Cold-chain Industries impart storage, smoothens distribution, and eventually, make the manufacturing cool! With technology transfer from Israel, Sub Zero Insulation Tech Pvt Ltd, one of India’s top refrigeration solutions providers has been a leader in cold chain solutions for temperature-sensitive products in Indian Manufacturing.
With industrial revolutions, manufacturing operations incorporating high-end raw materials are always dreamt of, but the major part of the lifecycle of those raw materials depends on storing them in a proper environment with suitable temperatures. From food storage to medical transportation, Cold Chain manufacturing in India is becoming one of the fastest baselines for the industries day by day, with a steady CAGR of 14.6% by 2026.
Taking this vital sector as an opportunity, Pune-based Sub Zero Insulation Tech Pvt Ltd is gratifying the Indian cold chain manufacturing with the Product line of Refrigerated Trucks, Mobile-Test labs, Ambulances, and Specialized Vehicles & Trucks. The company’s product line includes Steel Boxes, GRP Boxes, and Dry Freight Boxes.
Deep Khira, Managing Director, Sub Zero spoke to Machine Maker on the breakthrough transition of the company from a traditional vehicle body-building company to a specialized and organized Truck-body building company in the Indian Market.
“After joining the family business in 2010, the entrepreneurial spirit urged me to bring something on my own. When I found the cold-chain industries, initially we had a shortage of good quality manufacturers. I realized that instead of focusing on different things, putting all the efforts towards one dream would make us a leader in that segment. So, we started to take the expertise ahead,” shared Deep on his initial start.
Entrepreneurship: All about new ideas
The company was started in the year 2015 as an offshoot of the Khira Group of companies, which was a commercial vehicle body manufacturer of Buses, Trucks, and other vehicles, since 1949. As of now, the company owns a broad acceptance in the market for its pioneering reefer-box and dry box manufacturing technology brought in from Israel. The company has also introduced Composite Sandwich Panels using GRP which makes the vehicle lightweight without affecting its lifecycle.
“At that time, refrigerated trucks were primarily produced with the traditional fabrication methods and usage of metals such as steel, which made them heavy and reduced their payload capacity. To change this, we introduced the Composite Panel Technology, which was the first of its kind in the production of Refrigeration trucks in India,” told the spokesperson of Sub Zero about the innovation of Sub Zero.
At present, the company, which has been manufacturing new-edge Refrigeration vehicles for the last 7 years has its manufacturing unit in Chennai and Pune with a wide presence of assembly units across India. The company, under technical collaboration with Isi Yogev Industries, Israel brought high-end tools and machinery to India to enhance the old-school way of production of refrigerated trucks. The company also offers state of art Mobile Test Laboratory mounted on 40 feet trailer which comes as the first proudly 'Made in India' Mobile Test Lab with global quality standards.
Speaking on the general perception that ‘the business background makes entrepreneurial journey easy,’ Deep said that belonging to a business family is not completely favourable to entrepreneurship. “Over the generations, strategies and takeaways often become outdated and exponential growth demands fresh ideas. For me, rather than an easy journey, it was a major challenge to overcome the reluctance of the team to adopt change,” he said on overcoming the challenges. Further adding more to the company’s visionary philosophy, he added, “Leads are not generated by words of mouth. We believe in good quality, reasonable price, and on-time delivery. And, these are the pillars upon which our leadership in Cold-Chain Manufacturing is laid.”
Pandemic: The turning point
Initially, Sub Zero was the manufacturer of Refrigeration Trucks. But, during the Pandemic, showcasing the intricate determination of turning the downturn disruptions into an opportunity, it started catering to other mobility solutions such as Mobile-Test Labs, Ambulances, and Specialized Vehicles.
“The Pandemic was a turning point for us. It made us explore the healthcare and other sectors and thus, we started foraying to more sectors and introduced our first Portable-Expandable Mobile-Medical Unit, which can provide healthcare to rural and remote parts of India,” he told on expanding the company’s portfolio.
He further added, “We then, started targeting into the Pharmaceutical, Dairy, Food storage, Horticulture industries with our Refrigeration solutions. We also cooperated with Social Community Organization using our mobile-medical unit to battle the pandemic.” The company has developed a mobile test laboratory mounted on a 40-foot trailer.
The company also supplies refrigeration components to OEMs such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra Group and also, exports to foreign countries. Additionally, the company has supplied Multi-temperature refrigerated trucks for the Indian Army. Aiming to become a leader in the insulated trucks manufacturers in the World, Sub Zero is uplifting the Indian Cold Chain Infrastructure, preventing wastages in the Supply chain due to poor storage.
