With the country’s road infrastructure fast improving, the Trailer Code AIS 113 coming into force and Government initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission gaining widespread awareness, companies offering solutions related to waste management and trailer & truck body applications are bound to be in demand. One such firm making the most of the available opportunities is Ensol which is leaving no stone unturned in making a mark with its tech-savvy and quality conscious approach.
We spoke to Mr. Arun Sharma, Managing Director, Ensol Group, to find out more about the company and how it plans to leverage its capability to tap the business potential offered by the market.
Excerpts:
Please tell us about the inception and the growth journey of Ensol over the last 15 years. What was the purpose of forming such a company and how has its journey been?
Back in 2001, most of the waste in our country was handled manually, which was totally different in comparison with other Western countries where mechanisation of waste handling was a normal practice. We saw the opportunity and started Ensol (ENvironmental SOLutions) Multiclean Equipments Private Ltd. with its focus on high-quality clean tech products to provide integrated waste handling solutions.
In the beginning, the key clientele was municipal bodies with limited budget and purchase capacities. However, later on, the entire nation’s focus shifted towards cleanliness. Manual labour was difficult to find, and civic bodies started getting mechanised cleaning equipment budget, along with various infra projects funded by developmental institutions.
We started Ensol with trading and later on moved into own manufacturing in 2005. Today we offer a full range of special and civic utility vehicles for waste handling, oil spill recovery system, sewer cleaning equipment, disaster, lifecare, etc. The journey has been very exciting so far and we hope to continue at the same pace.
Over the last few years, the Ensol Group has diversified into other growth segments like Transportation solutions and Infrastructure technologies through its group companies Ensol Industries Private Ltd. and Ensol Infratech Private Ltd. and has recently set up a tippers & trailer manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of ~4000 units.
Do you work with any domestic/overseas technology partners?
We have a few OEM partners from Italy and Germany, who are experts in their own technology and help us continually improve our offerings and challenge us on the existing technology.
Where are your products built? What kind of capacities do you have installed at your facility?
Our manufacturing base is in Rajasthan. We have three manufacturing plants in Jaipur with a combined capacity of around 5,000 special vehicles annually.
How has the Government’s Swachh Bharat mission driven your company’s growth? Which are the major regions within the country you cater to and could you list out some of your major customers?
Initiatives like the Swachh Bharat mission help the industry in a big way as we don’t need to educate the customer and user. Awareness is already there. We need to ensure the reach, execution and aftersales support.
We have over 1,000 customers and have delivered over 15,000 units to satisfied customers. We have our customer base pan-India and neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Bangladesh and in various industries – municipal bodies, waste management companies, petrochemical, defence, railways, logistics and automobile companies. Indian Railways, Indian Oil, Jindal JSW, Reliance and Coal India are among our major clients.
Coming to your relatively new diversification into trailers and truck body applications, why did you choose to enter this field? What potential do you see in it and what are your targets for this business by March 2019?
We are hoping that with the AIS code coming into force, improvement in road infrastructure and growth in the economy, the sector will be even more organised with sufficient room for more players like us to meet the demand. In the year one we are looking at 500-1,000 units as the entire focus will be on building the customer base, quality products and the service network.
The trailer & truck body application space is a competitive one, like any other field. What gives you the confidence that you would be successful in getting a meaningful share of business from the market?
Our key focus has been on quality and safety, as well as customer success. This is specific into the B2B segment product. Hence quality and customer success are paramount for us. We would like to leverage the heritage of the Ensol brand and hope to get customer confidence to grow with the market.
How do you ensure proper service support for the products you sell? How strong is your workforce?
Our current workforce is over 200 people. Currently we are building our service network and channel partners to ensure customer expectations are met.
What are Ensol’s medium- to long-term growth plans? What was your company’s turnover for FY18 and what are your targets for FY19?
The group turnover was approx. $15 million last year, and we are looking at closing this fiscal with a 50% top line growth.