THE LIFECYCLE CONCEPT

Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya
heads the India Sales Organization for Crushing & Screening Equipment
SANDVIK India

A humble man by nature and an efficient leader, Vice President Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya heads the India Sales Organization for Crushing & Screening Equipment at SANDVIK India. Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya, Vice President spoke participation and vision post-EXCON 2017.

How would you describe the Company's experience at the EXCON 2017?
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: It was amazing! Number of footfalls has increased drastically. We met lot of our existing and future customers. We have launched our 'Lifecycle Concept' in aftermarket, wherein, we will continue to add value to customers till the life of the equipment.

Please apprise our esteemed readers about company's major breakthrough with prospective customers at EXCON 2017.
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: I am pleased to share that best experience and real breakthrough we had is the culmination of three full plants, out of which, one plant is with the latest launched cone crusher model CH540 Cone crusher. This is really an excellent motivation for us.

EXCON brings all the major CE competitors under one roof. How would you describe the 'nature of competitiveness' among your nearest competitor(s) in the field of Mining & Rock Technology?
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: All other manufacturers are doing great, but we are not into any kind of competition. We are working towards our company's vision to provide quality solution to our valued customer base, reduce their OPEX, Quick Return of Investment. We want to sell the best solution to customers. What makes us unique is, we partner our customer with “Lifecycle” and not just sell Plant and Equipment.

Name the best-selling Mining Equipment from your stable, which made a solid mark at the EXCON 2017.
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: Our best and most valued sold equipment was CH540 cone crusher. It is the latest launch from our Swedish Factory, an excellent cone crusher to produce Sand, which is increasingly becoming the demand for Indian market with banning of Natural Sand by the government. Its high automation with ASRi& and crushability makes it an unique product in the market.

What makes your best-selling Mining Equipment better than other Companies? Please highlight them.
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: As I said, we are more on partnering with customers with our value of equipment than to competing with others.

What are the latest innovative technological evolution in the field of Mining and Rock Technology?
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: Our automation like “San Remo” and ASRI has taken our crushers to a much higher level than the normal operational methods in India. Already, we have started offering this to our customers.

The Indian market is yet to recover from the affects of the three Tsunamis - Demonetisation, GST and the Rising NPAs. How does the Company plan to overcome these 'major' hurdles in 2018?
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: I do not believe that any of these can be compared with tsunamis. Rather, I have completely an opposite view of this. To me, it is a right way to do things and a bold reform towards tax reformation. Industry was looking for uniform and simple tax structure. GST being a concurrent tax on supply of Goods and services is expected to bring in predictability for infrastructure which is always positive. There were lot of speculations but with understanding of availability of input tax credit will neutralize the concerns. There were some initial hick ups on the tax bracket (28%) of Crusher items, which is now firmed at 18%. The higher rate of GST in the Cement Industry had a hit, which has affected our business, but again Industry got used to it and came back to normalcy. The demonetization process of course brought with it quite headaches for the Crusher Industry last quarter, faced with cash crunch and environment of uncertainty, but market quickly bounced back to normalcy.

What it means for the Company to participate in EXCON 2017?
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: EXCON is billed as the biggest Construction equipment trade show of India. That way, it is one of the best platforms to showcase our product to the relevant industry. Large number of Customer visits EXCON, which makes a good platform for relation building, networking with clients. It is perfect place to launch new product or new concept. Furthermore, there are huge numbers of exhibitors, from which we got to know about the latest technology, innovations and great place to find vendors under one roof. It gives us opportunity to engage with the representatives of various businesses and nodal and governmental organization .

Please describe the 'Global Scenario of the Company'.
Ashoktaru Chattopadhyaya: Sandvik has restructured a year back and formed a new Business Area called 'SMART' meaning Sandvik Mining and Rock technology. Within this, we have seven Product areas, and among these Crushing & Screening is one import Business line. We are operating in more than 150 countries. In the Year 2017, we have experienced a phenomenal growth all across. As a global company, we have common strategy that “ we set industry standard ” and we do everything to live to this strategy right fromquality of product, service ,training, Premium value to Human resource including their health and safety, R&D to Automation etc. India is one of Sandvik's important destinations.

We have five Global Manufacturing hub in India located in Pune, Karnataka, Andhra and Gujrat. We stand for a strong commitment to ethical and responsible business practice with high responsibility towards environment. Employee and Customer delight is our prime moto.

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