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- Dr Vikram Mehta, Managing Director, Spartan Engineering Industries Pvt Ltd Among leaders of manufacturing construction equipment in India, Spartan has been a pioneer in bringing in multi-functionality in passenger and material hoists. The company organised a customer meet at their headquarter in Mumbai from September 3-5, 2015, and following a positive response, the event was held again on September 11-12, 2015. Spartan´s new series of bar bending machines, cutting machines, SRP and hoists were displayed at the event. Besides the objective of presenting the machineries, the prime idea was to interact with the industry and seek their feedback on various aspects of the machines. In its latest update, the company announced the series of machinery that have been branded - Spartan´s bar bending and bar cutting machines are now called the ´Gladiator´ series; man and material hoists called ´Aviator´ series; rope suspended platforms termed as the ´Sky Climber´ series; and tower cranes called the ´Hercules´ series. These advanced machineries come with path-breaking safety features and operations along with being reliable and aesthetic. CW spoke with Dr Vikram Mehta, Managing Director, Spartan Engineering Industries Pvt Ltd, on the current trends in the industry and the products they offer... What are your views on the current construction equipment industry? The China hoist manufacturing market is 30,000 units annually, of which 40 per cent is exported. Today, we being the largest manufacturer in India, we manufacture close to 600 units. Other Indian manufacturers make units, which sums up to about 100 units. So, the India hoist market manufactures around 700-800 units, as compared to China´s 30,000 units market. Also, India has a lot of construction work, but the issue is the cost. Our hoists of 1 tonne, 1.5 tonne and 2 tonne are cost-effective, and this is where we have expanded the market. We spent the first few years in educating people to adopt modern equipment. Today, the market is matured enough, and hopefully, the imports will slowdown for good quality Indian manufacturers, especially with the government initiating the idea of Make in India. We invested over Rs 2 crore in our R&D set up and have tied-up with partners for renting equipment as well. What are the challenges you face at present? There should be safety norms, especially in products. An example is the material hoist (500 kg), which is a path-breaking product; big contractors and developers are adopting this for safety, but the government is yet to implement it. Also, a major challenge is the perception built about Indian manufacturers globally. The reputation of established Indian manufacturers is affected due to the impression created by non-performing contractors. So, how do you ensure safety standards in your offerings? We have tied-up with a global company for this, and they calculate all the safety measures and audits. What is the decision making process to innovate new equipment in Spartan? It is based on customer feedback. We are focused with the vision to be number one in our offerings. Introduce us to your strategies to be ahead in this competition? We have a one page strategy plan - every department within the company is analysed, following which we implement action plans. Here, strategy is important - the ´SparshCustomer Meet´ too was an outcome of the same. Who are the potential buyers of the new products launched? Our buyers are a mix of builders and contractors. The big contractors - Omkar, Mittal, Lodha, L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji - are all our potential buyers. L&T is the contractor for most of the metro projects being developed in the country and we are fortunate that they use our hoist for these projects. (Communication by the management of the company)