Mining and construction are two industry segments pressurising on sturdy design and relentless performance of crushing equipment. Propel, a part of the 40- year-old Opel group of companies which has the dedicated resources to cater to large scale infrastructure, has clearly understood these high demand and has come out with a comprehensive range of crushers and screens. In an exclusive chat with Equipment India, V Senthil Kumar, Managing Director, Propel Industries, sheds light on strength and core competencies, and the company's future plans for the crushing equipment market.

What made Propel enter the already highly competitive segment?  
Our sister concern Bull Machine, is a major supplier to crushing industry. Almost 50 per cent of Bull loaders go to the crusher segment. We got inputs from the customers that there is a big difference in crushing technology that is imported and what is locally made. There is a huge gap. We wanted to fill this space where many a client wanted an international technology product at an Indian price but did not know where to find it.

Propel is a part of Oriental Plants & Equipments, with over 40 years of manufacturing excellence, and have world's big and most renowned OEMs as clients. And because we have already excellent manufacture facility with high- tech machines, all imported, which includes even measuring machines that can measure even upto 3/1000th mm of accuracy of a component, we were sure that we can bring the kind of accuracy and quality customers are looking for.

Does it mean that the dependency on vendors is less?
Yes, of course, and that is our strength. We have complete control on the quality and consistency of components that goes into a machine. Our basic infrastructure, the investment what we have made in the mother machines, is the best available in the country, and can be compared to any international workshop. On the other side, we are a new entrant in this segment; we were able to study, examine, and evaluate the pluses and minuses of all major companies' products in this field. And what we offer is a better product that ensures better quality output. Our clients vouch for it.  
 
But Propel have been keeping a low profile....
We have been testing our product, and even at the testing stage, we have good repeat orders coming in. Our machines run for two years. The response has been quite good. We have replaced one crusher with ours, and the customer is getting around 40 per cent more productivity and the production cost has come down drastically, too. The output is far better than from the earlier machine.

What is the number of installation made so far?
We have made eight installations in the country. Now we have started focusing on developing a pan-Indian presence for sales and service. As far as the potential is concerned, it is really huge; the market is growing continuously - of course, ups and downs are there, but the overall scenario is promising. Where the market share is concerned, we are not into numbers and figures. Of course, 2009-10 our turnover was Rs 10 crore, and this fiscal we are aiming for Rs 60 crore, even if we are able to touch 60 per cent our production facility. Another five years down the market, our objective is to make our product absolutely the best in the market, coupled with the best of services in the industry. Our aim is to become simply the best quality producer of machines.

What is the capacity of the plant?
We can produce 40-50 machines an year. Though the capacity utilisation is low today, in another two to three years down the line, we will be able to reach full utilisation of capacity.

Is there any more capex planned?
We have already invested around Rs 15 crore, and investment will definitely happen from next year again.

How do you look at the service part of the game?
We have a dedicated focus to service. For example, we have incorporated a mobile chip in the machine. If there is a problem in the machine, whether the oil has to be replaced, or oil temperature is high, or the oil flow is not sufficient, directly from the machine 5 SMS is gene?rated - the customer, owner / our service engineer, etc. It's an optional feature but the cost of this is meagre and everybody prefers it. And moreover, we have a very good network established for the bull machines; it's a huge network, and we use it efficiently. We have employed service engineers throughout the country, too.

Is there any more verticals you have forayed?
Yes, we have forayed into manufacturing of hydraulic rock breakers. We have entered into a joint venture with Socomec, Italy, who is the leader in this field in Italy.With this technology and with our manufacturing experiences, we are producing the breaker 100 per cent in-house. This is the first hydraulic manufacturing unit in india.