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“In India, we have the philosophy of “horses for courses”
Established in 1979, today ElectroMech is the largest industrial overhead cranes manufacturer in India offering solutions for wide ranging applications in manufacturing plants and infrastructure projects through a complete range of Hoists, Cranes and customised material handling equipment.


Tushar Mehendale, Managing Director, Electromech Material Handling Systems India Pvt. Ltd talks to EPC&I on how the scope of work is becoming wider, the complexity of projects is increasing and the time lines are shrinking.

As an established leading player in the Construction Equipment market in the country, what is your opinion on Infrastructure development activity in the country?

One must really applaud the fantastic efforts being put forth by the government to get the infrastructural development in India kickstarted once again. Indian infrastructure industry had been festering during the tenure of previous government on account of several impediments. With the renewed thrust on removing these impediments, the infrastructure companies are going to get their second wind.
This is going to lead to an overall growth in the economy as well as the health of the economy will improve. One of the greatest differentiators between a developed country and a developing country is the availability of basic infrastructure. Once we are able to bridge this gap by aggressive infrastructure spending, days are not far when we can aspire to topple countries like China from their leadership position.
 
While some research analysts and economists claim that it is skewed more towards road building activity, development of power plants, ports, airports, etc continue to lag behind. Do you subscribe to this view?
For any country and any economy, the basic road infrastructure is of primary importance as this infrastructure is literally equivalent to the blood vessels of a human body. A proper road infrastructure sets in place a virtuous cycle.
The overall demand for commodities like steel and cement goes on increasing, the demand for construction equipment increases, new jobs are created. All of this leads to money beginning to flow in the system. Furthermore, once these roads are built newer industries can be setup in places where the land is cheap and which has now become accessible due to the roads.
This will ensure that manufacturing will become competitive. A better road infrastructure will ensure that there will be de-congestion in the major cities as people would prefer staying further away from the main cities if their commute times are lesser.
This will lead to growth getting distributed across the country rather than it being concentrated only in a few parts of the country. There is no doubt that focus needs to be there on developing other infrastructure as well, but if one were to prioritize, then building road infrastructure is definitely there on the top of the list.
 
What would you say are the main growth drivers in a highly competitive market?
The ability to provide a solution rather than a product is extremely important. It is essential for the equipment supplier to get ingrained into the business requirement of their buyer. Once the supplier understands the pain areas and is able to craft a customised solution that effectively addresses the pain area, then the competitive advantage gained is tremendous.
The scope of work is becoming wider, the complexity of projects is increasing and the time lines are shrinking. Hence, the trend is definitely towards equipment that deliver high throughput with high reliability suitably customised to the specific project requirements.
The shrinking times lines also shrink the mobilisation time of our customer. Hence, there is now increased pressure on delivering equipment in shorter time frames. At ElectroMech we are proud of our solutions approach and have been helping our clients execute complex projects with high productivity machines for the past several decades.
Furthermore, our state of the art facilities combined with lean manufacturing principles, allow us to deliver equipment on time, every time.
 
How have the policies and initiatives taken by the government to develop the country’s infrastructure reflected on your company’s growth?
There is a definite growth in the opportunity pipeline this fiscal with many of these opportunities also getting converted into orders for us. We are looking at a jump in excess of 50 percent in our domestic order booking over previous year.
 
In the face of aggressive competition putting strong price pressure, coupled with the liquidity in the market which will impact cash flow and profitability, what are the transformations that leading companies such as yours need to bring about to ensure that you not just grow at a predetermined rate but grow substantially?
Price is a function of the value! People quoting aggressively at cut throat prices are forced to have a strategy that ensures delivering a lower value to the customer. Apparently, the customer wins as his upfront acquisition cost is lower, but if the total cost of ownership is taken into consideration, then the acquisition price is not the only yardstick that the customer should consider.
As mentioned before, the scope and size of projects are changing rapidly and a big thrust is being put on high throughput and quality. Under such scenarios, customers are also becoming wiser and are preferring to go with companies like ElectroMech that focus on delivering customised solutions and highly reliable products.
 
How is the technology placed to suit Indian requirements taking into consideration that the equipment works for extended duty cycles and adverse conditions within the country?
In India, we have the philosophy of “horses for courses”. One would always find different equipment catering to different duty classifications. You can never have a “one size fits all” approach. Technology is available and being deployed by all major manufactures like ElectroMech. Especially at ElectroMech, due to our thrust on customised solutions, we are in a unique position to precisely craft a solution as per the customer’s site requirements.
 
 What would you say are the primary challenges going ahead?
The government should now not let go of the momentum it has created so far in the infrastructure development. The government should keep spending on infrastructure! There is a serious dearth of infrastructure in the country, and I am sure that even if we continue building infrastructure for the next 25 years, we still wouldn’t have met all the demands of the Indian populace. Hence, the only request is to keep continuing the razor sharp focus that the government has today and make India at par with a developed country.

“The government should now not let go of the momentum it has created so far in the infrastructure development. The government should keep spending on infrastructure!”


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