Innovator & Passionate Manufacturer, Rajesh Suryakant Chawda opines that Indian companies should trust the capabilities of the small manufacturers and innovators to develop globally competitive ‘Make in India’ solutions. The government should step like pro-rata payment structure by big companies to SMEs to safeguard them and boost their morale.
“In India, industries are not supporting the Indian innovations; ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ will remain as a mere marketing slogan. So, till today seventy-five per cent of manufacturing equipment is imported and the case of dependency persists,” feels Rajesh Suryakant Chawda, the Chairman & Managing Director of Shree Sahajanands Automeck Private Limited.
“Indian innovators need to be given time and trust for them to develop the technologies. But that is not happening in reality is and the innovations are downright rejected and the spirit to spend time and effort for innovation is crushed by the market and customers,” he adds.
Rajesh himself is an innovator, passionate engineer, and a successful entrepreneur who believes that Indian manufacturing can do wonderful innovations if large Indian companies especially the public sector and government undertakings are interested to believe and invest in Indian manufacturers, especially small and medium scale industries.
“The challenge is that whenever new technology or innovation is presented, the public sector as well as large corporations are reluctant to adapt to it. They do not want to take the risk. Here in India, the problem is when you develop something new, there is very low acceptability of new products”, explains Rajesh.
Start-ups are not just about IT!
Rajesh makes a point that given there is an initial environment of manufacturing being set up in India, the market should give the manufacturers some time to develop and work on the failures. Rajesh also raises a very pertinent question. “By startups, the markets only mean IT and ITeS. The engineering sector is not yet given the status of a startup as such. Why should that be the case? Why are not the rest of the sectors also being given the treatment of a start-up? They do not consider engineering as a start-up.” So there is the need to make heavy engineering and manufacturing attractive to the young innovators.
Companies are paying a premium amount for technologies from abroad in India, but if the technology is offered by an Indian company, they are dismissed. This defeats the very purpose of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Rajesh cites, “Last year there was a requirement for one of our existing customer, who was looking out to import a fully automatic fire fighting vehicle with a budget of ₹3 crores. They reached out to us, and asked to buy the vehicles from a Swiss company and supply them to them. I checked with my customer why to buy them from abroad when I can develop the same vehicle at a reduced cost of twenty-five per cent. But the customer declined the scope of indigenous development.”
“Atmanibhar Bharat cannot happen with magic. The big players – be it from the public sector as well as the private sector, should create an environment for indigenous technologies to grow. A systematic change is required”, adds Mr Chawda. Rajesh also points out there is an attitude problem towards companies from medium and smaller cities. In the construction sector, a lot of imports are being done, when Rajesh suggested the companies invest in indigenous development, his customers are not ready to spare time for the development.
Key Player in Industrial Cleaning & Pollution Control
Founded in the year 2013 by Rajesh Suryakant Chawda, Shree Sahajanands Automeck Private Limited based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, has been a key player in industrial cleaning & pollution control equipment and solutions. Automeck has established itself as a manufacturer of the finest quality dust and fire suppression products and systems. Rajesh believes in innovating engineering solutions and offers different products and solutions for mining, cement, railways, etc. In an exclusive interaction with Machine Maker Rajesh shared his journey and valuable insights gathered by his exposure to different aspects of engineering.
Under the able leadership of Rajesh Automeck today is the manufacturer of high-end dust and fire suppression products and systems like mist cannons, high-performance road sprinklers, ultra-high-pressure pumps, fire trucks, multi-utility water tankers and mud pumps. And the company’s esteemed clientele includes VECC, SAIL, Indian Railway, BEML, Tata Motors, JSW and UltraTech cement and Cochin Shipyard Ltd. Driven by a highly skilled team of dedicated employees, Automeck is backed by new-age technology and innovation in its respective segment.
How Providing Solutions, Offered Solutions!
The initial days for Rajesh were not a smooth ride at all. He recollects, “By 2005 I started with virtually no money to invest in any venture. I wanted to do something that was skill-oriented. I visited the mines and identified the kind of products and services that can prove to be useful. I realized the mines are not taking care of washing activities. Oil spillage and bursting of hoses were a regular affair all due to the absence of cleaning. We started by offering cleaning services on a contract basis.”
