Spartan has been amongst pioneers who introduced tower cranes in India. With Spartan?s thorough kno?wledge and experience in manu?fac?turing, marketing and customer service for tower cranes, they have a clear edge over the competition. ?With nume?rous tower cranes supplied by Spartan on various construction sites across India, we are well aware of the manufacturing standards and safety features, which make us stand apart from the rest. Our safety standards start right from desi?g?ning, procurement of raw material and manufacturing of tower cranes,? says Vikram Mehta, Managing Director, Spartan India. Excerpts from the interview.

Brief us about the current safety norms and regulations for tower cranes.
We have a state-of-the-art fully equipped specialised tower crane manufacturing facilities at our plant in China which include special purpose machines like jigs and fixtures for each component for accuracy and precision, an enclosed temperature controlled paint booth and in-house control panel manufacturing facilities to provide a safe and sturdy tower crane. Spartan uses the best and the safest electrical components like VFD (Variable Frequency Drive), circuit breakers, contactors, relays, limit switches and transformers from the world leaders, Schneider-Telemechanique, etc.

We provide the latest and advanced European technology in the flat top design, which makes the tower crane safe and sturdy. We provide a single-piece base mast, fully welded with additional support to give more stability to the entire structure. The mast-to-mast connection of Spartan cranes is through galvanised pins instead of the conventional bolting system which tends to get loose and if not tightened regularly, becomes a safety hazard. An overload/movement limiter is provided which cuts off the power supply when the crane is overloaded beyond the specified limit as per the load chart provided. An anemometer is provided so that operator can view the wind speed and informed decisions can be taken to operate or stop the crane. Spartan can also provide TPS display device (Total Protection System) which displays the exact load carried at a particular radius and distance.

Every crane from the Spartan factory is erected and load-tested by our quality control team as per international standards prior to dispatch.

Do we need to upgrade the existing specs and standards? What are your suggestions?
We at Spartan believe in the highest standard of quality and reliability. We take efforts to be consistent in design to make it sturdy with high performance. We do not compromise on any safety parameter, thereby building trust in our customers. The benchmark for safety has always been to follow and meet the European standards whilst manufacturing the tower crane.

What is your take on the gap between the existing norms and the lack of implementing agencies? What can be done to iron out the issues?
Spartan has always been dependent on our internal quality checking team. We have an efficient and deserving internal inspection team, which doesn?t leave any stone unturned to assure the customer with the safest and more rugged tower cranes; this is part of our customer satisfaction team. PMC (Preventive Maintenance Contract) is regularly conducted at sites to affirm our committed service to the regular inspection of smooth tower crane operations.

Are safety features a major factor when the customers opt for new products?
Safety in tower cranes is the foremost point of consideration for any manufacturer, as well as for various construction companies. With recent developments and the stringent policies regarding safety norms, it has more gained more importance and seriousness. Not only manufacturers but also the customers are under pressure to provide the safest possible tower cranes, Customer not only prefer Spartan for tower cranes but also utilise our strength in erection, commissioning, height extension, dismantling and shifting of the tower cranes through trained and experienced service engineers and skilled labour. Spartan?s AMC (Annual Maintenance Contracts) and PMC (Preventive Maintenance Contracts) have worked wonders with the customers in maintaining hazard-free tower cranes.

Is cost a deterrent for the sale of advanced machines with in-built safety features?
No value addition comes without added cost. We know it but at Spartan, safety and quality standards are placed at prime position with a commitment to provide the best to the customers. Though cost is a deterrent for the sale of advanced machines with in-built safety features, Spartan has been able to build a brand only due to the same reason. And we are quite sure these characteristics are the ones which take Spartan places in the long run. Those who consider safety as a deterrent due to its cost do not survive for long.

What is the role played by Spartan to ensure safety at the job site?
Man makes machines and the service keeps them running. Every machine dispatched from the Spartan factory is erected and load tested by our quality control team as per international standards prior to dispatch. Spartan machines come with a detailed manual to guide the customer on aspects like operation, maintenance and safety features. A thorough understanding of the manual guarantees the safe operations of machines.

Talking about engineers who actually work on tower cranes, we have a well-trained team of technicians with 10-20 years of experience in tower cranes with professional companies. We have nine branches all over India and a dedicated team with both mechanical and electrical background, at each location. Overall, Spartan has a 150-member strong service team to take care of customers 24x7.

For safety in erection and commissioning, we have our own in-house training facilities to impart training on safe usage and maintenance of machines to our engineers and operators. Our team also conducts special training camps at sites to ensure safe operations and handling of machines. We educate our customers to take the services of trained operators only without compromising on the operator?s salary. We have a strong pan-India spares and service network for easy and fast service support. For immediate supply of spares, we stock the inventory of all critical spares at all branch offices to ensure genuine spares availability and minimum downtime of machines.

We always advice our customers always to use genuine spares from Spartan and not fall prey to the low grade, low value spares, which in the long run would be reason for mishaps.

Talking about tower cranes, in addition to our strong customer care team, Spartan also has a focused customer delight team, comprising our most experienced, competent and knowledgeable engineers for:

? Thorough inspection of tower crane post installation.
? Handing-over ceremony to the customers by giving commissioning reports, inspection reports and sweets.
? Scheduling & conducting Preventive Maintenance Clinics (PMC) at regular intervals.
? Enrolling customers for AMCs and spare parts rate contracts to ensure they use genuine spare and utilise our services for erection, height extension and dismantling.
? Garnering positive and negative feedback from the customers, discussing the same with the core team at HO and factory to ensure further perfection in product and systems.
? Assisting on getting third- party inspection done for our tower cranes.

What was your performance in the last two quarters and what is the growth envisaged for this fiscal?
Considering the market trend and stiff competition, the performance of the first two quarters based on a year-on- year comparison is very promising. We have been able to achieve 30 per cent growth in a very tight market situation. We are sure that the response we are getting to our tower cranes and also to our newly launched Multi-Functional Hoist- MFH Zip, we are sure of meeting our fiscal targets. There is fierce competition in all our product lines but this has never deterred Spartan?s belief in providing the best in quality and safe machines to the industry, bypassing the cost-saving stunts by other manufacturers.