EFFORTS BY BEML LIMITED TOWARDS SELF RELIANCE

BEML has been manufacturing Products through technology transfer and has undergone many transformations in order to remain competitive and grow, by developing the capability of the design know-why, and have systematically indigenised the products over the years.

Know-why developed in-house resulted in the capability to upgrade the products and development of new products. The Company has strengthened and established itself as a major player in a domain that is dominated by the MNCs..

`Make In India’ is a campaign launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister, to enable India achieve a significant growth in GDP and transform India to be a global economic power. The  vision is to evolve and transform India into a powerful economy of the world.  “Make In India” campaign of GoI is a giant step forward in this direction enabling indigenisation, to promote competiveness, capacity  and capabilities of Indian manufacturing industry and  is a big step  to motivate companies, to acquire competitive edge through R&D initiatives and develop new and breakthrough technologies, and move towards the goal of  “pushing the boundaries with innovation & technology and indigenisation”.

BEML is a highly diversified company operating in the manufacturing of Defence equipment, Mining & Construction equipment and Rail & Metro sectors and `Make In India’ is a big boost to us.

BEML competes with multi nationals and procure orders against tough competition with the product being one to one w r t competitor products. Over 71% of our business is on competition mode and 80% of our business is from our own in-house R&D developed products. BEML has exported its products to over 70 countries. R&D and Indigenisation therefore, have been the key to these factors and the Company has leveraged them in full.

The Innovative element in R&D products have been patented and till date 239 patents have been filed and 123 have been granted as on 1st Sep 2024.

INDIGENISATION LEVELS

DEFENCE
Defence Products 90%
High Mobility Vehicle 97%
MINING AND CONSTRUCTION
Dozers, Dumpers, Excavators 92%
RAIL & METRO
Indian Railway Products 90%
Metro Cars 66%

R&D

BEML R&D took birth in mid 70’s,  with a mandate to design and develop new products and support indigenisation efforts. A full fledged R&D center was established at Kolar Gold Fields during 80’s,with Structural Engineering  and Power Line Laboratory,   along with  Fluid Power Laboratory,  Material Science Laboratory and Design center with modern CAD/CAE tools. This R&D center has comprehensive range of facilities to promote New product design, including aggregate level design involving design of Transmissions, Axles, Hydraulics, and Electronics. R&D facilities are one of the best in the country and enable aggregate level and equipment level testing and evaluation through the extensive infrastructure available in the laboratories and test tracks.
  • R&D professionals with diversified experience in three layered structure
  • Futuristic product innovation & Incubation centre
  • Corporate technulogy management team
  • Design & Development team with SBUs
  • Inhouse core strength for development of Equipment and major aggregates
  • Core Capabilities in Development of Engines, Transmission, Powerline Aggregates, Axles, Hydraulics, Rolling Stock
  • Dedicated proto shop for development of new products.
  • Last three years average R&D expenditure is around 55% of PAT.
  • Inhouse Capabilities for design and development :
  • Defence & Aerospace – High Mobility Vehicle, Armoured Recovery Vehicle, Bullet Proof Vehicle, De-Mining Equipment., GHE / GSE, UAV, GSLV Structures.
  • Heavy Earthmoving Equipment – Dozer, Excavator, Dumpers, Rope Shovels, Loader etc.
  • Rail & Metro – Metro Rolling Stock, Vande Bharat, Maintenance Vehicles, Commuter Rail.
  • Industrial Design Centre for conceptual design.
  • State of the art Powerline Lab, Structural Lab, Fluid Power Lab, Material Science lab, Electronics & Communication Lab, Engine R&D & Testing Centre used for testing of aggregates.
  • Experience in handling Composite Materials for Defence and Aero products.
  • CAD facility with latest software packages for Design & Analysis viz. Catia, ProE, Autocad.
  • Sulidworks, Ansys, Adams, Eplan, Nastran, Star ccm+, Simpack, Amesim, Abaqus, LS-Dyna, Kissoft, AVL & RICARDO Design Softwares for engine development etc.
  • Focus in Futuristic areas like AI, IOT, Electronics, Sustainable Mobility etc.
  • Engagement of Global Professionals for enhancing the power train development Capabilities.

Tracing the path of BEML R&D over the years, many steps were taken to strengthen the knowledge and skill base of R&D engineers.  This has been made possible by initially working with global technology partner & gradually absorbing the knowledge to Indigenise the products/aggregates in India. Most of the other products have been developed through in-house R&D efforts. Centers of Excellence have been established to update and upgrade the technical skills of the manpower.

BEML has also worked/working closely with academia like IIT’s and IISC to help improve the products in complex domains like torsion, vibrations, noise reduction etc. International consultants were engaged in developing certain high value products, where domain expertise was not available within the country

Quality function deployment for developing new products, and technologies and testing them in house and also at customer sites  helped in understanding the  complexities , overcoming field issues and products were perfected by upgrading them continuously.

SUPPORTING AATMA NIRBHARTA

R&D infrastructure is also being used, as a national facility by other players in the M&C sector  are accredited by NABL and is contributing towards overall development of M&C sector in the country.  A team of R&D engineers are working on design, development of new products, up-gradation of current products, and also on indigenisation of products manufactured under technology licensing agreements.  R&D expenditure is to the tune of around 2.5% to 3% of Sales, which is in line with the industry standard for the engineering industry.