After Sales Service is the key differentiator between us and our competitors

Everest Engineering Equipment Pvt. Ltd., an ISO 9001–2015 certified company and a well-respected name in the domain of construction and Infrastructure equipments offering a wide range of machineries like Passenger Hoists, Tower Cranes, CNC Rebar Processing Machine, Girder Launchers, Self-Propelled Modular Transporters and Straddle Carriers.

In an exclusive interview to CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES, SHANKER RAJ, GENERAL MANAGER, EVEREST ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT PVT. LTD., speaks about his company’s products, cutting edge technologies in his company’s products and a lot more.

SHANKER RAJ, GM, EVEREST ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT PVT. LTD.,

Please provide a brief overview about the current trends regarding usage of safety systems/products and techniques at construction sites?

As of now, the Indian Industry is slowly changing towards Highly Reliable and Safe Machinery. Currently if we look at the trends in the industry, we were able to notice that even Medium Level MSME Companies are moving towards safer and reliable machineries compared to earlier.

What has been the impact of Covid-19 on your business and what are your strategies to overcome these sluggish market conditions and expand market share.

Safety of Men and Machinery is not something that any of our customers puts on second priority. Still, due to high demand in the industry, we had decided we would boost our Rental Division in which we have Passenger Hoists and EEE-Hitech Anti-Collision Systems. This was the planning that we had since Day One of Lockdown as we had anticipated that Covid-19 would bring a pause on Capital Expenditures.

Tell us about your company, the role it is playing in terms of offering safety products at construction work sites. Detail us on the range of products offered by your firm, cutting edge technology featured in your machines. What distinguishes your equipment from competitors?

We are proud to say that our safety equipment like Tower Crane Anti-Collision Device have been working in India since last 6 Years without any complaints. Initially we had introduced to the market ACD (Anti-Collision Device) and SLI (Safe Load Indicator) as two different products. Since the past two years, we’ve been able to incorporate both into one System with just the addition of some more sensors to work as ACD+SLI. We have now even incorporated Gantry Cranes into the ACD Systems which works well for maintaining safety at the Casting Yards.

Also, when we look at our Passenger cum Material Hoists, the safety features are of the highest standards. These machines are running in Europe and other Western Countries as well. In terms of quality, the Limit Switches that we use in our equipment are all of German Make and we do not even consider any otherlower grade switches. This helps us ensure that the safety is never compromised. From the day of incorporation, we’ve not had any accidents on our hoists, and this is mainly due to the standards we maintain for our hoists.

Factors such as safety, operator comfort, ease of operations are crucial. What are the steps undertaken by your company for providing the same?

We have been in the industry since more than 8 Years now and the promoters of our company have been in this industry for more than 30 Years. The Construction Industry is well aware about the standards we maintain and the priority that we give for Safety at Site. Our Anti-Collision Devices are an add-on to make sure that your tower cranes never collide. This add-on never tampers with OEM’s original design and lets the operator work with the usual comfort that he/she already had. Our Hoists are coming with the highest available safety features in the market and its operation is just as it always used to be. On the other hand, we have made it easier with the floor selection and floor calling devices, which are an add-on, that helps the machine operate just like an elevator your find in your apartment building.

Could you tell us about your technological tie ups/partners? Are you planning to launch any new products?

We have been associated with Hitech-China for the Anti-Collision Systems and we are proud to say that we’re the market leaders in the Industry with all big names in construction using it at their sites all across the country. This tie-up is mainly with the technology being designed by us in India and Hitech manufacturing it overseas to reduce the costs.

Aftermarket services as a strategic differentiator.

After Sales Service is the key differentiator between us and our competitors. We are proud of our 40+ Service Engineers, Technicians and Riggers placed strategically across the country to make sure that we are able to attend all our customer’s query. Be it the Industrial, Construction or Power Sectors, they all have been served well.

Which sectors are major demand drivers for your products? Tell us about some major projects where your products have been used.

The major demand present is in the construction sector. We are actively present in this sector and our products are well accepted here. One of the Major Project is BG Shirke Site in Taloja, Mumbai (CIDCO Mass Housing Project). Anyone who visits that site can see at least 50 tower cranes in a row supplied by us and BG Shirke’s high concerns for safety makes sure that these cranes are actively working with EEE-Hitech ACD Systems.

What are the challenges of marketing your products in the Indian market? How much of a deterrent is cost and what is your strategy to combat that?

With the whole nation and the government being very concerned in this pandemic period, we have indeed helped them by taking our marketing online. During these times we had participated in the EXCON-Digital Event and the responses were amazing.

We had also organized a service education campaign to our customers and others in the market on how much important it is to make sure the maintenance schedules are followed properly. We are indeed proud to say that we were able to minimize physical contacts to the highest extents.

Your outlook for the rentals market.

We have a very positive belief regarding the Equipment Rental Market in India. The market has quadrupled in just 6 months post lockdown. We have also introduced ACD Systems on Rental Basis for the sites that do not wish to go for capex. We have also increased our Hoist fleet by 25% to support the market with quality and safe equipment.