. Shares Jagdeep Thakur, “Our manufacturing and assembly centres in strategic locations facilitate quick response times. Our strength also lies in strictly meeting the quality standards expected by our customers. For us, quality comes first; this is one area where we have never compromised.” Customers who had left SGV due to price issues have returned to the company on the basis of the quality of its services and products, claims Thakur. “This reaffirms our faith in our sustainable strategy, that is, quality products and on-time delivery,” he adds.

SGV has been associated with some of the country’s renowned design houses. It has a global procurement network, and imports the branded electronics components and products widely used in industrial and commercial areas. It also helps its clients in procuring components at a competitive price.

SGV’s customer-centric approach and readiness to embrace new technology helped it to grow faster. “We believe in closer collaborations with our customers to understand their needs better; this helps to serve them better,” says Thakur.

The company boasts of confidentiality as an ethical principle that is strictly followed in the organisation. “We are committed to upholding our customers’ confidence and trust, and maintain strict confidentiality with regard to their technical and commercial information,” says Thakur.

Achievements and expansion plans

Despite SGV being a relatively new entrant to the EMS industry, its achievements so far have been impressive. In FY 2012-13, the company achieved a turnover of Rs 190 million. Owing to its quality of service, SGV has been honoured with the ‘Excellence in Quality’ award by ELCINA in 2013.

While strengthening its presence in the EMS sector, the company plans to diversify from job work to turnkey projects, where it will supply ready-to-use products to its clients. It also plans to provide turnkey solutions and services including analysis of customers’ needs, the material planning and procurement process, constraints and sourcing partners. “In the coming years, we plan to have an overseas presence covering the European and US markets with direct offices there,” informs Jagdeep Thakur.

Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine