Sunil Vachani, co-founder and chairman, Dixon Technologies Image: Madhu Kapparath A s I entered the first basement of the seven-storeyed Padget Electronics factory in Phase 2, Noida, I was offered an anti-static coat and shoe covers. As we passed through the metal doors, a blast of air hit us—another sanitisation protocol—as we were about to enter a dust-free zone. In front of me was a sea of machines spread across 20,000 sq ft, with close to 600 employees. I was standing in a mobile phone manufacturing unit, or that’s what I thought. But to my surprise, the first basement was only working on manufacturing the motherboards of the device. “Operations on this floor run 24x7 since they are completely automated. Our machines can manufacture 40,000 units per day,” says the floor operations manager. Since it was an automated unit, there were fewer employees, with most focusing on quality checks. The rest of the assembly took place on the other floors, each with close to 2,000 people. Related stories How Nokia became the invisible force of Indian telecom BC TO PC: How HP toppled Lenovo to reclaim the PC crown during the pandemic years Why India isn't a global manufacturing hub This was one of the 17 manufacturing units across the country—from Noida in Uttar Pradesh to Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh—that one of India’s largest electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies, Dixon Technologies, runs. It has expanded from CRT televisions (TV) to consumer electronics, lighting, home appliances, mobiles and a lot more, growing into a ₹10,700-crore powerhouse that is valued at ₹20,000 crore on the stock market. All this began with one factory that co-founder Sunil Vachani set up in 1993, to manufacture CRT: A 10,000 sq ft rented plot in Noida, a few machines, 15 employees and ₹15 lakh that he borrowed from his father, Sundar Vachani. In the early 1990s, after completing his Associates in Business Administration from American College, London, Vachani returned to India. He could have joined the family business, but he says, “I wanted to do something of my own, that was my passion.” In 1989-90, he set up a factory to make cordless telephones, but it didn’t take off because of some missteps. Thereafter, he started training at his father’s TV manufacturing company, Weston, in the components department. After a year-and-a-half, he mustered the courage to tell his father that he wanted to set up his own venture—manufacturing electronics. “At that time, the concept of manufacturing for other people was alien; everybody believed that manufacturing is sacred, it has to be in-house and not outsourced. So, rightly, my father was a little apprehensive,” recounts Vachani. The then-23-year-old had noticed a similar trend in a few global markets, and was certain it would come to India, soon enough. Eventually, his father agreed. But he asked “his blue-eyed boy”, Atul Lall—who had worked at Weston for many years—to mentor Vachani.
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