With over 20 years of expertise in EMS, Simmtronics has evolved into a brand

Having established a strong foothold in the EMS business, Simmtronics now wants to become a leader in innovative IT design and development

By Nitasha Chawla

Wednesday, January 15, 2014: Known as the largest tablet PC manufacturer in India, Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd has helped Indian technology companies to reach out to markets across the globe.

The man behind the Rs 5.5 billion company, Indrajit Sabharwal, who is also the managing director of the firm, has utilised his technical expertise in the memory modules and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) business to make Simmtronics an undisputed leader in manufacturing for IT companies, besides catering to other segments like railways, automotive, etc. The company’s turnover from EMS activities was Rs 400 million in FY 2013. After trying his hand at IT consultancy and the distribution business, Sabharwal entered into manufacturing of memory modules in 2000 and subsequently of motherboards in 2009—under the Simmtronics brand name as well as for EMS customers.

Evolution of Simmtronics

Indrajit Sabharwal started off as an IT consultant in 1990 and became a distributor for Kingston Technology’s memory products. The association with the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products gave Sabharwal a lot of exposure to memory technology and that is when he decided to build his own brand of memory modules. Shares Sabharwal, “Apart from being Kingston’s distributor, the company gave me a chance to be trained in manufacturing memory technology. I used to travel to the US every two months to hone my skills and after a year I had picked up the nuances of the business and decided to launch my own brand of memory modules, and this is how Simmtronics Semiconductors was born in 1992.”

Initially, Simmtronics had set up a small office with a couple of employees and started selling memory modules and DRAM technology to companies like Tulip Telecomm, and gradually moved on to sell to bigger companies like HCL, LG and Sahara.

What it offers

Simmtronics is a turnkey solutions provider offering PCB assembly, design customisation, re-engineering and re-design, box build, end-to-end logistics, SMT assembly, testing, inspection and repair, global sourcing, quality service, prototyping and volume manufacture, component programming, etc.

“We are skilled in prototype to volume manufacture. Our turnkey solutions match a customer’s exact requirements. We also use modern electronic manufacturing techniques to ensure products are assembled and tested to the highest standards. We operate as a low maintenance supplier to our customers,” says Sabharwal. Simmtronics also ensures that its EMS services minimise its clients’ time-to-market, meeting all delivery commitments; and it reduces costs through re-engineering, as well as lower component and labour costs.

Simmtronics is strong in providing end-to-end logistics. Its services range from front-end design to back-end logistics. The company specialises in integrated despatch services, customised as per the clients’ needs. It also manages and holds stocks for its customers.

It caters to various segments including railways, defence, telecom, automotive and IT.

Simmtronics’ product range includes tablets, PCs, memory modules, motherboards, pen drives, and other IT products. It has a worldwide reach through its distribution hubs in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, UAE, UK, France and USA. It offers sales and return merchandise authorisation (RMA) support through 16 locations in India. Simmtronics has three SMT lines—at Singapore, Roorkee and Bhiwadi.

With a manufacturing capacity of 400,000 tablets per month, along with an in-house R&D and design team, Simmtronics has the ability to launch new models with advanced technology before the competition. As part of its forward integration drive, the company has started producing netbooks, laptops and desktops and due to its control of 40 per cent (in value terms) of the input components, it commands an unmatched pricing advantage to establish its products.

Manufacturing prowess

In 2000, Simmitronics took a leap towards indigenous manufacturing by setting up its first plant for memory modules at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. From there, it started doing small job work for companies in power electronics, set-top boxes, etc. In 2005, Simmtronics expanded its operations by setting up another factory in Roorkee where it started making motherboards. By this time, Simmtronics was concentrating on its EMS activities, as well as selling motherboards and memory modules under its own brand name. Says Sabharwal, “Our first major customer was Geodesic, a manufacturer of hand-held terminals for the IT industry. We offer our customers turnkey solutions to match their exact requirements and we are happy to have some well-known companies as our clients.” Some of its other clients are Genus Power Infrastructures Ltd, Motherson Sumi, Kevin Power Solutions Pvt Ltd, Mybox Technologies, Anchor Electricals Pvt Ltd, etc.

One of its recent achievements has been launching a tablet with customised in-house components. Micromax is one of Simmtonics’ clients for whom it is making tablets and it is currently making tablets that sell in 11 countries.

Simmtronics has won more than 63 awards like the Bharat Gaurav Puraskar in 2009, the National Computrade News (NCN) award for the ‘Largest Tablet PC Manufacturer in India,’ the ‘Most Popular Memory Module,’ the ‘Best Motherboard Company in 2011,’ the ‘Global Indian Achievers Award (IES)’ and many more.

Sustainability strategies

Simmtronics has continued to grow despite the tough manufacturing conditions in India.

From just a few employees in a small office to having a global presence with over 1000 employees, the company has grown based on principles like transparency, honesty and quality service.

Explains Sabharwal, “We strongly believe in creativity, experimentation, innovation and R&D. All these have helped us grow our business multi-fold. However, price is a major deciding factor for customers in the EMS business. Therefore, our quality and negligible rejection rate helped us in getting customers with whom we have established long term relationships. We use modern electronics manufacturing techniques to ensure products are assembled and tested to the highest standards to ensure maximum satisfaction to our customers.”

Outlook for the future

Simmtronics is now looking at marketing itself aggressively both in the Indian and global markets, in order to reach as many people as possible. However, it is not too keen on expanding its EMS activities as Sabharwal feels that manufacturing under ones own brand is a better and more profitable option. Shares Sabharwal, “We want to focus on building our brand image in the next couple of years. Also, we are looking at setting up more manufacturing units, which may not be dedicated to EMS, but if we get a good budget and are able to drive the activity, we will look at some expansion in the EMS domain as well.”

Simmtronics is also planning to manufacture and launch its first ‘Made in India’ Android device, which will be a budget phone. The only parts of the device that will be imported will be the chips. The remaining parts like circuit boards, mains will all be made locally. This will give the company an edge over its competitors in terms of manufacturing costs as it will be able to save on the import duty.