Murugappa Group never lets complacency set in its corporate philosophy. Surging ahead with the time has always been the way of doing business at Murugappa Group. The Group's inspiration to sustain the leadership position in its businesses and to remain prepared for future challenges motivates the Group companies to engage in extensive research and development endeavours. The Murugappa Group companies strive to constantly improve their array of products and initiate new launches through relentless research.

In an age of intellectual property rights (IPR) and expensive technology imports, R&D was given due importance in the company strategy and identified as the best way to launch new products.

Coromandel Fertilisers

Fertilisers
Fertiliser Technology Centre being set up at Vizag for development of new products and process improvements, include

		1 MT/hr complex fertiliser pilot plant
		30 kg/hr phosphoric acid pilot plant
		Development laboratory

	The only pilot plant for phosphatic fertiliser in India and one of the few in world.
	Pilot plants designed and executed with in-house capabilities.

Plant Protection Chemicals
R&D centres at Navi Mumbai Plant and Ankleshwar Plant both recognized by Department of Science & Technology, GOI, for identification, development and approval of products. The objective of these centres is:

	Process development for generic products
	Development of environment friendly formulations
	Back integration into production of key intermediates for technicals
	Process Efficiency Improvement
	Product Quality Improvement

Tube Investments of India Ltd (TII)
Equipped with one of the best R&D centres in the Indian tube industry, TPI has been able to develop customised products and solutions for its customers. Developing innovative solutions focused on the automobile components market, TPI has carved a niche in providing solutions for customers' needs.

The state-of-the-art R&D facility, powered by a team of technical experts and driven by a motivated and talented team of individuals, has been the secret behind TPI's success in catering to varied and often challenging customer needs.

The Corporate Research and Development Function at TII is a fully-operational testing laboratory and proving workshop. The centre is managed by 20 engineers and is working on business-driven R&D projects with specific focus on metal forming and thermal processing. The centre has published 10 technical papers in various international conferences.

Engineering Design Centre
The Engineering Design Centre of TII became operational in 2005-06. The centre has been established to build technical competency in three dimensional modeling and stress analysis to support the business objectives of the various divisions. This is in line with the changing business scenario in India and the rest of the world.

	Simulation of rolls forming of open sections and tubes. This results in better design of rolls for superior quality of tubes and roll formed sections
	Design of cold drawing and extrusion dies for manufacture of non-round tubes
	Application engineering of tubular parts and roll formed sections to provide better value for customers
	Design of sheet metal parts and tool development for doorframes and chain components
	Analysis and modeling of crash, fatigue and various types of loading of tubes, strips, roll formed sections and chains and bicycles

Centre for Manufacturing Excellence in TI Cycles
TI Cycles set up the Centre for Manufacturing Excellence, an in-house facility . This centre has invested in the latest state of the art eqipments for manufacturing steel and alloy frames and forks to international standards. Instead of merely replicating vendor facilities at this centre skills and facilities are upgraded. Welding for example is done through the Tungsten Inert Gas Welding (TIG) rather than the traditional MIG Welding, thereby laying stress on a better finish. For exports, critical machines are required for high precision jobs. This centre is seen as a crucial step towards building exports to developed countries.

EID Parry
Sugarcane R&D centre
Before 1993, Parry had a very small R&D unit as part of operations. In 1993, M V Subbiah had a discussion with Dr Krishnamurthi, after which a business-oriented R&D plan was initiated for the present Parry Sugarcane R&D division, tackling all aspects of sugarcane research, with its major focus on extension activities (crop production and farmer training). The R&D centres are in the Pudukottai, Pettavaithalai, Pugalur and Nellikuppam sugar factories.

The crop production section conducts research into soils, water, varieties and plant protection, with an extension staff of more than 80 operators and four farmer training officers. The centre has an internationally reputed breeding division with 2,000 clones in germplasm. Today, there are six exclusive Parry varieties, of which three already occupy 20 per cent of the Parry area. A model bio-control system has been installed to protect crops from pests and diseases. The centre's research into soil and water enables it to advise farmers about total crop protection systems.

Research and development has played a major role in increasing sugar production in the two factories from 77,000 tonnes in 1993 to 196,000 tons in 1996, with no increase in capital expenditure. The yield of cane per acre increased from 33 tonnes to 42 tonnes by 2002.

Bio Products R&D Centre, Bangalore
The Bio Products R&D Centre at Bangalore was set up in 1992. It is recognised by the DSIR, Government of India, is accredited with ISO 9001:2000 and supports the business of Neemazal®, developing natural products for agriculture, by integrating India's rich traditional knowledge and resources with modern science. Its state-of-the-art laboratories for natural products, analytical chemistry, entomology and phyto-pathology are spread over 20,000 sq ft. The research team works closely with the bio-products business, and has developed a synergy with the business team and the manufacturing team.

Natural products: Deals with the extraction, isolation and characterisation of chemical constituents of flora and fauna, especially identification of activity for these metabolites and development of new bio-products.

Analytical chemistry: Deals with development and standardisation of new analytical methods and analyses chemical products qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Analyses various samples of bio-products production and preparation of high purity references, quality certification of bio-products with respect to aflatoxin content, and physio-chemical data generation on various new bio-products developed in the R&D centre.

	Bio-assay guided isolation techniques to screen for potential extracts with stringent, custom made, standardised insect and crop models for the development of new bio-products
	Development of product application technology for the new products under development and bio-efficacy data generation in the laboratory and semi-field conditions
	Identification of potential segments, development of packages of practices and technical inputs to handle customer complaints

Phyto-pathology: Develops botanical fungicides from natural products through bio-assay guided isolation techniques, using standardised protocols with pathogen and crop models.

The R&D centre is also the hub for the registration and regulatory team of the bio-products division, which is involved in generation of data, liaison with university and regulatory officials and getting the necessary clearances in India and other countries.

Registrations of Neemazal® have been obtained in 28 countries across the globe.
The IPR and data management team also functions in the R&D centre and files patents for protecting intellectual property rights for Neemazal® and its various formulations in India and in other countries.

Nutraceuticals
The R&D centre of Parry Nutraceuticals Ltd has been the backbone of the company and has contributed to its current position in the global nutraceuticals market. It works on novel nutraceuticals like EPA and DHA from micro algae, which will be the engine of future growth for Parry Nutraceuticals.

We compete with two major US and Japanese brands in the global Spirulina market, and have successfully positioned our brand as the best premium quality certified organic Spirulina. It commands a premium and is priced on par or above the US and Japanese brands.

Parry Agro
Parry Agro has a modern R&D facility that engages in extensive research on agriculture, and the processing aspects of tea. It also works on new product development, and is currently testing an iced tea formulation and green tea extracts.

Maintaining an R&D laboratory is unique for a plantation company. The laboratory was accredited with the NABL certification for its chemical and microbiological facilities. Each factory has satellite quality testing control labs. The thrust on R&D has helped to standardise all manufacturing and processing parameters and helps the company to retain its market leadership in South India. The company has pioneered research on reversal of soil degradation using earthworms.

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