Voith to start recruitments for industrial services arm

Voith AG, one of Europe’s largest family-owned enterprises with annual sales of €4.9 billion (2007/08) and 43,000 people on its rolls at 290 locations, will immediately start recruitments for its just-launched industrial services business in India.

The new venture, meant to supplement Voith’s existing businesses of hydroelectric generation, paper-making equipment and turbo drives, would be supporting automobile and process industries with services, such as plant cleanliness, standby power and process support like air supply.

“The business has expanded to 3,000 people in China and 2,500 people in Brazil within a couple of years since launch because the benefits are enormous,” said Hubert Lienhard, President and CEO of Voith AG.

Voith had 583 employees here and reported sales of ¤145 million in 2007-08 in its paper, hydel and turbo businesses. Elsewhere in the world, the services group extended support, like supply of assembled vehicle doors, to car giant General Motors according to client design.

“For example, Voith maintains vehicle paint shops so that every new unit is painted perfectly and to reduce costs and wastage,” he added. The purpose of the business group is to enable vehicle and other companies to focus on the core process areas (like vehicle design, assembly and sales) and outsource non-core services to Voith to achieve cost-competitiveness. It is likely to change the way cars are currently being made in India, with companies handling the entire production and process chain from the metal to the end stage, while outsourcing components like bulbs or brake shoes.