‘At JCB India, business means innovation’
26 Aug 2013 2:40 AM IST
How India has been in terms of business?
It’s been wonderful, we have developed this multi-functional versatile machine. It can do a lot of work. It can be very productive for people. The machine is also very innovative. It is the largest selling construction machinery in India.
Can you please tell us about some of your process innovations as well as product innovations?
See, if you’ll look at Parag, what we do in India, that itself is a renovation concept. We see it all the time, so we forgot that it was innovative at that time, when we had the concept of the multi-funtional machine. You have crane attachment that can be used for craning. The same machine can be very innovative and muti-functional. If you look at all our machine, we made it for operator comfort. So when we talk about innovation in simple terms, the operator needs to be very comfortable, the cabin needs to be good, the controls need to be good because this is something where he gets returns on investment from. It’s not a luxury.
How is the customer feedback on the JCP product?
Because this is the single largest selling infrastructure producing machine, the customer feedback is very good.
Nowadays, lots of companies are doing lots of thing in CSR. So any CSR activity you are involved in?
We have the Lady Bamfard Charitable Trust, which has schools. There are people who actually are taught; adult education is there; children are taught
How has JCP’s growth rate been?
If you look at the first 25 years, we sold 24,000 machines, in the next four years we sold another 25000 and now we do 25,000 more every year. So the growth rate has been quite good . We have innovated and we have kind of grown to help develop India’s infrastructure.
What’s your target for 2013-2014?
It depends on the amount of infrastructure. Right now, infrastructure is slightly slow. Things pick up as the infrastructure pick up. We see a good future, a good potential long-term in India. In the short term, there are lot of issues at the moment. But the long term should be good.
What is your view on the economy?
You know, infrastructure keeps booming. And JCP will grow with infrastructure growth. If the infrastructure slows down, of course our machine sales will slow down. One thing I want to mention is that we also create entrepreneurs, so lot of JCPs have been bought by new businesses people investing and looking at becoming entrepreneurs. A lot of people who buy machine are actually first time buyer.
Do you have any competitor here in the market?
Yes, lot of them. Everybody across the world is here… plus the Indian manufacturer too.
Any plans of any collaboration with any PSU or company or individual?
We send to individuals and we service the individual. All these contractors are individual contractors and we sell machines even to the bigger contractors. So that is a partnership — not collaboration. We service them, we help them.
Government sectors?
Let them come up with a tender.
The defence minister recently came up with a new proposal that they are ready for 50 per cent equity and are looking for big machines for defence collaboration.
We have not thought of that. But they must come up with a tender for construction equipment.
Who are the key people in the success of JCP over the years?
In 30 years, we have had lots of people. The person who started the factory. The UK had a collaboration in India. Lots of people gave their expertise. Lot of Indians who worked at that time have grown. I wouldn’t say who the key people were. There is the managing director. In his leadership in the last 80 years, the company has grown a great deal. Then there is the manufacturing head, the HR head, finance head. Then there are manufacturing agents who have been there for a long time, who been really instrumental in taking us up. The engineering head has been innovating. The team at JCP is very strong. It’s all the team that comes and innovates, does its job. The culture of innovation becomes the culture of
team work.
It’s been wonderful, we have developed this multi-functional versatile machine. It can do a lot of work. It can be very productive for people. The machine is also very innovative. It is the largest selling construction machinery in India.
Can you please tell us about some of your process innovations as well as product innovations?
See, if you’ll look at Parag, what we do in India, that itself is a renovation concept. We see it all the time, so we forgot that it was innovative at that time, when we had the concept of the multi-funtional machine. You have crane attachment that can be used for craning. The same machine can be very innovative and muti-functional. If you look at all our machine, we made it for operator comfort. So when we talk about innovation in simple terms, the operator needs to be very comfortable, the cabin needs to be good, the controls need to be good because this is something where he gets returns on investment from. It’s not a luxury.
How is the customer feedback on the JCP product?
Because this is the single largest selling infrastructure producing machine, the customer feedback is very good.
Nowadays, lots of companies are doing lots of thing in CSR. So any CSR activity you are involved in?
We have the Lady Bamfard Charitable Trust, which has schools. There are people who actually are taught; adult education is there; children are taught
How has JCP’s growth rate been?
If you look at the first 25 years, we sold 24,000 machines, in the next four years we sold another 25000 and now we do 25,000 more every year. So the growth rate has been quite good . We have innovated and we have kind of grown to help develop India’s infrastructure.
What’s your target for 2013-2014?
It depends on the amount of infrastructure. Right now, infrastructure is slightly slow. Things pick up as the infrastructure pick up. We see a good future, a good potential long-term in India. In the short term, there are lot of issues at the moment. But the long term should be good.
What is your view on the economy?
You know, infrastructure keeps booming. And JCP will grow with infrastructure growth. If the infrastructure slows down, of course our machine sales will slow down. One thing I want to mention is that we also create entrepreneurs, so lot of JCPs have been bought by new businesses people investing and looking at becoming entrepreneurs. A lot of people who buy machine are actually first time buyer.
Do you have any competitor here in the market?
Yes, lot of them. Everybody across the world is here… plus the Indian manufacturer too.
Any plans of any collaboration with any PSU or company or individual?
We send to individuals and we service the individual. All these contractors are individual contractors and we sell machines even to the bigger contractors. So that is a partnership — not collaboration. We service them, we help them.
Government sectors?
Let them come up with a tender.
The defence minister recently came up with a new proposal that they are ready for 50 per cent equity and are looking for big machines for defence collaboration.
We have not thought of that. But they must come up with a tender for construction equipment.
Who are the key people in the success of JCP over the years?
In 30 years, we have had lots of people. The person who started the factory. The UK had a collaboration in India. Lots of people gave their expertise. Lot of Indians who worked at that time have grown. I wouldn’t say who the key people were. There is the managing director. In his leadership in the last 80 years, the company has grown a great deal. Then there is the manufacturing head, the HR head, finance head. Then there are manufacturing agents who have been there for a long time, who been really instrumental in taking us up. The engineering head has been innovating. The team at JCP is very strong. It’s all the team that comes and innovates, does its job. The culture of innovation becomes the culture of
team work.
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