Sanjoy Chakrabarty, Managing Director Soilmec India

Soilmec India, a full spectrum provider for foundation equipments for the ground engineering industry with a service portfolio that includes an integra?tion of design, manufacture and distribution processes, has recently introduced the continuous flight auger technology that helps increase the functional productivity at work sites, along with added enviro?nmental benefits. In an exclusive chat with Equipment India, Sanjoy Chakrabarty, Managing Director, Soilmec India, highlights the technological trends in the foundation equipment segment.

Speaking about the performance of the last two quarters, Sanjoy says, "Performance has been as good as 2008, a time when the market was really good and we expect this trend to continue till March. Soilmec India hopes to achieve a turnover of approximately 150 crore in the current financial year, which is almost double of what we had achieved last year." Sanjoy further adds, "We are working in an extremely competitive market and thus we are pushing our products like SR-40 and SR-60 hydraulic piling rigs hard. We are meeting the challenge with our rigs, tools, spares and services to cope up with the extreme competition in the machine segment."

"Soilmec expects more business from the direct user segment which is very encouraging and one hopes that this market will grow with a faster pace in comparison to the rental segment," points out Sanjoy, and further adds, "50 per cent of our customers are from the rental segment although the other segment of direct users is increasing too, and we see more growth in the direct user segment in times to come."

The company's portfolio offers a range of 20 machines, from 20 to 140 tonnes, and capacity of drilling piles, from 400mm up to 3000 mm diameters. With about 200 rigs of various types working across India including that of micropiling and fore piling, Soilmec India is working in all major projects in Burnpur, Jamshedpur, Rihand, Vindhyachal, Mumbai metros, Mumbai Monorail, Paradeep, Mansa, Damanjodi, TataNagar, Anpara, etc. Says Sanjoy, "The bored piling rigs are our frontline product in India, amongst which SR-40 & SR-60 are the best-selling products in our portfolio, these two models having sold a total of 150 rigs in India alone. We are also one of the largest manufacturers of tools and the only manufacturer of desanders in the country."

Elaborating on the technology trends and Soilmec's contribution in bringing out advanced equipment and technology, Sanjoy says, "It's a revolutionary technology we have recently introduced in the Indian marketplace - CFA (Continuous Flight Auger) Technology. Globally referred to as a dry pile, CFA helps increase the functional productivity at work sites, along with added environmental benefits such as an exponential reduction in sound emissions and other pollutants. Touted as the future of the ground engineering sector in India, the CFA enables excavation in a wide variety of soils ranging from dry, water-logged, loose, cohesive, and is also equipped to penetrate through low-capacity soft rock formations such as loamy clays, limestone and sandstone."

Patronised amongst a majority of European nations, this innovative, high performance technology is trusted primarily for its stability, minimalistic operating costs and its unique ability to operate with great ease in almost any type of ground. Soilmec became the first company in India to carry out the CFA at a site in Rajpura up to a depth of 18 m, with a diameter of 600 mm where cage was driven to 18 m depth. This opens a new era to the piling scope in India. Sanjoy says, "CFA is the future of foundation engineering technology. The dynamic and physical load tests of the experimental piles done in Rajpura gives strength to our belief; we have great expectations that CFA will become the most acceptable and economically piling methods in many part of our country."

As the competition is getting tougher, how you do differentiate your product offerings from the rest of the players? Sanjoy points out, "Essentially through better quality and great service. Soilmec India is a full spectrum provider for foun?dation equipments for the ground engin?eering industry with a service portfolio that includes an integration of design, manufacture and distribution processes. In addition, we offer repair and main?tenance services for every piece of equipment sold; our services such as equipment-design and technical-training are tailor-made to suit a client's needs. The material used to manu?facture all our equipment is only from inter?national brands of the highest quality."

He further adds, "Soilmec is a part of the Trevi Group, Italy, a company with over 70 years of experiences in the piling industry, both as a contractor and manufacturer; and this combination plays a vital role in its growth. The identification of strength of soil, technical know-how, after-sales services and fast availability of spares under every circumstance makes Soilmec different from others working in the same market."

"Apart from the availability of spare parts for our machines and ex-stock delivery from free zones, we offer repair and maintenance services for every piece of equipment sold at an integrated repair facility in our Vasai factory. Many of our services such as equipment-design and technical-training are tailor-made to suit our client's needs. We are also trying to customise our product to meet local user requirements," he adds.

Speaking about the challenges, Sanjoy says, "High custom duties on spare parts, inconsistent levels of demand and a lack of trained manpower to operate the machines being imported aresome of the major challenges that we currently face in the sector."

"We have big plans and our idea is to dominate this market with our products and technologies, and to be recognised as one of the best companies offering excellent services and customer support in our segment," says Sanjoy, who is also the co-founder of Soilmec India.