VSAPL Provides World-Class Quality in a Cost-Effective Way to Aggregate/Concrete Handling Industry

"The government's renewed focus on Roads, ports, airports, and other infrastructure projects bodes well for the immense growth potential of the Indian construction segment and as a strong player in the aggregate handling market, we expect some good times to come," says Mr. Vipul Gupta, Director, VSAPL in an interview with Maria R where he adds, "Due to the highly promising market, almost all players from the world have entered the country and there is cut throat competition in the industry. There is a constant pressure on them to reduce costs without affecting the quality of parts and in this endeavor our role, at VSAPL, is crucial. We help them in identifying parts that can be localized without compromising with quality and also work with them in finding a cost-effective way to produce them. With our own in-house designing capability, we produce high quality parts to match international standards so that their need to import them is no longer there."

How do you see the business outlook for Indian construction equipment in general and Vipul business in particular?
Technically speaking, Indian construction segment is still in the early stages of growth and the potential that it has is immense. We feel that the last 2 decades have seen work in the priority but basic infrastructure, and a lot needs to be done to take this development to the vast expanse of the country and its backward and far flung areas. Fortunately, development of infrastructure is back on the priorities of the current government and we are hoping that some major work should be witnessed in the coming few years. Work in all sectors namely Roads and highways, ports, airports, power projects, railway, water supply and the much promoted smart cities projects of the government should start. Restarting of old projects is underway and fresh projects have been awarded by this government with a view to build the much needed infrastructure in the fastest possible manner. This bodes very well for the equipment sector and as a strong player in the aggregate handling market, we expect some good times to come. VSAPL has a strong presence in this construction sector due to its range of solutions for aggregate production, aggregate processing and placement equipment.

Could you please brief us on Vipul growth story by touching upon important milestones that help the company to reach its current stature?
VSAPL started as a solution provider to the aggregate handling plant users i.e. namely the construction companies, in the middle nineties of the last century and is now a widely known and respected player in the market. The company initially tried to bridge the gap between the OEMs and the replacement market by providing high quality solutions to the users of the equipment comparable to OEM standards with a much faster lead time. In few years, the top construction companies of the country became loyal customers and VSAPL has been getting repeated business over the years from them till date. In around 2005, there was a shift in the company's business model & it was decided to pursue the OEMs directly for supplies and we are currently proud to be associated with a few OEMs in the industry and talks are on with some more which we expect to be fruitful soon.

What are the products and services being offered by Vipul to OEMs in the country?
VSAPL provides parts solution to the OEMs and produces high quality parts to match international standards so that their need to import them is no longer there. Some of the OEMs have been constantly engaged with us for identification and development of such parts from their entire range so that they can benefit from lower costs and easy availability of the same. We are working with companies manufacturing Stone Crushing Equipment, Concrete Processing & Placement Equipment, and Mortar Spraying Equipment. All our customers in the OEM segment are European/American companies and are the leaders in the world in their respective field.

Based on the requirement of Indian OEM's array of individual products and standards; how are you serving to the individual needs?
OEMs in India are faced with a peculiar problem of very high price sensitivity when it comes to selling their range of equipment and in the after-market. Due to the highly promising market, almost all players from the world have entered the country and there is cut throat competition in the industry. There is a constant pressure on them to reduce costs without affecting the quality of parts and in this endeavor our role is crucial. We help them in identifying parts that can be localized without compromising with quality and also work with them to find a cost effective way to produce them. Our own in-house designing capability and our production guys are well experienced and competent to assist the OEMs in this critical process.

Our competency can be gauged from the fact that these very OEMs are now proposing our name to their global sourcing divisions, backed with authentic performance data that they themselves have been able to generate from the field.


What are the various quality control systems placed in the company to ensure product quality, performance and its reliability for the clients?
To be successful in the field of import substitution and new development, the most important part is played by the technical skills of design and development team. We have good people with rich industry background taking care of these functions. They are able to correlate the applications aspect with designing limitations and come out with a product which is not prone to any failure when it is put to actual use. Once a successful product is developed, the ability to keep on producing sustained quality is a challenge on which we are working. Standardization in processes and in sourcing of raw material is a primary concern which we are trying to tackle. We have also introduced semi automation in some processes prone to human failures due to fatigue or lack of skills. We are hopeful to be fully ready with upgraded systems and state-of-the-art machinery capable of delivering consistent quality, very soon.

Fortunately our customers understand the intricacies of the whole process and support us fully ensuring business relations are not affected. They fully cooperate in this continuous improvement and also realize that they stand to gain the most in future.

A word about your marketing distribution network and after market services.
We are currently based out of New Delhi with all production and warehousing facilities in NCR. We have a few dealers and resellers in various states which market our product and provide local service to the customers in that area. However, in view of the customer demand and increasing interest shown by some people in states where we are unrepresented, we are planning to cover most states by way of new dealer appointments as soon as we meet the right people.

With government's various initiative of infrastructure development, what are company's future plans to expand and stay ahead in the emerging competitive environment?
We have undertaken upgradation of systems, plant and machinery and have adopted automation for processes prone to human failures. We have also taken up standardization at all levels including sourcing of raw material, out sourced vendor processes, checking systems and manpower skills. We hope that by the time the market actually sees growth on the ground and customer demand is received, we shall be fully prepared to provide a truly world class experience in terms of quality and service to our customers.