Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, JCB India.

?We focus on both process innovation as well as product innovation. We have dedicated teams working on each of our product lines with the sole purpose of increasing efficiency through value engineering," says Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, JCB India. In an exclusive interaction with Equipment India, Sondhi shares his views on the present scenario in the CE market and JCB?s capabilities to meet the surging demands of the market. Excerpts from the interview.

How do you rate the overall performance of the CE industry?
The construction equipment industry?s performance is directly linked to the investment in infrastructure, which is top priority for the government. There is proposed investment of over a trillion dollars that will go into urban as well as rural infrastructure building.

As a nation, we face challenges with the volatility in oil and commodity prices and inflationary pressures. The construction equipment industry will grow in tandem with the growth in the infrastructure sector. Today one can find that most of the major international construction equipment manufacturers have set up facilities in India.

The overall scenario is positive. The infrastructure sector is bound to see a growth every year propelled by government policies and support from the private sector.

How is JCB India placed to meet the surging demands for advanced products and services in this evolving scenario?
To reach world-class levels, India?s infrastructure needs a tremendous boost for the next several years. This augurs well for JCB as we continue to upgrade our products in line with the market.

With strategic investments in place, we have the right kind of facilities and can upscale our production whenever required. Our facility at Ballabgarh, Haryana, is the world?s largest backhoe manufacturing facility. We also manufa?cture the fuel-efficient JCB engine ecoMAX and the rugged and reliable Liftall out of our Ballabgarh facility. Our facilities at Pune comprise of a world-class, export- oriented component manufacturing facility and heavy- line equipment facility that manufactures our range of tracked excavators, wheeled loaders and vibratory com?pactors. We have dedicated design facilities at Ballabgarh and Pune where talented young designers are on the job to develop and test new features for our existing products as well as develop entirely new products for the market.

We have doubled our distribution outlets over the past five years and currently have over 410 outlets spread across India. Our endeavour is to be as close to the customers as we can to minimise machine downtime and for easy access to parts and authorised service. We will continue to add to these, especially in crucial pockets in semi-urban and rural India.

Would you look at scaling up exports from India, considering it is regarded as a low-cost manufacturing base by many?
For exporting equipment, there needs to be a synergy among targeted overseas markets across several factors like equipment usage pattern, climate and terrain. Some coun?tries are suitable for machines manufactured for Indian conditions and these machines are able to compete on the price front as well with products manufactured in other developed coun?tries. We currently export to SAARC and some other markets. However, we are explo?ring other opportunities.

As competition hots up in the CE market, how does JCB propose to protect its market leadership and maintain its high-level brand position?
JCB always keeps customers at the heart of everything it does. All our efforts, be it the innovative marketing strategies or the advanced levels of quality control to name a couple, are focused on creating customer satis?faction. With continuous skill enhancement and training to our employees, JCB is sure to maintain its brand posi?tion and create the best value propositions for our custo?mers. Further, we have the most extensive distribution network in the industry and will continue to increase our outlets in the critical areas which are close to construction and mining sites.

What kind of innovation is JCB involved in? Are you looking at reducing the cost of some of your existing vehicles through efficient engineering? Are you also looking at even smaller construction vehicles for more multifarious utilities?
We focus on both process and product innovations. The process innovations are a result of the process impro?ve?ments and the higher benchmarks we set for ourselves internally. The product innovations are based on our customer needs which we keep gauging through a continu?ous feedback. We have dedicated teams working on each of our product lines with the sole purpose of increasing efficiency through value engineering.

Smaller construction vehicles for multifarious utilities are already a part of our range in the UK. In India however, at present the opportunities are slightly limited for such kind of machines. We will look at introducing them in India at the right time.

Is JCB planning any diversification beyond its existing businesses?
JCB in India is currently only involved in the business of construction and earthmoving equipment. Though it may not be termed as pure diversification, we promote safety in construction and the concept of safe practices in India for which we have launched a range of safety shoes. We shall keep exploring the market for other opportunities; however, at present there are no plans to diversify into other sectors.