Name me close-minded, however I had an outdated concept of what the TVS manufacturing facility in Hosur can be like. I pictured one thing much less environment friendly, noisier and much more chaotic. However from the primary second I stepped into the manufacturing facility gate, these expectations have been blown proper out of the water.
We have been there for a number of causes. The primary was to go to the manufacturing facility and examine some new fashions forward of TVS’ entry into the UK and European markets. The opposite cause was to check among the bikes we count on TVS to deliver over.
The primary day, although, was all about taking within the manufacturing facility, and there’s a hell of quite a bit to absorb.
TVS – a brief historical past of the model and a few key specs
The present TVS Apache vary
TVS was based in 1911, by T. V. Sundram (therefore ‘TVS’) and is predicated in Hosur, within the state of Tamil Nadu. Hosur is an industrial hub, with Ashok Layland, Basic Electrical and the truck maker Tatra, amongst others, all having amenities within the area.
TVS produced its first bikes within the late Seventies, and now boasts greater than 5,000 sellers in India, 5 factories globally, and bikes (in addition to three-wheelers) discovering their method into greater than 90 nations. The 28 meeting strains TVS owns globally can produce as much as 1,000 bikes per hour and round 4 million bikes a 12 months. The model is now ranked because the third largest powered two-wheeler maker in India.
The TVS manufacturing facility from the air
Right this moment, the TVS plant in Hosur sits on the identical web site it has operated from since its basis as a producer. A sprawling web site that has entrances in two provinces, a number of manufacturing buildings and even its personal TVS Eco Park. It attracts huge quantities of its energy from renewable sources, employs three per cent otherwise abled employees, and has a 20 per cent feminine workforce. It’s additionally been voted among the finest corporations for feminine employees in India.
What life is like on the TVS manufacturing facility
A part of the Apache 310 construct line which makes use of robots to maneuver the bikes
We arrive on the manufacturing facility round an hour after leaving our lodge in central Bengaluru. Having coated simply 15 miles on the commute to ‘work,’ the time it’s taken helps to drive residence simply how necessary bikes are to the individuals of India.
The timing of our arrival coincides with the altering of the shifts, and we’re greeted by a seemingly unending stream of employees exiting the plant, which is met by one other inflow of employees heading in to begin their day. It’s busy, however not rushed, with safety guards on the gates holding visitors and managing the throng of individuals.
The engine machining part utilises a excessive variety of robots
After a prolonged press convention, which consists of plenty of slides and quite a few sophisticated flow-charts, we head into the ability to be greeted by a line of a few of TVS’ hottest fashions. Tucked away throughout the lineup are the three bikes TVS builds for BMW: the G 310 RR, G 310 R and G 310 GS.
It’s not lengthy after getting into that we see the primary correct manufacturing line, though this isn’t like all line I’ve seen. It’s price noting that I’ve been inside massive manufacturing crops earlier than. A lot of my relations labored in Peugeot’s Ryton plant in Coventry, and on multiple event, I had the possibility to take a tour of that facility – albeit some years in the past now. Extra just lately, I’ve been on excursions of the Triumph manufacturing facility in Hinckley, each on the top of its UK manufacturing and in more moderen years when it served because the Triumph Manufacturing facility Customized (TFC) manufacturing base.
The construction across the rear wheel is a saree guard for the Indian market solely
The TVS manufacturing facility is, in some ways, nothing like both of these. For starters, among the manufacturing strains don’t truly appear to have a hard and fast line on the ground of the constructing. As a substitute, automated robots piggyback the bike from one station to the following. Like some rigorously choreographed ballet, as one employee finishes their process, be it hanging a rearset or attaching the brake calipers, the bike crawls its method ahead to be taken nearer to completion.
Contained in the TVS manufacturing facility
For a plant that produces so many bikes (practically 30 a minute), all of it appears very chilled out and calm. There’s no stressing about getting the job completed, and as soon as the employees member has accomplished the job, it appears as if there’s a little bit of time to reset and give attention to the following process.
And it’s not simply the manufacturing line that will get the automated remedy. The manufacturing facility ground is buzzing with autonomous creatures. One carried freshly powder-coated Apache RR and RTR 310 frames to the beginning of the road, and as this 20-strong group of journalists wandered aimlessly across the manufacturing facility, the machine dutifully halted their journey and waited for a transparent path earlier than persevering with on its journey.
Norton easter eggs on show
new Norton V4 spied testing
We then land at probably the most fascinating elements of the manufacturing facility, the engine constructing part. It’s a form manufacturing facility inside a manufacturing facility. Hemetically sealed with airlock doorways and a particular sticky door mat to forestall outdoors contaminants from getting into the realm. It was right here that we noticed quite a few mid- and small-capacity engines being constructed, though it was three engines sitting alone on a bench that piqued my curiosity essentially the most.
The engine contains a slipper clutch, quickshifter and a number of electronics
The aforementioned 310 fashions (above) are the biggest capability bikes within the TVS-built vary. The 312.2cc single-cylinder engine powers the BMW-badged bikes, in addition to TVS’ much-loved Apache 310 vary. So, then, why am I standing observing a V4 engine with “1200 cm3” solid onto the barrel? All indicators level to this being the TVS-era Norton V4, the identical engine that we count on to be touchdown within the just lately teased V4 sports activities bike – estimated to be getting revealed at EICMA.
