Competition drives the market upwards

Ragan J Gandhi, CEO, Alpha Services, talks on the industry and his company’s strategy. You have been in this industry for a long time; how do you view the Indian market now after the worst seems to be over?India was relatively less affected by the global meltdown. There was a slowdown, but now all indications point towards a market revival. Many in the industry have shown a great deal of resilience and used this opportunity to correct the organisational flaws and strengthen themselves to face the future in a better way. This is interesting. Can you elaborate on this?When the market was booming till 2007/08, most Indian companies went on signing up new partnerships to address the equipment needs of Indian market. The thrust was on providing the equipment from any available source. In many cases, the basic infrastructure to provide support to such equipment was not in place. Any equipment requires parts and service back up and many Indian customers faced the problem of buying up the equipment with quickest deliveries and cheapest prices. They ruined themselves while running the equipment for lack of a proper back up. The companies who looked beyond selling, realised that they can survive in long term business only if they added to the profitability and value to the customer, went for consolidation in the relatively lull period. They toned up their organisations, made it leaner, trained their people, made them more committed and accountable. They also strengthened their abilities to deliver solutions to customers and became more customer-oriented. In today's global scenario, corporate success does not depend on technology or product superiority alone. Future of every organisation is directly linked to the way one understands and responds to the needs of customers. You have been partners with JLG for some time now. How do you see the future of this partnership in India?We are very excited about it. The Indian market is assuming importance for every global world class players. JLG, which is a part of OshKosh corporation of USA, has been in India since 1995. There are over 1,000 JLG machines working in India. The JLG machines are working at all major projects. They actively contribute to the Commonwealth Games preparation in Delhi and also airport modernisation programme all over India. Sunil Jain has been part of JLG India since beginning of JLG association with India as its Country Head. With stress on safety, productivity and performance in a committed time frame, these machines have a great potential and wide range of applications from building and mall management to refineries, shipyards, power projects, at construction sites and for various military applications. Today, we have a full fledged JLG office in India and they are participating in India Aviation Show at Hyderabad in March 2010. I have pleasure in welcoming a delegation of OshKosh JLG, Craig Paylor, President; Desmond Soh, President Asia Pacific; Tim Morris & Tim Raupp, Sr Vice Presidents and Jennifer Thomson, MD, International Operations to India for this show. How do you see the competition in the Indian market?Competition is always good and brings out the best for every one. It offers the customer a variety of choices in terms of machines. It also increases market awareness which in turn drives the market upwards only. Having said that, we are confident about having the best machines in its class from JLG. JLG machines have already been in Indian market since last 15 years and are proven and accepted and have a sizeable presence and reference. Our organisation is geared to serve the customers with' Service at a call concept' be it service or parts requirement. (Communication by the management of the company)