Mr. Senthil Kumar, MD, Propel Industries.
How did 2016 pan out for Propel?
2016 has been a very significant year for Propel. The growth in the domestic market continued to be a strong contributor. Also, the international market has opened new avenues for expansion and improved our visibility as a global manufacturer. Expansion of the manufacturing facility and skill development are some of the major activities that took a big jump during 2016.
What is your view of the technological advancements and growth projection of the construction and mining equipment in India over the next five years?
Technological advancements will remain a key differentiator in this sector in the next five years. Efficiency and green technology will lead. High capacity equipment, stage reduction and reducing the cost per ton of production are going to be the market expectations. At double the rate year on year, the construction and mining sector is going to increase projects, investments and employment as well. We see an optimistic future ahead of both in the domestic and international markets.
What market potential do you see for your products in the North-East and sub-Himalayan region, and what is your strategy to garner a major share? What are the major challenges of working in these regions?
The public and private sector companies are concentrating intensely in utilizing the natural resources in these regions. These regions are significant and strategical business locations for construction and mining equipment manufacturers in the forthcoming years. We are partnering with more local dealers and also deploying more dedicated service engineers in these regions.
Keeping a watchful eye on the demand of the industry and customer needs; are you looking to introduce any innovative product in the near future which will give you an edge over competition?
Propel Industries will soon introduce its track-mounted crushers. The new track plants will feature jaw, cone and vertical shaft impactors (VSI) and will be manufactured at the new upcoming plant at Coimbatore. Propel products comprising stationery and wheel mounted plants, will cover all the segments of crushing.
Propel has introduced a new concept of Mobile Service plant in India. What is the idea behind this initiative? Please highlight the salient features.
Propel had introduced a mobile service plant in India in 2014 to provide timely maintenance and quick service support to its customers. Propel is the fastest growing crusher manufacturer in India and has supplied to a large set of customers. In order to support the customers to utilize the equipment at peak performance and reduce the service turnaround time the initiative was launched and since then the vehicle is serving the customers on time. The mobile servicing plant is built with a comprehensive tool kit to service the equipment without dismantling. General servicing operations like oil change, greasing, etc are designed to perform at high speed.
To further strengthen your market presence, is there any expansion plan for your distribution network? Please brief us about your operator training program.
We are growing and the feedback from our customers has been excellent. We are doing well as far as the domestic market is concerned and looking forward to strengthening the eastern region by adding a distribution network and deploying dedicated sales and service teams.
We are also focusing on international markets; Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and Australia, are some of the locations we are concentrating on expanding our operations through dealer and distribution networks.
As part of the customer service program, the Service and Project team at Propel organizes operator training program to operators throughout India to support customers in better operation, safety and maintenance practices. Propel organized the 4th edition of Customer (Operators) Orientation Programme, a joint initiative with north and west region customers on 25 August 2016 at Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. Operator training program for south region operators was held in May 2016 at Coimbatore. The aim of the program was to educate customers (plant managers and operators) on better maintenance of the equipment and to improve efficiency.
How do you make your products cost competitive to own and operate for the highly price-sensitive Indian market?
We are focusing more on customers looking for quality; we have an advantage of international quality equipment at Indian cost. We focus more on helping customers in achieving better returns through factors like quality and quantity output and reducing cost over wear and tear.
What are your plans for the upcoming bauma Conexpo India?
We are displaying our recent innovations Eco Wash 150 and Cone crusher QM 250, the most in-demand products in the market for medium size processing units. The equipment is displayed at stall no.- 667 in the north-east location of the outdoor area.
NBM&CW December 2016
