Heat and Control has inaugurated a new food processing equipment factory in Mahindra World City, a purpose-built business hub situated approximately 65 kilometers from Chennai, India, and 35 kilometers from the international airport. It has a manufacturing area of over 11,800 square meters (the equivalent of over one and a half soccer fields), making it one of the company’s largest production sites in the world.
Active in the Indian market for some 35 years, the company first established a sales office in Chennai 20 years ago. An expanding team and customer base led to a decision to begin local manufacturing, which required a larger base of operations.
“Heat and Control’s global strategy is to grow our business in areas where we will make a positive difference to our customers. Our recent operational investment in India reinforces the local facility and represents a strong commitment to provide direct access to our manufactured equipment, expertise, and support,” said Tony Caridis, president of Heat and Control Inc.
The complex has a modern technical center and office space encompassing 2,500 square meters in India’s first operational Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Built on the model of sustainable urbanization, Mahindra World City has grown from a bed of business, infrastructure and sustainable practices before evolving into a completely integrated community and is now a mature business district with leading companies such as Infosys, BMW, Braun, Renault-Nissan, Lincoln Electric, among others having set up within its boundaries.
“We are extremely excited about the opening of our new manufacturing and office facility in Chennai,” said Manoj Paul, general manager for South Asia. “It is outfitted with the same cutting-edge technology as all Heat and Control manufacturing sites, and it is well positioned to service our existing and new customers with advanced manufacturing equipment and techniques.”
Complete with laser cutting equipment, sheet metal machinery and bead blasting equipment, the factory incorporates energy efficiency standards replicated from Heat and Control’s global manufacturing facilities. The technical center will be operational by the end of 2017, allowing customers to test new products and production techniques with guidance from on-site food technologists and engineers.
“We will be servicing a very wide region, which not only covers the Indian subcontinent but also extends across Asia,” said Manoj. “This will position Heat and Control with an even greater foothold in the global food production market.”
Around 100 people from a range of departments, including sales, service, manufacturing and engineering will be located at the new site, with capacity to increase to around 200 personnel in the future.
Headquartered in Hayward, California, privately owned Heat and Control has offices and manufacturing plants around the world and more than 60 years’ experience in manufacturing food processing, seasoning, conveying, packaging and inspection equipment systems. It holds 211 US patents.
