Ralson: Spearheading quality

 revolution in bicycle tyre industry

Sanjeev Pahwa

Indian Bicycle Industry which has more than 14 million bicycles turnover per year is among the largest bicycle industries of the world.

With liberalisation, growth of small scale sector and proliferation of technology markets of consumer goods are nowadays flooded with brands – big, small, known, unknown, high-priced, low-priced. This has given the consumer an unprecedented power which he is wielding to influence not only the price of product but its quality, range and distribution also.

Such a scenario has three important implications for big players in any industry: One, they will be required to continuously monitor the consumer needs and identify new segments. Two, they will have to do frequent product portfolio changes to be able to deliver the specific benefit (s) desired by the specific segment. Three, they will have to cut cost to be able to deliver more value at the same price.

Ralson (India) Ltd

This way, they will be able to effectively stem the tide of low cost alternatives ushered in the market by small manufacturers. In nutshell, companies will now have to transform themselves from being production-led to being market-led. We at Ralson have a pretty well thought-out strategy to enhance our leadership position both in India and abroad covering four key areas namely constant innovation, brand building, strengthening distribution, retail presence and streamlining supply chain management.

Indian Bicycle Industry which has more than 14 million bicycles turnover per year is among the largest bicycle industries of the world. Emphasis on innovation, up-keep of quality parameters and the price advantage offered by it, has enabled the Indian Bicycle Industry make major headways in the global markets. Cycle tyres and tubes are integral part of this industry which offers challenging opportunity in terms of catering to this huge demand both in domestic as well as international markets. Ralson (India) has emerged as a key player in this industry. From an annual turnover of Rs 96.28 crore in 1990, Ralson has achieved a significant growth by raising its turnover to Rs 206 crore in the year 2001 and has secured a place among the top manufacturers and suppliers of tyres and tubes for various segments of bicycles.

Ralson’s state-of-the-art production plant in Ludhiana has a massive production capacity to produce more than 1,00,000 tyre/tube sets in a day. Its integrated production parameters and TQM procedures at every stage has enabled it to get the coveted ISO-9002 certification.

This innovative philosophy and constant upgradation reflects Ralson’s unflinching zeal to achieve new standards and keep pace with the technological changes taking place throughout the world. Ralson offers a diversified product range in terms of tyres and tubes. The raw materials are selected with utmost diligence for MTB, ATB and BMX tyres in nylon as well as cotton cord, in black, coloured, white wall or gum wall segment. In tubes Ralson offers the choice of Butyl or Natural Rubber as per specific requirement as well as standard sizes. Customisation is made possible at Ralson due to these world class manufacturing solutions which allows it to strive for increased productivity and simultaneously enhance agility of manufacturing systems and emerge among the largest manufacturers of cycle tyres and tubes.

Ralson has become the favourable choice of leading bicycle manufacturers in India – Hero, Avon, TI and Atlas, it has travelled to different terrains throughout the world.

Despite the recession in the new global economy, Ralson foresees enormous potential for bicycle industry in general and tyres and tubes in particular. Ralson tyres and tubes are presently exported to countries in European Region, South and Central America, Middle East, Far-East and Africa. Ralson’s outstanding performance in export has also been lauded by the Indian Government by way of the Capexil Top Export Award.

Ralson’s phenomenal growth can be attributed to its ability to experiment with new development philosophy. The philosophy that moves from the spontaneous to the systematic, from ideas to results. During three decades of its existence Ralson has honned its technological skills in its sophisticated and well equipped R & D set up and has developed new materials and designs for various tyre segments. This R & D set-up has seven earned recognition from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Ralson has a chequered record of introducing new technology products from time to time. Its consistent efforts at offering value added products to the consumer has led to development of high grade nylon tyres for bicycle as well as rickshaw. Ralson nylon tyres offer more than double the life of an ordinary tyre and are far more tougher and gritty both on-road and off-road. Truly, when it comes to offering quality, Ralson leads the way.

In the new millennium, Ralson is all set to explore new vistas and has conceived a diversification plan to manufacture tyres and tubes for motor-bikes i.e. for Mopeds, Scooters and Motorcycles. A separate plant has been commissioned for this purpose in Doraha, near Ludhiana which will have the capacity to provide manufacturing solutions compared to the best available throughout the world. Production in this auto tyre plant has already started and the product is being made available all over India.