Action Construction Equipment Ltd. (ACE) is one of India’s leading material handling and construction equipment manufacturing companies with a major market share in Mobile Cranes and Tower Cranes segment. In addition to varied types of cranes, the company also has in its product program Backhoe Loaders / Loaders, Vibratory Rollers, Forklifts, Tractors & Harvesters and other Construction Equipment. Mr. Pradeep Sharma, President, speaks about the business operations of ACE and his views about the domain developments.
Can you brief us the major/popular equipment and models thereof in your product program? What are the USPs and your plans to increase the market share in a competitive market?
Our product portfolio consists of wide range of products covering all segments of Construction, Earthmoving, Material handling and Agriculture sectors. ACE is a dominant player in the crane market having introduced innovative crane solutions / products from time-to-time. ACE introduced its NextGen Pick-n-Carry Truck Cranes which have distinctive features. These cranes use industrial driveline from Trucks resulting in improved gear shifting, better operator comfort and higher speeds. Operator sits just like sitting in a car. He has excellent all round visibility. Overall machine height is much less as compared to present machines resulting in LOWER Center of Gravity and hence improved stability and very low chances of m/c toppling. Rear Frame is connected to axle through Leaf Springs providing robust suspension and jerk free ride. ACE Cranes have a special feature that the full rated lifting capacity is available in even articulated / steered position.
Indicate the focus segments & the models supplied for the applications that contribute significantly to the top & bottom lines.
As mentioned earlier, we are the market leaders in the main product segment, i.e., Cranes. We are also fully equipped to cater to markets in product segments which we have entered in the past 5-7 years as we have huge installed capacities for our entire product range. We are confident that we can substantially scale up our market share in Earthmoving and Road Construction Equipment and also grow our Agri business. This would enable the company to improve both its Top and Bottom lines significantly without much Capex in next couple of years.
Tell us about your service support and network to keep the downtime of the production machines to the minimum.
ACE with its nationwide network of 100 dealers along with 15 Regional and Area Offices practically reaches every customer at his door step even in remote places for best Customer Care. Parts are stocked at all Dealer Points in addition to Stockists at strategic locations. We have a Toll Free Center which receives customers’ request 24×7 and it is so designed that concerned areas are informed instantly for attending to customers’ complaints.
The importance of R&D and innovation in terms of appropriate product technology and pricing, product customization for different applications, product reliability and ease of use, and last but not the least, post-sales support in terms of service and training infrastructure, ensuring the availability of spare parts and widening the distribution network to service the client better have been the hallmark of our company
Comment on the growth drivers for your business operations.
The focussed strategy of responding with speed and expertise has been rewarded over the years in the form of repeat business resulting in constant growth making us the leading company in the Mobile Cranes, Tower Cranes and Construction Equipment sector in the country. Another factor driving our growth has been the versatility of our equipment to satisfy a vast range of possible applications. Our equipment has been successfully used in many sectors like Infrastructure Construction, Power Projects, Ports & Shipyards, Dams, Metro Rail, Roads, Mining, Steel Industry, Engineering Industry, Railways, Cement, Petroleum, Defence, Chemicals & Fertilizer Plants, Warehousing, Logistics, Building Construction, etc., to name a few. Our Road Construction Equipment also has been received well in the market and is now waiting to see the market improve.
How do you see the market evolve over the next 4 years (in terms nos.)?; Brief us your export initiatives and plans for vision 2020.
ACE during the last year has unified certain verticals to achieve optimum utilization of resources while driving synergies across verticals. The growth of the Indian Construction Equipment industry is dependent on three factors: the first being the focus on infrastructure investments in terms of roads, ports, power, housing and real estate construction. The second is industrial production and capacity expansion by manufacturers in terms of new facilities and up-gradation of existing facilities to meet the ever-increasing demand. The third is seeking the emerging growth areas in terms of leasing and rental of equipment, exports, increasing the use of refurbished equipment, and most importantly, providing timely service to the clients. ACE has addressed all these factors in a planned manner to achieve growth during challenging times of 2015-16.
ACE is fully geared-up for multiplying its growth as the market improves. Overall, we are only at about 30 per cent of installed capacities. With the market turning around, we hope to be at 70-80 per cent capacity utilisation in the next 2-3 years. This would help us increase our revenues exponentially without much capex.
Despite the prevailing global uncertainties, rising needs of better infrastructure, modernized methods of agriculture and growing complexity of mining / manufacturing methods will boost demand for technologically advanced equipment in these industries. Moreover, looking ahead, the growth path widens for the emerging and developing nations, which will inevitably be attractive destinations for machine makers worldwide. The new political dispensation lends lot of credibility and hope for growth of infrastructure in future.