 Pune-based
ElectroMech is a leading brand in engineering, manufactur-ing, and servicing
industrial overhead cranes, gantry cranes, electric wire rope hoists and
customised material handling solutions. Vinayak Mehendale founded the
company in 1979 after having worked in several crane manufacturing
companies. He, along with a group of 3 other engineers, set up a factory at
Chinchwad and started turning out EOT cranes, hoists and related material
handling equipment. "Numerous challenges emerged in the early
days," says Tushar Mehendale, managing director of ElectroMech.
"They were typical of those faced by any start-up and it was sheer grit
and determination of the promoters that enabled them to conquer the
challenges and establish the business."
In the year 1990, ElectroMech undertook an expansion drive, which included
the shifting of business to a new location in Pimpri. Over a period of time,
in October 1993 to be precise, Vinayak Mehendale became the sole owner of
ElectroMech, and the revenue, which was a modest of Rs 25 lakhs, jumped to
Rs 5 crores in the financial year 1998-99, as the company flourished. The
demise of Vinayak Mehendale in early 2000 put his son Tushar in the driver's
seat. Guided by the dedicated team of people at ElectroMech, the time ahead
was to be the most demanding for Tushar and the company until the financial
year 2003-04 when the revenue crossed the Rs12.5-crore mark. "The years
1999-2000 and 2000-01 were some of the worst years faced by the Indian
industry. ElectroMech's sales for FY 2000-01 were just to the tune of Rs
3.25 crores. Slowly and steadily, we worked through the trying times and by
FY 2003-04, the sales were to the tune of Rs 12.5 crores," states
Tushar while touching upon expansion.
In 2004, a new factory was started at Pirangut near Pune in the name of
ElectroMech Material Handling Systems (India) Pvt Ltd. Production commenced
at the fag end of December that year accompanied by modest revenue of Rs 40
lakhs in the year 2004-05. While a business of Rs 70 crores is estimated for
FY07-08, as a group, ElectroMech is set to achieve a gross turnover in
excess of Rs 90 crores, says Tushar. "Coupled with the high growth in
demand for cranes in the Indian industry on account of the massive spate of
capacity expansion, ElectroMech has been steadily expanding its own
capacities at Pirangut and currently has under the roof a total
manufacturing area of almost 10,000 sq.m making it one of the largest single
crane manufacturing facilities in  India," adds Tushar, tracing the high
growth curve of the industry.
For a company that started with the manufacture of EOT cranes, hoists and
related material handling equipment, the current product portfolio of
ElectroMech includes overhead cranes - single girder and double girder,
electric wire rope hoists, electric wire rope winches, stacker cranes and
customised material handling equipment. While the company is poised to
dispatch almost 500 cranes in the FY 2007-08 making it the largest single
crane manufacturing company in India, it is also planning to manufacture
2000 cranes annually by the end of FY 2008-09.
Giving an insight into the working of ElectroMech, Tushar remarks that his
company has a longstanding experience in designing, manufacturing and
commissioning of the above equipment. "We have entered into a strategic
tie-up with ABUS Kranesysteme of Germany." 
ABUS is a world leader in industrial cranes and ElectroMech is the exclusive
representative of ABUS in India. ElectroMech imports crane kits from ABUS
and fabricates the structural components in India. Pointing at the product
range of ELectroMech, Tushar quips: "With products from our company
finding use in almost all kinds of industries that involve discrete material
handling, our clients are spread across sectors like infrastructure,
construction, automotive and ancillaries, metal processing, general
manufacturing, heavy fabrication, power generation, etc."
Touching upon the auto sector, Tushar remarks that the auto sector
contributes nearly 30 per cent of the company's revenues. Adding that it is
a handsome contribution, Tushar states that his company is a supplier to
both the OEMs as well as the auto ancillaries. "Be it companies like
Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Volvo, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj
Auto, Force Motors (MAN) or Mercedes Benz India, they rely on ElectroMech
for handling their valued products," exclaims Tushar. "We have
also supplied equipment to trailer manufacturers like P L Haulwell and Tata
International (DLT), and in addition to auto sector, ElectroMech also
supplies a lot of equipment to the allied sector of construction equipment
manufacturers. If you visit JCB, Caterpillar, Telcon, Sandvik (Mining &
Construction), you will see ElectroMech equipment," he adds. Auto
ancillary clients include tier suppliers like Tata Autocomp group, JBM,
International Auto, Apex Auto, Anusaya, Ganage group, Visteon, Enkei
Castalloys, Bharat Forge Group, Rishi Laser, Rinder, Sekurit St. Gobain,
etc. ElectroMech has also supplied unique equipment to auto research
institutes like ARAI in Pune.
In association with ABUS, ElectroMech supplies light crane systems, which
are referred to as workstation cranes, to the auto sector. These comprise
extruded hollow sections comprising the main structural part and very
compact electric chain hoists running inside these sections. "Even
though the travel movements of this crane system are manual, they literally
move by the tip of the finger. ABUS has installed such systems in scores of
auto companies like Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Volvo at
their various worldwide locations," says Tushar. "In addition to
the light crane systems, ElectroMech also offers cranes for handling heavy
loads in the auto industry like complete die blocks. A lot of press lines in
the Indian auto industry depend on our equipment for their handling needs.
We provide custom engineering solutions for specific applications in the
auto industry," explains Tushar. "Case in point is the frame
transfer cranes used at Tata Motors ACE plant in Rudrapur."
Ask Tushar about the needs of the auto sector and he states that the
requirements of the auto industry are very demanding and exacting. Given the
complicated supply chains and efficient manufacturing systems, it is of
paramount importance to ensure that the production is not hampered on
account of any break downs in the handling equipment. Therefore a lot of
engineering needs to go into the design and manufacturing to ensure maximum
uptime and a very high MTBF/MTBR.
ElectroMech has over the years evolved its technology to incorporate
sophisticated electronics and control systems to do just this. Additionally
there are unique handling requirements in the auto industry to cater to the
efficient workflows of the assembly lines. ElectroMech's engineers work
closely with the clients, understand the exact  requirements and design a
unique solution that will cater precisely to their requirements. SMED or
Single Minute Exchange of Dies is a vital requirement of all press shops and
hence ElectroMech has developed unique anti-sway systems to ensure that the
movement of the dies from the stacking area to the bolster is done in the
smallest possible time in an extremely safe manner.
Competition, according to Tushar, is split along the lines of organised and
unorganised sectors. It is also split geographically. Quoting that there are
very few players in the Indian industry like ElectroMech who can cater to
the exacting requirements of top industrial groups, Tushar Mehendale opines
that his company believes in service being of paramount importance. "Be
it pre-sales service or post-sales service, we go to great lengths to ensure
that client satisfaction is maximised. In order to enable quick decision
making, our sales team is fully trained, equipped and empowered to provide
complete pricing and technical details on the spot. We have a separate Order
Processing cell within our company that monitors closely each and every
order and acts as a single point contact system for the customers with the
company during the order execution phase," elaborates Tushar. The
company has a huge team of service engineers spread out all over the country
to provide immediate support in case of any unforeseen breakdowns or for
preventive maintenance. "And last but not the least," states
Tushar, "it is our service capability built over the years that is one
of our major strengths. It is something that the competition finds very hard
to emulate."
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