Diebold, Tata Infotech to make India a key ATM centre for S Asia

New Delhi: Diebold Inc (www.diebold.com), a global leader of integrated financial self-service systems and services, has announced its plans for making India a key manufacturing operation for South Asia.

This was announced by Walden W O'Dell, chairman, president and CEO of Diebold, during the inauguration function of the new state-of-the-art automated teller machine (ATM) manufacturing facility of Tata Infotech in Mapusa, Goa.

Diebold and Tata Infotech have entered into a contract-manufacturing agreement under which Tata Infotech will manufacture Diebold ATMs in India for distribution in India and South and Southeast Asia. The ATMs are part of the standard Diebold product offering and will be built according to Diebold's global design and quality specifications. Many of India's public and private sector banks use ATMs manufactured by Diebold.

The 33,000-sq ft facility will be equipped with ultra-modern manufacturing, testing and SMT (surface mount technology) assembly equipment to supply Diebold ATMs and cash dispensers of world-class standard.

O'Dell said: "The Indian market will continue to grow and we plan to commit additional resources to service the market for our customers. Our relationship with Tata Infotech will allow Diebold to get closer to our customers so we can better understand their challenges and provide them with local, tailored solutions."

The inauguration was followed by a tour of Tata Infotech's existing manufacturing facility, which has been manufacturing high- precision electro-mechanical products for international customers over the past many years and is already in production of ATMs for the Indian market.

Said J D Sharma, senior vice-president (manufacturing), Tata Infotech: "The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will enable supply of world-class ATMs with reduced delivery cycle time. The Diebold-Tata Infotech partnership will facilitate best-in-class sales support for the Indian customer."

As part of its increased focus in the Indian subcontinent, Diebold had finalised the deal to acquire the remaining 50-per cent equity of Diebold HMA Pvt Ltd on 26 May 2003. Headquartered in Chennai, Diebold is now present in India as a 100-per cent subsidiary of Diebold Inc.

Diebold Inc is a global leader in providing integrated, self-service delivery systems and services. It employs more than 13,000 associates with representation in more than 88 countries worldwide and is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio, USA. Diebold reported revenue of $1.9 billion in 2002 and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DBD.

Tata Infotech, a leading IT company, is part of the multibillion dollar Tata group, India's most trusted business group. Tata Infotech provides customers worldwide with innovative system integration offerings integrating hardware, software solutions and services in the IT and telecom sectors.

Tata Infotech's existing manufacturing facility located in Goa extends over an area of 28,000 sq ft. It is well equipped with a state-of-the-art surface mount and through-the-hole assembly line along with production and inspection equipment to undertake prototyping and production. It has a full-fledged design and development laboratory for embedded systems and is staffed by qualified hardware and software engineers.

All products are manufactured to international specifications and certifications, and are subjected to rigorous quality control. Quality system and processes have been certified for ISO9001:2000 and many products manufactured are certified under UL / CSA / TuV. Tata Infotech has won several national export and quality awards over the last many years.