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curriculum vitae
Ramachandran Dinesh
is a fourth generation
member of the family
that founded TVS
(T V Sundram Iyengar
& Sons).
The group traces its
origins to a rural
transport service,
founded in 1911 in
Tamil Nadu, India. It is
still based in Madurai in
the south of India. Since
then, it has grown into a
network of more than 50
companies with a
combined turnover of
some $5bn, making it
India’s leading
automotive components
supplier.
TVS companies operate
in diverse fields that
range from two-wheeler
and automotive
component
manufacturing to
automotive dealerships,
Ramachandran Dinesh
finance and electronics.
The business is divided
into four main divisions.
Distribution accounts
for some $1.2bn, as
does manufacturing,
while the components
business has sales of
some $2.6bn. The fourth
division covers the
financial services
operation.
Like all family members
in the company, Dinesh
Profile : SCS 07
has worked his way up
through the business
starting off as a trainee
washing cars and
repairing vehicles,
learning about the
operations from the
ground up.
He trained as a
chartered accountant
and has studied at
Harvard.“Fun for me is
creating something,”
he says.
TVS Logistics plans to become a major player in the UK market following
the takeover of Multipart. Managing director Ramachandran Dinesh
explains the strategy to Malory Davies.
The takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata in March 2008
highlighted the growing strength of Indian companies in the
global economy. Now TVS Logistics is set to become a major
player in the UK following the takeover of Multipart.
TVS Logistics is part of the giant TVS group which has sales of
more than US$5 billion. It is a relatively new company within the
TVS Distribution division having become an independent
operation in 2004.
Managing director Ramachandran Dinesh describes the TVS
Logistics business model as an asset-light operation handling endto-end
logistics.
“We will work with key customers wherever
they require,” he says, pointing out that it already
has operations in Thailand, Spain, Germany, the
US and UK.
TVS Logistics is a major provider of
aftermarket parts support in India. It operates
from within the customer’s existing networks
and offers scaleable technology to manage
distribution resources – people, space,
equipment, value-added services – while
controlling inventory accuracy and providing
order/inventory visibility.
Dinesh says that TVS had identified the
automotive aftermarket as a growth area and had
been looking for acquisitions. However, the
company had been cautious. “It’s easy to buy
assets – but it is difficult to get a good customer
base,” he says.
This was one of the key attractions of
Multipart, he says. And he points out that TVS
had spent some time ensuring that it had got
the right company. “We started looking at
Multipart several years ago when it was owned
by the RAC.”
Multipart was established more than 25 years ago as the parts
distribution business of Leyland Trucks and has grown into a multifaceted
logistics organisation.
It has sales of £60 million and provides warehousing and
distribution as well as a range of in-house support capabilities
including tailored IT solutions, electronic parts cataloguing, technical
publishing, strategic procurement, inventory management and
supplier management to reverse logistics that complete the supply
chain cycle.
It is based at Chorley in Lancashire where it has a 270,000 sq ft
Ramachandran Dinesh:
We are also looking at
further consolidating
our presence in India,
the USA and Europe
through joint ventures
or acquisitions and
will enter the South
American and Chinese
markets in 2010.We will
cross a turnover of
£143m (Rs 10bn) by 2010
and have set a target
to grow this to £357m
(Rs 25bn) by 2012.
distribution centre. Three other sites provide an additional 350,000 sq
ft – two of which are “behind the wire” on Ministry of Defence sites.
There are five divisions: Multipart Supply Chain Solutions
provides end-to-end logistics support to the automotive and
industrial sectors; Multipart Direct sells parts for light and heavy
commercial vehicles; Multipart Defence provides logistics support
for all three arms of the UK forces; Multipart Utilities offers utility
companies a service that covers all aspects of meter replacement
programmes; and Msys is the systems development wing.
“This is an important strategic move aimed at growing our
presence in the UK by acquiring an established company with a
reputation for delivering high quality logistics
services,” says Dinesh.
“We are also looking at further consolidating
our presence in India, the USA and Europe
through joint ventures or acquisitions and will
enter the South American and Chinese markets
in 2010. We will cross a turnover of £143m
(Rs 10bn) by 2010 and have set a target to grow
this to £357m (Rs 25bn) by 2012.
TVS plans to use Multipart’s IT capabilities
to provide enhanced service levels to its
customers there and in other world markets. It
will also build on the existing Multipart
operations in the defence and utilities sectors
to expand its presence in these areas. This will
support TVS Logistics in its aim of becoming
the preferred partner for its customers in India
and globally in total supply chain management.
Dinesh sees significant cross-selling
opportunities between the two market sectors –
the aftermarket and the inbound logistics.
TVS set itself a 100-day plan to look at
potential customers: “We want to double the
size of the business in three years.
“This acquisition provides the necessary financial strength and
access to global customers to enable Multipart to increase its rate of
growth, which will be funded by investment in excess of £17.5 million.”
But from a customer perspective perhaps the most significant
element TVS brings to the deal is the ability to help customers in
Europe source from low-cost suppliers.
“By developing our global spread we will be able both to support
Indian-based component suppliers seeking to enter new markets
and to assist overseas customers in sourcing from low-cost
countries,” says Dinesh.
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