INDUSTRY

‘Faith never fails’
Ramakrishnan, who got into business with a Rs 7,500 bank loan,
is aiming for the Rs 1,000-crore mark

World Class facilities: The library inside the software park. 		Television had just made its debut in Madras in 1975 and V.Ramakrishnan, a law officer with WS Insulators, also booked his set along with countless others. But after he got his set he was told that a voltage stabilizer was required to run it. He realised that TV was there to stay and set up a stabilizer unit with a Rs 7,500 bank loan.
It has grown into one of the largest companies in south India and Ramakrishnan is aiming for the Rs 1,000-crore mark by the year 2000.
The Pentagon Consultancy and Agency, as the unit was then called, made stabilizers for Dynavision and transformers for Spencers. As Ramakrishnan was still with WS Insulators, the fledgling business was looked after by his wife and brother-in-law. In 1977, he quit his job and joined Spencers as a company secretary and went on to become a director of the group which bought all its air-conditioners, water heaters and stabilizers from Pentagon. "I am indebted to C.H. Baba, then chairman of Spencers, and his son Homi Babi whose company promoted my business in a great way," says Ramakrishnan. As business grew, his brothers V. Vishwanathan, an engineer, and V. Chandrasekharan, a computer expert, joined him. They powered Penta’s diversification into core sectors.

Great going: Ramakrishnan (seated) with his key men; (from left) Rajan, Chandrasekharan, Vishwanathan and Gopalakrishnan 		In 1990, Ramakrishnan resigned from Spencers and launched into an ambitious expansion drive. He renamed his electronics division Pentafour Products and tied up with world leader Samsung of South Korea for manufacturing UPS Systems in Madras. "This tie-up proved to be the major clincher when the company decided to go public the same year and the scrip was oversubscribed 19 times. We were able to step up production of air-conditioners from 200 to 1,000 a year" says Ramakrishnan. Pentafour, which is tying up with a multinational, is one of the four major packaged AC manufacturers in the country and the biggest in south India.
Pentafour’s product range broadened after it took over Ucal Components, which manufactures carburetors and fuel pumps with foreign tie-ups. It has an ISO 9001 certification and an impressive clientele and exports its products to several countries. "Many multinational automobile companies, including Ford and Hyundai, have approached us for a tie-up," says Ramakrishnan who is backed by a strong force of technocrats like S.N. Rajan, the MD of Pentafour Solec Technology, and D. Gopalakrishnan, chief of Pentafour Projects and Securities.

Formidable player: Pentafour Software ranks third in exports and turnover in the industry 		Pentafour got into software only after Chandrasekharan joined the group. Today, Pentafour Software and Exports is one of the largest software exporters in the country and the first in the industry to go public, in 1992. Last year, it made a profit of Rs 30.67 crore, a leap of 96 per cent over the previous year. It ranks third in exports and turnover in the industry, according to NASSCOM, the apex organisation for software in the country.
Says Chandrasekharan: "We have an experienced and close-knit professional team which has worked on a variety of applications and platforms." Pentafour Software has a strategic partnership with IBM and is its sole authorised training centre in the country. The group also has a bright presence in the non-conventional power sector. Pentafour Solec Technology Ltd makes photo-voltaic modules and cells with foreign collaboration. "In six months, after the cell manufacturing unit is installed, it will have the maximum solar power generating capacity in the country," says Rajan.
Solec, which supplies 70W panels to the Department of Telecommunications, will be concentrating on light and easy-to-maintain solar-powered batteries for defence purposes, panels for remote areas and systems for villages. It is planning a 275 KW wind turbine project at Ketanur in Tamil Nadu.
Pentafour is a leading player in the chemical industry too and is the largest manufacturer of surfactants, the basic raw material for soaps, shampoos and detergents. Besides, it is the only Indian company to produce pentaphose, a food grade phosphoric acid.
The state-of-the-art chemical plant at Cuddalore was built by Pentafour Projects and Securities, a sister concern that gave shape to the Software Development Park. "The park is an elaborately planned, self-sufficient software university on the outskirts of Madras. It has all necessary academic, residential and recreational facilities. It stands out because of its unique positioning and capacity," says its MD Gopalakrishnan. Meanwhile, the Rs 145-crore Pentafour group is projecting a turnover of Rs 330 crore in the next financial year. Its equity base had grown from Rs 3.8 crore in 1990 to Rs 41 crore last year. Says Ramakrishnan, a die-hard optimist: "The new copper-clad laminate and the chemical units are estimated to generate Rs 70 crore. The activities of the auto components division will also be enhanced. Its aluminium unit is completely computerised with a 100 per cent buy-back agreement with its collaborator."
With the automobile industry opening up in the country, the aluminium wheels project, which will start commercial production in 1998, is expected to drive home the bacon. "This is a Rs 85-crore project set-up in collaboration with the US-based KMC Wheels. The unit will manufacture six lakh wheels a year," says Ramakrishnan.
The vision and determination of the three brothers have not been dimmed by success, as the group gets ready to take on the giants in the business. "At Pentafour everybody believes that the company is his own and strives for it. Rarely anyone ever leaves Pentafour and some who have done so looking for greener pastures have eventually returned," says Ramakrishnan whose next venture is likely to be in the leisure and travel industry.
He is confident of success here too. "It is faith in myself, faith in God, and above all, the faith that what I do, I do well that has motivated me and my group to succeed. In short, faith never fails." --LATHA SRINIVASAN
Making movie magic
Pentafour hit the headlines after it brought a dead Divya Bharati to life on the big screen. The actress had died when she was acting in several films, leaving the producers helpless. Pentafour came up with a brilliant ‘morphing’ idea--that of shooting the remaining portions of the film with a Divya Bharati look-alike and later substituting her with the actress’s face.
Considered the pioneers in multimedia and imaging technology, Pentafour also develops graphics and special effects and provides post production services to the entertainment industry. Pentafour’s Silicon Studio Inc has a collaboration with Silicon Graphics, the largest multimedia company in the world that also provided multi-media techniques for blockbusters like Jurrasic Park, Terminator 2 and Mask.
It is now possible to produce such technically splendid films in India, thanks to Pentafour Software supported by the Software Development Park, the central resource base and nerve centre for the company’s developmental activities.
The park is equipped with a range of mainframe, midrange systems and work stations and a campus-wide network of more than 350 nodes, available for computing round the clock. VISA, inside the park, is a self-contained university with a well-equipped library, state-of-the-art laboratories and a 24-kbps satellite link to its office in Los Angeles. It also has a swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis and basketball courts, an amphitheatre and an air-conditioned auditorium. The beach is only a stone’s throw away.
Reader' Responses