The companies usually used to take eight to ten days for cleaning and given the water scarcity, Rajesh explored the mines and gradually began to provide services for all cleaning related issues. “Today also we continue to do the same by identifying the problem the customer is facing and then render customized service for it.”
The hurdle of investment for industrial cleaning was slowly overcome for the unique services that Rajesh was offering. “When the companies realized the need for such services – a new concept at that time – my business began to grow by investing the profit margins in newer technologies.” For three years the company tried for a business loan but to no avail as its asset was not enough to qualify for a business loan.
In August 2020, Automeck was approached by Kishan Sonthalia, a manufacturer from Jamshedpur who runs one of the biggest contracting companies of Tata Steel, to join hands with Rajesh. From that time onwards, Automeck never had to look back for resources when it comes to innovations, expansion and research and development. Rajesh mentions that despite the fund crunch during the first twelve years Automeck’s turnover has grown by 60%.
Make in India: More Power to Manufacturing
He feels that under the current government regime, there has been a visible change in the way businesses have been done so far. There has been a significant improvement of business dealings in the public sector under the Modi government with a reduction of corruption, he feels. However, he believes, the government should take promote and support the smaller manufacturers by some more targeted steps.
“There should be some pro-rata payment structure. This will boost the morale of small manufacturers and also mitigate the issue of corruption to get the technology cleared at any cost. Now what is happening is that the innovation is completely rejected by big companies,” Rajesh says. “So there is a clear contradiction of the idea of self-reliance in manufacturing and organizational reluctance to indigenous innovations while spending far larger amount to import such technologies and solutions.”
Technology & Innovation for Cost Saving
A key element of Automeck is that the company is supporting to reduce the cost considerably for its clients. It is because the cost had always mattered to Rajesh for a long time, he is focused to bring about changes and solutions that are cost-effective, multifunctional and quality assured. After such a long run in the industry, Rajesh has the observation that during the last few years newer technology has enabled companies to boost their capacities but the thing that is still lagging is the conviction to quality and aesthetics.
Rajesh Suryakant Chawra stresses the importance of developing quality vendors who understand aesthetics, which play a very important role. “The Indian manufacturers, be it big or small are smart now. When it comes to having a good vendor, there is a major lack in quality and aesthetics. The government should devise programs to improve the vendor and supplier community so that their products serve to bring out better quality end products. The basic understanding of quality control and assurance is lacking in Indian manufacturing. Governments, industry collaborators and commerce associations should take a major role to train the stakeholders to bring them to the global quality”, comments Rajesh.
Industrial Cleaning for Sustainability
Speaking of the dust control in the mines, Rajesh says that most mines have road sprinklers on which they have no control. The gravity road sprinklers are the cause of 40% of water. Automeck introduced the controlled road sprinklers to these mines. So the cleaning that was achieved by 5 lakh litres was done by 1 lakh litre only. It saved 4 lakh litre of water per day.” The same was it the washing, the mines used to have low-pressure pumps with high discharge rate.
For a project from Tata Group, Automech was able to develop innovation through their vast experience, which brought significant savings in money, as well as lead time. Rajesh says, “We were asked to provide a pump with only 18 litres of discharge per minute and with increased pressure. The result was that the cleaning was done by only 20% of the earlier water consumption.” Now for the projects, Automeck presents a detailed study of the operations to the clients that it will implement for industrial or infrastructural projects like building roads and highways.
Rajesh emphasizes, “Our core objective is pollution control and water management in industries.” Automeck is planning to step into the new era of industrial technology that is automation. In terms of innovation, Automeck is integrating varied applications in one machine, like road sprinkler, firefighter and mist canon all come in a single-vehicle. “We have now started a project and our R&D team is working on it now. The idea is to convert Bobcats to battery-driven vehicles.” The company is working towards the sustainability factors of the industry and green manufacturing.
Speaking of the challenges in the expansion of his business, Rajesh says, “The segments we are right now serving are the mining, infra and cement companies. In the cement, segment cleaning has a huge opportunity and for the mining, our fire fighting solutions will come into use.” But it is the true grit and passion of people like Rajesh Suryakant Chawda that finally makes a difference. Shree Sahajanands Automeck Private Limited, as it has always done, will continue on its path to provide service to the Indian industry with its innovations and solutions all the while meeting the challenges on its path.