Innovation & indigenization has been a way of life at AJAX, and we are a proud self-reliant Indian company.

- Ajay Aneja

Chief Marketing Officer, AJAX Engineering

What is your macro-level outlook on the present demand trends of concrete equipment spanning across mixing line, transportation, and placements? What about the demand of higher capacity equipment with rising requirements of productivity?

The last 2 years have been challenging for the industry and in the quarter ending September 2021, CE industry posted a robust sales growth of 47%. So, we can see some green shoots and with the Government's continued focus through different missions has increased the impetus and catapulted various infrastructure developments projects across India. The National Infrastructure Pipeline, an Rs 111 crore project by the Government which has been actioned upon, augurs well for the Indian construction equipment industry.

The infra projects awards tendering activity has started to pick up and majority of this is account by road projects. The road construction activity will gather pace from now on with the withdrawal of monsoon. Road construction has been a major volume driver for the CE industry with pace of execution pace in FY22, targeted at 40 km per day.

CRISIL estimates that the investment in Industry could rise by 30% in FY22-24 led by mega projects in High-Speed Rail, corridors, expressways, solar energy, affordable housing, airports apart from roads and railways. This projects pipeline and shortage of labour has led to increase in demand for higher capacity and productivity equipment like batching plants, boom pumps and transit mixers.

Catering to the demand trend, what are the newer and upgraded solutions you are offering across the concreting value chain? What has been the newer technological inclusion you have made in your machines (like new range of mixers for better mixing, higher engine horsepower, advancements in drum designs for the transit mixers, higher heights of boom placers with better flexibility for the truck mounted, newer pumping technologies for the stationery pumps and so on) and key deliverables therefrom?

Innovation & indigenization has been a way of life at AJAX, and we are proud to be a self-reliant Indian company for almost three decades. We have been focused on building for success & building to endure. The foundation consists of a lean, strong IT-enabled organization staffed by competent and committed professionals espousing the organizational values. On this foundation we have built our 3 pillars:

1. Innovative engineering capability that provides meaningful solutions to our customers
2. Sales and distribution network that can reach every potential customer
3. Best-in-industry customer support that can reach the customers in shortest possible time.

Over the years, we have expanded our product portfolio from self-loading concrete mixers to a total concrete equipment supplier. Our portfolio includes batching plants, boom pumps, and India's first locally made concrete slip-form paver. Today, we have a customer base pan India & across the globe. We support our customers with a network of dealerships and after-sales support touchpoints. AJAX offers world-class technology solutions to meet the growing customer demands for precision and efficiency to deliver profitability.

AJAX was the pioneer in bringing the concept of SLCM in India way back in 1992 and revolutionised the way of concreting in project sites. Over the years we have added new features like load cell weighing system for higher accuracy that has been patented. Further, we have introduced smart fleet telematics, rear view camera, admixture dosing units, bidirectional tyres, AC cabins, EH drum control, high pressure water jet, smart CBC etc., to name a few and many of these have been industry first keeping in mind our customers evolving needs. In August 2021, we introduced India's first all new CEV Stage IV compliant ARGOs that offer the best-in-class benefits with excellent fuel efficiency as well as less down time due to longer service intervals ensuring very high reliability due to our high-quality standards.

The shortage of manpower and need for a quicker placement of concrete in inaccessible areas has necessitated the use of boom pumps in the current construction processes. Smaller 4X2 truck chassis mounted concrete boom pumps have been revolutionizing the construction of commercial & residential buildings and structures. With its short turning radius and lower cost, it offers higher productivity and efficiency to the customers. We have also built a patented product self-propelled boom pump which is again an Industry first which eliminated the need for a truck chassis and offer even shorter turning radius. With its 4X4 capability, it can reach anywhere in any terrain making it easing for customer to do difficult, narrow access concreting jobs.

AJAX has also designed and manufactured India's first and only slip-form paver to build concrete roads up to 12 meters thereby eliminating the need for customers to import pavers from outside the country. We are proud to say that it has worked rigorously for over 2500 hrs and has built over 100 kms of concrete road in India, and we are confident of offering it for sales in India and abroad in coming quarters.

AJAX has charted an investment of Rs 140 crore to build a new manufacturing facility and design centre in Bangalore. These investments will further help AJAX in innovation and indigenization to follow the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and meeting the growing demands in North Africa, Middle East, and Asia (MENA).

The roadmap ahead for AJAX Engineering is to be a next gen 360° concreting solutions company. We have aligned ourselves in line with the GoI's investment plans in the Indian infrastructure segment in order to cater to the requirements of customers from residential & industrial building projects to metro rail corridors, railways, irrigation canals, aqueducts, solar power plants, road tunnels & bridges, airports, and smart city projects. Our concreting solutions have been the preferred choice of contractors across the country.

Way forward in another five years, we see ourselves emerging as an Indian MNC and to be among the top 3 international players in the concrete equipment space. A company that truly believes in the “Made in India; Made for the World” mission.

What are the newer challenges on way towards after sales services with the rising population of equipment, disruptions in skilled manpower, training, and also in parts supply owing to rising transportation costs? How do you propose to address these issues?

AJAX has a widest network of dealers for product sales & after sales support among all concrete equipment players in the country. Currently, AJAX has 35+ dealers and 100+ touch points PAN India. AJAX serves the international market through 16+ international distributors and has its presence in Asia-pacific, Middle East, and North African (MENA) regions.

The network is equipped with a full-fledged team of skilled engineers trained to handle both preventive and general maintenance. They offer (MRO) for the equipment that ensures the best value for money to customers. AJAX Customer Care can be reached 24X7 for any queries and requests, thereby enabling round-the-clock support. AJAX offers excellent serviceability options to ensure maximum uptime of the machines thereby enhancing customer satisfaction to a greater level.

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