Exclusive interview with Uwe Sperber, Site Manager, HUBNER Interface Systems India

Uwe Sperber is the Site Manager of HUBNER Interface Systems India since 2018. Before he supported HÜBNER with the setup of its former production facility. Uwe Sperber has been living and working in India since 1990 and set up various German companies such as FESTO and LuK in the South Indian Region.

Besides setting up their production sites, he was focusing on training, skill enhancement, lean production and change management for these companies.

HUBNER Group has recently opened its new facility centre in Bengaluru. In an interaction with Urban Transport News, Sperber shared his thoughts on HUBNER's contribution in development of Rail & Metro sectors in India.

How has HUBNER’s journey been in India's Railways and Urban Transport market?

In 2011 HUBNER Group founded the subsidiary HUBNER Interface Systems India Pvt. Ltd. near Bengaluru (Bangalore). Since then, the business in India has developed steadily and positively.

Please highlight some salient features of your new facility centre recently opened in Bengaluru?

When building the ‘Namma Factory’, it was important to us from the outset to use sustainable materials and local companies and suppliers whenever it was possible and made sense. It was equally important to us that with the new plant we offer our employees a workplace where they can feel comfortable thanks to optimal ventilation and plenty of natural daylight.

The new “Namma Factory” has been designed as a “green” factory. For the construction of the new plant, HÜBNER relied on the expertise of a consulting company for resource-saving construction and is now the proud holder of a Green Building certificate in Platinum. As little soil as possible was moved at the construction site.

The focus was also on sustainability in regard to building services. The new factory features with solar panels, an in-house wastewater treatment plant, a passive ventilation system (wind and thermal buoyancy) for the production hall and rainwater harvesting.

In addition, as few areas as possible have been sealed on the factory premises, with large areas devoted to vegetation and an on-site pond. In addition to sewing and assembly steps, complex metalwork is now also possible, including CNC milling, bending and welding.

What are the current focus areas for the company in the Rail & Metro domain?

With pleasure and interest we observe the great efforts and investments in infrastructure and public transport in India. HUBNER is already represented in important Metro and Rail projects on the subcontinent. We would like to contribute our competences to further projects in order to jointly achieve the goal of improving public transport in India and making it more comfortable.

Which project is/was more significant for HUBNER in India?

In addition, a total of 540 gangway systems will be delivered to Indian Railways for the Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) by autumn 2023. Train manufacturer Alstom has also ordered a total of around 400 gangway systems from HUBNER India for the new RRTS regional express train and the metro projects Pune, Kanpur & Agra and Bhopal & Indore. Another HUBNER India customer is the local manufacturer BEML, which will purchase a total of 800 gangway systems for metro lines 2 and 7 in Mumbai by 2025. For the metro in Bengaluru (Bangalore), whose trains are being built by the world’s largest manufacturer CRRC, HÜBNER is producing 135 gangway systems, plus 70 gangway halves.

What are your expectations from railway component markets in India?

For HÜBNER, India is a location with great manufacturing potential for the mobility markets in India itself as well as in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole. The new ‘Namma Factory’ makes it possible for HÜBNER to operate more effictively, more flexibly and with shorter delivery routes in India’s growing market.

With a plant that has been precisely tailored to our needs, we can now run production more independently of supplies from other HÜBNER Group sites and flexibly adjust capacities for our local customers as required. The “Namma Factory” (total investment of 11 million Euros) makes it possible for us to operate more effictively, more flexibly and with shorter delivery routes in India’s growing market.

Are you also planning to export components from India to other countries?

With local production at the new location, we are not only meeting localization requirements and reliably serving the needs of our customers, we are also strengthening the entire global production network of the HÜBNER Group. The new factory is an integral part of our global production network, in which the sites supply not only external customers but also each other, for example to absorb production peaks and temporary capacity bottlenecks. HUBNER India will thus also produce for projects in many other countries.

How did you find contents of our magazines as well as news websites for the Industry?

For HUBNER Group, Urban Transport News is a very important resource for staying updated on the latest developments and trends in urban mobility – especially in India. We appreciate the dedication of the Urban Transport News team in providing up-to-date and relevant information.