Contained in the TVS manufacturing facility
It’s not an identical-looking engine to the one we noticed within the teaser photographs from Norton. That unit had polished aluminium engine covers, and this instance featured casings topped off with gold powder-coated covers. This might level to TVS utilizing one other iteration of the engines in its personal fashions, or it may simply be TVS attempting to throw us off the scent. Regardless of the case could also be, this wasn’t simply left in full view by mistake – all the pieces occurs for a cause!
2025 BMW F450 GS at EICMA
And it’s not simply the V4 TVS held underneath our noses, as sitting alongside it have been two extra parallel twins, one which seemed to be round 700 to 900cc, and one other that could possibly be associated to the 450cc parallel twin-cylinder that’s set to energy the incoming BMW F 450 GS.
The concept that we’d simply seen the brand new BMW 450 engine was additional cemented as we travelled again from the manufacturing facility tour. As our golf carts trundled across the web site, a mid-capacity journey bike with a parallel twin-cylinder engine was wheeled previous us, coated by a sheet with its engine operating. The exhaust end-can on that bike was similar to the exhaust seen within the patent photographs of the BMW F 450 GS. Once more, that may’t simply be a coincidence.
Greater than only a manufacturing facility
The TVS Eco Park at Hosur
I discussed earlier than that Hosur is a plant powered by renewable vitality and touted as among the finest to work at for feminine and otherwise abled employees, however actually, that’s simply scratching the floor.
Apart from these very notable factors, the TVS facility has one other jewel in its crown: the TVS Eco Park. Set within the grounds of the manufacturing facility, away from the hustle and bustle of the manufacturing strains and autonomous machines, sits a tranquil oasis of water, timber, uncommon crops and many wildlife.
The TVS Eco Park at Hosur
On the coronary heart of the park are a sequence of lakes and ponds, that are mentioned to be within the area of 4 acres in measurement. These are all fed through the roof of the manufacturing facility, which captures rainwater and sends it to swimming pools.
Previously simply barren land, TVS has created a haven for wildlife and crops. Years after its completion, it’s now thriving, and it attracts birds and wildlife to the realm that haven’t been seen for years. We spent round an hour wandering across the place and noticed a cauldron of ginormous fruit bats (sure, I needed to Google that collective noun!), Painted Storks, Egrets, enormous Swallowtail butterflies, and extra bugs and invertebrates than you could possibly shake an antennae at. And that’s simply what we truly managed to see. The realm is residence to greater than 120 chook species, practically 20 sorts of snake, 15 lizard species and greater than 10 completely different sorts of amphibian. To actually take within the scale of what’s been completed right here, you’d ideally want to remain the evening.
Two of the birds which have moved again into the realm because of the Eco Park
And this isn’t only a case of ‘plant the timber and construct the ponds after which overlook about it.’ TVS has invested massive cash on this 50-acre nook of its 320-acre web site. The corporate, which, let’s not overlook, builds bikes and three-wheelers as its core enterprise, has employed a small military of individuals to have a tendency the flowers and observe the wildlife. From gardeners and groundskeepers to biologists and ornithologists, the employees record on the Eco Park reads extra like a zoo than a bike manufacturing facility.
Ultimate ideas: For those who take care of your employees, your employees will take care of you
Welding nonetheless occurs by hand but additionally with robots
One of many key takeaways I’ve bought from spending a while at Hosur is how effectively the employees on the manufacturing facility ground are handled. TVS claims to pay barely above the going charge to employees at its websites, however simply paying them a good wage is half the story.
To assist the employees get to and from work, TVS lays on complimentary buses for all its employees, which choose up one shift because it drops off one other. As my morning commute to the manufacturing facility proved, getting round Bengaluru is tough at one of the best of instances. Taking that journey on for its employees not solely makes the day much less traumatic for these commuting in, however ensures they arrive at work in a well timed method, contemporary and able to tackle their shift.
Workers on one of many scooter strains
The employees have entry to inexperienced areas, inside and outside areas when on breaks, in addition to entry to the Eco Park if they need it. They get two meals a day whereas on shift on the plant, utterly freed from cost – this stuff aren’t the norm in most industrial crops in India or around the globe.
And evidently this worker-first mindset is paying off, as from studying firsthand worker critiques from individuals who have labored or are nonetheless working at TVS, the general consensus is that it’s place to work. Worker engagement is excessive, and lots of present staff discuss there being camaraderie between employees. And you’ll see that once you stroll within the gates.
One of many 26 bikes a minute the plant builds
TVS’ Hosur facility is greater than only a manufacturing powerhouse; it’s a mirrored image of how trendy motorbike manufacturing can coexist with sustainability and social accountability. From the precision manufacturing strains to the serenity of its Eco Park, the plant feels much less like a manufacturing facility and extra like a dwelling, respiration ecosystem the place expertise, individuals and nature are all given equal weight.
It’s simple to see how this strategy has helped TVS construct a status that stretches far past India’s borders. With growth into Europe on the horizon, the partnership with BMW and possession of Norton already bearing fruit, Hosur stands as each a logo of what TVS has achieved and a touch at the place it’s heading subsequent. If the spirit of this manufacturing facility is something to go by, the way forward for TVS seems each bit as polished, progressive and quietly assured because the bikes rolling off its strains.
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