The first plant of TJC was inaugurated Johnson Controls (Europe) president John Fiori. "The Indian facility has been able to achieve 100 per cent localisation for components within a short span of time--something Johnson's other operations have rarely been able to achieve," Fiori said. Around Rs 22 crore have been invested in the Pune plant while the Chennai plant involves an investment of Rs 8 crore.

Apart from Ford India, TJC supplies seats to Telco for Indica. It also supplies seats to Mercedes Benz for the E class model and Fiat. TJC chief executive officer S Ravindran said since 1996 the company's turnover has gone up from Rs 10 crore to Rs 50 crore. "By 2000 these plants will account for a turnover of Rs 180 crore," Ravindran said.

TJC is also all set to execute the design and supply order for Fiat Palio and Sienna. Supply is slated to start in end of 1999. The engineering centre has acquired another order from Malaysia for a model of Proton.

The new plant with an installed capacity of 200,000 vehicle seat set per annum is designed for minimum inventory and forces a fast flow of materials to the assembly conveyors through the first of its kind `Roll Through Racking System' to enable just-in-time deliveries.