ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DEVICES Generation Jump

Advanced Technology Devices (ATD), a
Tandon Enterprises division started in 1986, grew tremendously in fiscal
1999-2000. It grossed revenues of Rs 175 crore, a 2,400% growth over the
previous fiscal.

An ISO 9002 certified company, it
catered to requirements from IBM, Western Digital and Syquest Technology.
Exports constituted the entire turnover of the company last year.

Head
stack assemblies and sub-assemblies raked in approximately Rs 174 crore, while
head gimble assembly got in a mere Rs 15 lakh.

Until 1997, ATD was manufacturing hard
disk head stacks with metal in gap technology. After the advent of more
sophisticated technologies like the magneto resistive (MR) technology, the earlier
metal gap technology became obsolete and was phased out. Last year ATD sensed
the imminent need to move on. It moved away from the old metal in gap
technology, skipped second generation thin-film technology, and moved on to
third-generation magneto-resistive technology for
manufacturing its head stack assemblies.

AMD manufactured head stack assemblies that were used
in hard disk drives of 15-20 GB capacities. Now, newer stacks made there will
get into 30GB drives. ATD is in the process of developing giant magneto
resistive (GMR) products, with

plans for manufacturing them in volume. In the future, it is venturing into
other areas of precision assemblies, including opto-electronics. It has won
several national awards, and has achieved total quality management. Now, its
challenge will be to maintain at least three-figure growth rates. DQ

Fact Sheet

START-UP YEAR: 1986 PRODUCTS And SERVICES: Winchester
head stacks, sub assemblies TECHNICAL COLLABORATIONS: Tandon Associates Inc, USA
ADDRESS: Unit 59, SDF II, Seepz, Andheri(E), Mumbai 400 096 TEL: 829 1919 FAX:
829 1176