Tata Motors arm bets on indigenous industrial robot Brabo; targets SMEs

Tata Motors arm TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd has been selling its affordable industrial robot- Brabo- since October last year after showcasing it at the Make in India Summit.

Betting big on this new product, for which the company estimates sufficient traction among small and medium businesses, TAL expects the robotics vertical to account for almost 40 per cent of its overall revenues in the coming five years.

TAL has sold around 30 Brabo robots so far. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for a bulk of the orders placed for the product, while original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have bought only around four to five units so far, said Amit Bhingurde, chief operations officer-robotics, TAL Manufacturing & Solutions Limited.

At present, the company draws around 70 per cent of its revenues from the aerospace vertical where it is a supplier to big industry hot shots like Boeing and Airbus, among others in Tier-I and Tier-II cities. The manufacturing solutions vertical is responsible for collecting the remaining 30 per cent of revenues.

Bhingurde, however, is confident that with over 400 Brabos in the pipeline and plans to increase focus on exports, the robotics vertical is likely to grow to a 40 per cent share of overall revenue within the next five years.

The Brabo, which can be useful in material handling, cementing applications and assembly operations, has been popular among SME customers, thanks to its affordability. The industrial robot costs between Rs 4.75 lakh to Rs 6.5 lakh.

According to Bhingurde, the cost spent on purchase is recovered within 15-18 months of commissioning the robot. The job that an operator takes seven days to complete is done by the Brabo in 2 days, he adds.

TAL's team is now working on developing additional features in Brabo robot, including welding, soldering and riveting action, among others.

As per the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the demand for industrial robots in India is around 6,000 units per annum. TAL, which has a manufacturing capacity of 3,000 robots per year, can scale manufacturing to build up to 10,000 robots a year to meet the existing demand.

TAL has already exported one Brabo robot to Dubai and Italy and is now working towards getting more international certifications that would www.gmail.com enable it to tap other markets including the United States of America in the long run. For now, India is definitely the focus market.