Vendor opportunities for Coimbatore MSMEs

120 stalls put up at two-day vendor development programme at CODISSIA

March 06, 2014 12:13 pm | Updated May 19, 2016 06:36 am IST - COIMBATORE

A stall at the National Vendor Development Programme organised jointly by the Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association and the MSME Development Institute at Coimbatore on Wednesday.

A stall at the National Vendor Development Programme organised jointly by the Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association and the MSME Development Institute at Coimbatore on Wednesday.

Be it the Neyveli Lignite Corporation or the Integral Coach Factory, several public sector units are looking at expanding their vendor base.

Most of them are already sourcing components from small and medium-scale enterprises here and they want more units to start supplying to them.

Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association and the MSME Development Institute (MSME DI) have organised a two-day vendor development programme at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex on March 5 and 6. The 120 stalls include participation from 15 public sector units.

Interaction

R. Ramachandran, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association, says the MSMEs and the PSUs get an opportunity to interact and know each other’s requirements and capabilities at the event.

Other MSMEs can also visit the fair and see the products that the PSUs are interested in sourcing.

Explaining the potential for the MSMEs, P.K. Banerjee, controller of stores at Integral Coach Factory-Chennai, says the factory is making several design and technical changes as it has started manufacturing stainless steel coaches. Hence, there is a requirement for new products. It is expected to manufacture about stainless steel 100 coaches in 2014-15 and needs 200 to 300 vendors.

Components

Most of the components and parts for these are now sourced from the northern States. For instance, about 1,000 roof-mounted AC package units are needed a year and are currently sourced from Punjab. Transportation cost works out to Rs. 20,000 for each unit.

If these are manufactured here, the freight cost will come down and the ICF can purchase it from here. Its total purchases are to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crore a year and 25 per cent of it is from MSMEs. There is still scope for MSMEs, he said.

Officials of Neyveli Lignite Corporation say the total purchases are to the tune of Rs. 600 crore a year and 27 per cent of it is from MSMEs. The Corporation is looking at expanding its vendor base.

It has also displayed samples of silica sand and clay that it has started selling to refractory units.

Requirements

Foundries here can also source their sand requirements from the Corporation, they say.

S.M Jamkhandi, director of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSME DI), said that the institute organised similar events in Chennai too.

Economic slowdown in the country had hit the large-scale industries during the last one year and this had an impact on their purchases from the smaller units. The MSMEs had started seeing signs of revival and the demand was expected to pick up this year.

Energy conservation

The institute was considering a project jointly with industrial associations and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to promote energy conservation in industries. The energy saved could be monetised and the benefits shared by the units and the consultants, he said.

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