A business launched in 2002 with a growth rate of more than 100% each year and which might end up in 2010 with a turnover of Rs 1,600 to 1,700 crore. No, it is not in IT nor is it software-related. It is not a fast-growing BPO either. Tecpro Systems, a business set up by first-generation entrepreneurs AK Bishnoi and Amul Gabrani, is in the unglamorous field of material handling. But its growth and expansion has been as impressive as what we have come to expect from IT companies. The company employs 800 people all over the country today.
Ajay Kumar Bishnoi decided to set up his own business in 2001.He was the CEO of the material handling division of Fenner India Ltd and had been in the material handling business for almost 30 years. He had a successful career with both Beardsell Engineering as well as Fenner India. He was well known in the material handling market. He felt it was time to strike out on his own. ?I realised that growth is only possible if I branch out on my own. The Indian business environment today provides a lot of opportunities for people who wish to start their own venture. A good professional company which focuses on customer satisfaction will work in any market, more so in India. In a regular job you are constrained by lots of rules, regulations and ideas, which stifle entrepreneurial ability. Hence, the decision to become an entrepreneur,? he says. He also realised that the infrastructure sector was going to attract major investment, which was bound to open up huge opportunities. Therefore, a company capable of undertaking turnkey projects in bulk material handling for cement, steel and power industries was bound to do well.
Bishnoi joined hands with Amul Gabrani his co-promoter and partner who had also worked for Fenner India and had started a unit to manufacture components for conveyor belts in Delhi. The administrative office is in Chennai and the manufacturing base is in Delhi with a very large design office in Gurgaon. As both partners were in the material handling business, approaching major companies for orders was not difficult. Initial investment came from Bishnoi?s savings. It has received VC and PE funding subsequently and going public is an option the promoters are thinking about.
The first order was for Rs 50 lakh from ACC. The next big break came from Reliance Energy when it was still BSES, for a coal handling job worth Rs 2.5 crore. With a couple of orders, banks also became supportive. ?In this business you build your reputation by delivering to the clients what they want. Delivering on time is very important. Once they are satisfied you get repeat orders.? Almost all of Tecpro?s customers have come back to them again .
The next step was to plan growth and expansion. Tecpro set up offices first in the four major metros and then in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. ?We had to be near our customers. We have set up design offices everywhere. We are strong in design department. We also have to be close to the consultants who have to approve our drawings. Consultants are spread all over the country. So it makes sense to be easily accessible to them,? says Bishnoi.
Tecpro?s each step forward was meticulously planned out. The promoter?s exposure to the industry and the long years of experience were major assets. The next step of their growth ladder was going in for crushing and screening. The most important part of a power plant is coal handling. Coal has to be of a certain size and has to be fed into the boiler at a required rate by the conveyor, say 1,200 tonnes per hour. Tecpro signed up with FAM of Germany (Germans are world leaders in the material handling business) with an exclusive licensing agreement. Bishnoi had dealt with them earlier, doors opened for him.
Then followed collaborations with Hein Lehman of Germany for flip flow screens and Peytec of Austria for conventional screens. Tecpro?s major competitors are Elecon Engineering, L&T, Thyssenkrupp Industries, Tata Robin Fraser and such veterans in the field. ?Today no major power company is missing from our customer list,? says Bishnoi. Then it was time to look at global markets. Tecpro has offices in Singapore, Dubai and Johannesburg.
In 2008, M&M?s ash handling unit was up for sale which Tecpro acquired. ?We saw a big opportunity here. We were already doing coal. Power investments were growing and all power plants need ash handling.? Bishnoi says that they were able to turn the company around in a year. When Tecpro bought the company, its turnover was around Rs 55-60 crore. In 2009, the turnover had shot up to Rs 200 crore. This year it is expected to jump to more than Rs 350 crore.
The next growth area was in the balance of plant (BOP) space. In any power plant, there are two identifiable packages which are Boiler Turbine Generator (BTG) and BOP. BHEL is the leader in BTG space and it gets all the government tenders. The Chinese are big in this space. There is a lot of Chinese equipment in our power plants. The BOP space, however, was not so crowded. ?So we upgraded ourselves to do BOP contracts. Our first single order is for Rs 903 crore from Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company Ltd, which we got recently.?
Tecpro has been constantly upgrading its capabilities and is now confident of implementing any major project. The promoters are now looking at captive power plants. ?There is good opportunity here. We are executing two turnkey projects in collaboration with a Chinese company,? says Bishnoi.
Material handling is not an easy field to enter. There are entry barriers. To get a government contract, a company has to have minimum prequalification. Getting a good reputation is all important. So is staying one step ahead all the time. So what does Bishnoi attribute his success story to? ?Hard work and passion.?