Concrete Equipment: Macons have almost 2,500 installations in the country
The special product segment is a fast emerging market. Macons has considerable expertise in this area and have already acquired a 40 per cent of the market, says BR Gururaj, Vice President - Sales & Marketing, Macons Equipments, in an exclusive chat with Equipment India. Excerpts from the interview.
What does this year's business performance pattern look like, compared to the last fiscal?
Even though last year the market was dull, we have been able to retain our market share because some good projects were on. The market has picked up faster this year and we are hopeful of ending this fiscal with a 40 per cent growth. In fact, our plan is to double the turnover in the next two years; last year we ended up with Rs 60 crore, this year we will be surpassing the target figure of Rs 100 crore, and by 2013, our aim is to clock Rs 250 crore. We have almost 2,500 installations in the country so far.
Where do you see the growth coming from?
It's basically the development of infrastructure; be it roads, airports, high-rise structures, malls, social infrastructure, there is huge scope. Basically, we are concentrating on the concrete sector, and our major strength is our extensive range of products for concrete- making equipment, as well as ancillary products like transit mixers, dumpers, pavers, kerb- making machines to cater to differ requirements of concreting whether it is road construction, dam construction, high rise building, irrigation projects, etc.
How do you view the potential of the power segment?
It's huge. The coming fiscal, our focus will be more on the power sector as lots of private players are coming out with big projects in the sector.
What about the scope from the RMC segment?
We have a presence in the RMC sector and we are trying to consolidate in that segment. We are in discussion with major companies like Ultra Tech Concrete, Lafarge and ACC concrete.
How do you look at the potential from the special product segment like concrete blocks and hume pipes, etc?
The special product segment is a fast emerging market. We have good expertise in this area and have already got 40 per cent of the market. It is a capital intensive market, and the project take-off may be slow. Many standard batching plant manufacturers are not focusing this market as it is a time-consuming process. The technology differs, as each customer has got his own mix design, the plant layout is different; for example, the hume pipe manufacturing machine is generally imported, and we need to integrate our batching plant with their plant design. We need controlled concrete which otherwise affects the quality of the end-product. There are many international players setting up office here, and one noticeable shift is that these players are focusing not only on high-end customers but also the bottom of the pyramid. So the spread is fast and the volume increase is also fast.
What is the trend regarding the small and medium capacity mixers?
There is a shift towards automation among the low-end customers which gives ample scope for our small capacity batching plants of 12 cum and 15 cum, for dedicated projects. Today, many customers prefer to invest in small capacity plants rather than depending on RMC because of delivery constraints and price fluct?uations, etc. Volume-wise, small and medium capacity plants makes almost 20 per cent of our total sales. Customers are more aware on what is happening in the market and go into depth on information about the product. It's not just the price structure that matters; they dive into the technical aspects of the machine, too. So there is more acceptance towards a quality product.
Macons launched self-loading transit mixers during the last Excon. What has been the response so far?
We are the second company to manufacture self-loading transit mixers in the country for which we have a joint venture with Dumax srl Italy. This was launched during Excon, and commercially we launched the product only a couple of months ago. The response is very good; we have already sold over 25 units. The demand for the product is more than the supply and we are unable to meet the demand; and we are building up ourselves for the same. We need to gear up for the market demand which will grow exponentially.
Tell us about Macon's core strength and competencies.
We have a huge range of products starting from 12 cum upto 120 cum. Considering the range of combinations to suite the specific requirements of the custo?mer; added to that, we are also focusing on the special segments of concrete. We have sales and services centres spread in all the major cities in almost all the states, and we operate through channel partners for support of spares.
What does this year's business performance pattern look like, compared to the last fiscal?
Even though last year the market was dull, we have been able to retain our market share because some good projects were on. The market has picked up faster this year and we are hopeful of ending this fiscal with a 40 per cent growth. In fact, our plan is to double the turnover in the next two years; last year we ended up with Rs 60 crore, this year we will be surpassing the target figure of Rs 100 crore, and by 2013, our aim is to clock Rs 250 crore. We have almost 2,500 installations in the country so far.
Where do you see the growth coming from?
It's basically the development of infrastructure; be it roads, airports, high-rise structures, malls, social infrastructure, there is huge scope. Basically, we are concentrating on the concrete sector, and our major strength is our extensive range of products for concrete- making equipment, as well as ancillary products like transit mixers, dumpers, pavers, kerb- making machines to cater to differ requirements of concreting whether it is road construction, dam construction, high rise building, irrigation projects, etc.
How do you view the potential of the power segment?
It's huge. The coming fiscal, our focus will be more on the power sector as lots of private players are coming out with big projects in the sector.
What about the scope from the RMC segment?
We have a presence in the RMC sector and we are trying to consolidate in that segment. We are in discussion with major companies like Ultra Tech Concrete, Lafarge and ACC concrete.
How do you look at the potential from the special product segment like concrete blocks and hume pipes, etc?
The special product segment is a fast emerging market. We have good expertise in this area and have already got 40 per cent of the market. It is a capital intensive market, and the project take-off may be slow. Many standard batching plant manufacturers are not focusing this market as it is a time-consuming process. The technology differs, as each customer has got his own mix design, the plant layout is different; for example, the hume pipe manufacturing machine is generally imported, and we need to integrate our batching plant with their plant design. We need controlled concrete which otherwise affects the quality of the end-product. There are many international players setting up office here, and one noticeable shift is that these players are focusing not only on high-end customers but also the bottom of the pyramid. So the spread is fast and the volume increase is also fast.
What is the trend regarding the small and medium capacity mixers?
There is a shift towards automation among the low-end customers which gives ample scope for our small capacity batching plants of 12 cum and 15 cum, for dedicated projects. Today, many customers prefer to invest in small capacity plants rather than depending on RMC because of delivery constraints and price fluct?uations, etc. Volume-wise, small and medium capacity plants makes almost 20 per cent of our total sales. Customers are more aware on what is happening in the market and go into depth on information about the product. It's not just the price structure that matters; they dive into the technical aspects of the machine, too. So there is more acceptance towards a quality product.
Macons launched self-loading transit mixers during the last Excon. What has been the response so far?
We are the second company to manufacture self-loading transit mixers in the country for which we have a joint venture with Dumax srl Italy. This was launched during Excon, and commercially we launched the product only a couple of months ago. The response is very good; we have already sold over 25 units. The demand for the product is more than the supply and we are unable to meet the demand; and we are building up ourselves for the same. We need to gear up for the market demand which will grow exponentially.
Tell us about Macon's core strength and competencies.
We have a huge range of products starting from 12 cum upto 120 cum. Considering the range of combinations to suite the specific requirements of the custo?mer; added to that, we are also focusing on the special segments of concrete. We have sales and services centres spread in all the major cities in almost all the states, and we operate through channel partners for support of spares.
A-303, Navbharat
Estates,
Zakaria Bunder Road,
Sewri (West), Mumbai - 400 015,
Maharashtra, India
+91-22-24193000
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