Abstract:
As per Indian Law, a Medium enterprise has “….. investment in plant and machinery… more than five crores1 rupees but does not exceed ten crores rupees1”. Suprajit Engineering Limited, India’s largest producer of automotive cables, exceeds this stipulation. However, it began as a small establishment when Mr. Ajith Kumar Rai, the founder and MD, returned as a fresh graduate from Canada. Foreseeing a boom in the country’s automobile market, Ajith decided to establish an automotive cable manufacturing unit. His clarity of vision convinced TVS Motors to invest in setting up Suprajit Engineering as a small, one-unit firm in Bangalore, a fast-growing Indian metro. Beginning in 1987 as a small-scale automotive cable manufacturer, Suprajit is now a listed company, with some of the world’s biggest automobile companies as clients, products spanning a wide range of automotive and nonautomotive parts, and eight manufacturing units.
This case traces the inspiring story of Suprajit Engineering Ltd. Using interviews and industry research, we aim to highlight the reasons behind Suprajit’s success, the obstacles it faced, and how it overcame them. We also aim to outline the future path for Suprajit. The case study, when completed, would be a motivation to MSMEs which are just starting their journeys, showcasing how the vision of a person coupled with the company’s dedication towards customer service can transform a small start-up into a large global player in a highly competitive industry.
This paper was contributed by Mr.Gourav Chattopadhyay, IIMB and Mr. Arvind Sharma, IIMB as part of Call for Papers for our World SME Conference 2009
