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KG International puts Dubai on the global bearing map

KG Group is a world-renowned manufacturer and distributor of bearing components.

Established in 1968, the company moved to Dubai in 1988. Striving towards becoming the best performing Bearings Company in the world, KG group is a thriving business due to its transparent code of ethics.

Kedar Gupta, Founder and Chairman and Rohit Gupta, CEO

The tiny acorn that germinated from an idea, a dream, a potential foreseen, is today a mighty oak in the shape of KG International of Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai. Sprawling over 55 countries in 5 continents, with a team size of over 100, a portfolio of over 4,000 varieties, a relationship with principals that goes back over 20 years; KGI believes in forging relationships that last. It is today one of the foremost and most respected bearing businesses in the world. The mantra till date remains commitment, quality and ethical business dealing.

It has taken passion, determination, steely resolve and belief to create this reality in less than 30 years in a country which was not known for engineering excellence but more for its sun, sand and shopping. The Chairman and Founder Kedarnath Gupta founded the business in India way back in 1968, and being the visionary he is, saw the potential that the Dubai offered and decided to move his business hub here in 1988.

The path was fraught with difficulties as it was not easy to lure customers to Dubai for engineering products; clients preferred to visit either Hong Kong or Singapore, which was a huge export market for this industry. KGI managed to create a model - an ‘engineering supermarket’ - based on the different requirements, which attracted people especially from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Or as Gupta likes to say, “I believe our customers felt the warmth KGI exudes in comparison to companies from the Far East – perhaps it’s a cultural difference.”

KG International Head Office and Main Distribution Centre, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai

The company has gone from strength to strength since Rohit Gupta, the CEO, joined in 1995 immediately after being awarded his business programme degree from the University of Omaha.

In 1999, KG International’s competence and aptitude was rewarded with an ISO 9002 certification for excellence in quality systems. It received the ISO 9001:2008 certification in the year 2006. Strategic partnerships with ISO-certified producers, manufacturing a wide range of product categories have also given the company the flexibility to cater to those customers who need customised products for specific needs.

Diversity in business also leads to more opportunities and achievements. Nurturing partnerships with leading brands as well as expanding business by leveraging and building KG’s own brands has been a critical strategy for success. The company is not only a leading global entity with its own brand presence, it has partnered with colossal Japanese powerhouse NACHI Fujikoshi Corporation which, is one of the most prestigious engineering companies in Japan and its strength lies in producing Cutting Tools, Machine Tools, Hydraulic Equipment including Automatic Hydraulics; in addition to manufacturing bearings.

KG Group’s partnership with NACHI has also led to the setting up of a groundbreaking unit NACHI KG Technology India Private limited for NACHI Automotive Bearing.

The unit mainly caters to the Japanese Automotive OEM’s based in India.

Exclusively representing NACHI in the Middle East, Africa as well as the sub-continent, KG group has also partnered with another Japanese company NTN that is among the top five producers of bearings in the world. “It is a matter of immense pride that today KG is among the top bearings companies across the region and even beyond. The company is indeed rolling ahead and gearing for newer challenges along the way,” says Rohit Gupta. Adding, he said: “We have also expanded our facilities in Europe as well as Asia; keeping in line with our guiding principal - The Movement.”

Today, the company has grown to a sizably impressive annual turnover from its sprawling, 300,000 sq. ft. purpose built facility located in Jebel Ali – the Middle Eastern hub of business connecting the East with the West.

The company reinvents itself, modifies its product portfolio and forges new relationships in its continual endeavour to meet the clients’ ever-changing, ever-expanding exacting needs.

It has now drawn up the roadmap for future development – Vision 2020; a developmental programme that envisages a three-time growth over the sales of today and making the company a name to reckon with.

The aim is to spread the footprint in countries where KGI is either dormant or passive and approach newer markets. Europe is a bastion KGI strives to conquer by offering newer product range.

The latest addition to the KGI product offering is a representation from the Italian gear manufacturer – Reggiana Riduttori. This takes the company a step further in its pursuit of excellence. An endeavour that envisages KGI’s presence in every sector, leveraging its brand, building relations; growing exponentially not only in size but, in the eyes of its customers, through thoughts, ideas, behaviour and achievements. Treating each success as a milestone, KG International rolls ahead, heralding a new beginning with a freshly driven force to face every challenge and to embrace every newer opportunity that comes its way.

At KGI, we believe in giving back what we are fortunate to receive – goodwill and fortune. CSR activities are an inherent part of the KGI - DNA. Be it sponsoring scholarships in the UK, attempt to scale Mt. Everest by a Portuguese aspirant, aiding special needs children on our home turf or donating special diagnostic equipment to hospitals, KGI shuns from nothing.

KG International’s pursuit of excellence is an ongoing process that KG Group’s secret to success was and continues to be hard work, transparency and of course quality; but what sets it apart is its value-added proposition. In the words of the CEO, “In today’s world, irrespective of what you are selling and regardless of what the cost is – it is all about adding value, that is what sets you apart, for price and quality are usually a given. So we strive to ascertain what more in terms of value can we offer and then make sure that we consistently add to that value. That is what keeps our customers coming back to us.”