Ammann Apollo: “Our Tie-up Will Deliver Optimum Road Building Solutions”

Mr. Rolf J.Jenny

Mr. Asit Patel

Mr. Asit Patel, MD, Ammann Apollo India and Mr. Rolf J.Jenny, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development, Ammann, said that the joint venture between the Swiss road construction equipment manufacturing conglomerate Ammann and Apollo, a leading manufacturer of road construction equipment in India is an alliance between two organizations who have similar business ethics and philosophy. The 70:30 JV will leverage the proven technology of Ammann and the market reach of Apollo, to have a very strong market presence in the growing Indian road construction equipment market. The JV is manufacturing equipment in line with the engineering standards of Ammann and will be constantly introducing the latest technology based asphalt mixing plants, paving and compaction equipment at competitive prices. In an exclusive interview to Mr. P.P. Basistha, during a recent technology meet (Tech Xage 2014) at Ammann Apollo's factory in Ditasan near Ahmedabad, the duo stated that the alliance would allow Ammann-Apollo to have a major presence in all the verticals across the road building equipment market segment in India by offering benefits and value to the customers. Excerpts:

Explain the initiative behind the joint venture and how it will ensure your leveraged presence?

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The basis behind the joint venture is quite easy to describe. Ammann, the global technology leader in road construction equipment was looking towards establishing its footprint in the fast growing Indian road construction sector, buoyed by increasing demand for quality road projects. Apollo, the leader in Indian road construction equipment sector was the ideal partner for the joint venture given its ability to provide technologically advanced products at competitive prices, and efficient after-market support with its pan India network. With the support of Ammann's engineering strengths, the joint venture has made technological advancements to the existing range of Apollo's products to improve their productivity and overall performance. This and the brand image of Apollo will help in improved acceptance of this range of products with the customers in India who are building quality roads. In parallel, in keeping with Ammann's world-wide recognition as premium solution provider, we will be offering the high end asphalt mixing plant of Ammann manufactured to the exacting standards of Ammann at our Indian facility, with key components imported from Switzerland and priced competitively. So the customer has a wide range to choose from a single source, an option not offered by competition. We will showcase the new products of JV at bC India 2014.

Does the venture allow Apollo to access the global network of Ammann?
This is a joint venture and Ammann Apollo is an Ammann company which automatically gives the JV access to the global network of Ammann. Apollo has been exporting asphalt mixing plants and paver finishers even prior to formation of the JV to various countries. The JV Company will improve on this export sale with the whole world as the potential market. The planned expansion and modernisation of our facility will help in catering to the quality standards of the new markets.

What are the new solutions and classes the venture will promote and complement with each other?
Two major solutions in asphalt mixing plants - High end of 260 tons/ hr capacity to meet the requirements of customers undertaking large size road projects and 80-100 ton/hr capacity plant to meet the requirements of customers of smaller road projects. Both the plants will have the state-of- the-art technology of Ammann quality and controls. The plants will be highly energy efficient and future ready with focus on environment protection. This will help the customers to increase their operational profits and also to add on the features as and when required.

And a range of compaction equipment to address this high volume market segment.

With rising pressure on profit margins of contractors, the Indian road construction market has been attaining price sensitivity. How will the venture synergize between quality and price?
All our equipment is highly energy efficient, have the lowest product life cycle cost and is reliable with high uptime. With localization of manufacturing, the upfront capital cost is competitive and our capital cost per ton of output is lower than competition. The product improvements and the value additions more than justify the capital costs. Few notable initiatives among these are improving the visibility of the compactors with open view for both drums while sprinkling, improvements in operators' comfort and ergonomics with two drive levers for easy hands on operation on either side.

How will the venture strengthen product availability, support, and services?
Under the association, we will be soon undertaking capacity expansion, which will result in increased product availability. We will be expanding our sales and services network from 17 at present to 20 by 2015. To undertake appropriate maintenance of the new advanced products, we are getting the Indian service personnel trained in our facilities in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Brazil and China. The advanced training for the personnel will ensure high quality of product support to not only the existing population of close to 10,000 units but also to the new solutions being rolled out of the joint venture.

With expansion in capacities and commensurate product offerings, will you be appointing dealers?
For now, we will continue to sell and service the products through our own network. However, based on the demand, we may go in for a dealer network in the future.