From a small beginning, to a great leap, TSL in a span of less than nine years has carved a niche for themselves. TSL is a major supplier of material handling equipment to the cement industry. Read on, to know about the company, its products, collaborations and future plans.In 2001, Tecpro Systems Ltd (TSL) commenced its operations as a supplier of equipment and components for conveyor systems. The company gradually increased its presence by undertaking small projects for material handling systems. As orders increased, TSL set-up its first manufacturing facilities at Bawal, Haryana, for manufacture of equipment like crushers and screens under license agreement with renowned manufacturers like FAM, Hein, Lehmann and others." We were recognised as an organsiation that can deliver and this helped us in moving into larger projects for thermal power major like NTPC, Tata Power, Reliance Energy, steel majors like SAIL, JSW, Bhushan etc, and cement manufacturers like UltraTech Cement, ACC, Madras Cements, etc," said A K Bishnoi, chairman and managing director.Overcoming hurdlesTSL provides solutions in bulk material handling systems, ash handling systems, balance of thermal power plant, captive power plants and pollution control systems. Its material handling division is one of the largest in the country with a turnover of more than Rs 1,200 crores. In a span of just nine years, the company has successfully executed major projects for Tata Group, SAIL, Reliance Energy, UltraTech Cement, and many others. " Our milestones in performance are reflected by design and supply of more than 400 km of conveyors for various projects in India and abroad. We have one of the largest factories in the country for manufacture of conveyor components & equipments," said Bishnoi.From its inception, the TSL has performed meticulously and has won several awards. For its outstanding performance and strength, TSL has won the ‘Emerging India 2007’ of ICICI Bank CNBC- TV18 in the infrastructure sector on July 2007. To it accolades, is the BIZZ India Award in 2010, presented by World Confederation of Business a leading international organisation that encourages worldwide business development. In its kitty of awards are the quality management/business management/business leadership marketing management and many awards and certificates won for safety during construction of projects from leading companies like Reliance, NTPC, HPGCL, and many others.Services galoreTSL is India’s foremost supplier of material handling equipment. The company provides complete material handling solutions. The equipment offered by the company include plant belt conveyors, pipe, conveyors, long distance overland conveyors, crushers, screens, bucket elevators, stockyard systems (stackers/reclaimers), etc. The company’s EPC power division provides EPC solutions for captive power plants, waste heat recovery-based power plants. " We possess the necessary capabilities to execute power projects on EPC basis upto 125 MW. We have already completed two projects of 30 MW & 32 MW each. Presently, we are doing one project for Kohinoor Power of 66 MW, wherein BTG is being sourced by us from BHE," said Bishnoi. The latest material handling equipment manufactured by TSL are environment-friendly. The pipe conveyors ensure that there are no environmental pollution while transporting the material. For critical application, TSL has designed transfer chutes with discrete element method, which ensures the smooth flow of the bulk material with minimum degradation of the material and dust emission at transfer chutes. In addition to these, the company offers a wide range of products and systems, such as bag filters and fans, dust suppression systems, cyclones, scrubbers offered by the pollution control division of TSL. With a global acceptance for its products, the company plans to launch new products. " Our product range has expanded with introduction of stackers and reclaimers for the cement sector. We have rail mounted slewing and luffing stackers, twin boom stackers, bucket wheel, bridge type and scrapper type reclaimers, side scraper reclaimer, portal scraper reclaimers, circular stacker/reclaimers suitable for cement plant requirements," said Bishnoi.Colloborating a success storyTSL has a state-of-the-art R&D department based at Gurgaon. The R&D department is involved in providing design, engineering and research in pulleys, idlers, chutes, and many products. The department also helps in the development of new products and carries out research for consistent improvement in the existing product range.The company has tie-ups with many reputed and renowned companies to ensure that the products are technologically advance and are relevant to changing market. In material handling, TSL has entered into technical collaborations with:
- Advanced Conveyor Technologies Inc (AC-Tek) of USA for overland conveyors
- FAM Magdeburger Forderanlagen und Baumaschinen GmbH, Germany for roll crushers, hammer mills, impactors, roller screens and grinding mills
- Wonduck Industrial Machinery Co Ltd, Korea for aggregate crushing plants, jaw crushers, cone crushers and VSI type crushers.
- Hein, Lehmann Trenn – Und F?rdertechnik GmbH, Germany for Flip-Flow screens.
- Siebtechnik GmbH, Germany for high capacity vibrating screens, banana screens, washery screens etc.
- Krusnohorske Strojirny Komorany a.s. for bucket wheel stacker reclaimers, paddle feeders and twin rotor sizers.
- MVW Lechtenberg Projektentwicklungs- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Germany for planning and construction of the processing facilities for the alternative fuels including municipal solid wastes
Future prospectsWith the addition of two new business – long distance conveyor and waste-heat recovery systems, and a major pan-India presence, the company is well ahead of its competitor. " We shall soon be supplying the largest capacity crusher that is indigenously manufactured for thermal power sector for the Krishnapatnam Power plant as well as another large capacity crusher for Neyveli Lignite Corporation. Our product range is wide and we have installations across the length and breadth of the country in all sectors with more than 1,100 equipment and more than 3,700 numbers of belt conveyor," said Bishnoi.A K Bishnoi, Chairman and Managing Director, Tecpro Systems LtdWhat all strategies has the company adopted to increase its market shares in the cement industry? We have been responsive to client requirements with respect to delivery and project commissioning and we have received many repeat orders in cement sector from leading organizations like UltraTech Cement, Madras Cement, ACC etc. We provide turnkey solution to the material handling requirments of the infrastructure industry including supply of crushing, screening, conveying, stacking, reclaiming, etc. Our USP is our wide range of products and our capability to provide the complete material handling solutions. Recently we have signed an exclusive agreement with AC-Tek, USA,a global leader in the design of overland long distance conveying systems. To their credit, AC-Tek has designed the conveyors upto 24,000 TPH. The longest single flight horizontal conveyor done by AC-Tek is 12.6km long.What is the share of cement industry’s in your total material handling equipment business? Tecpro undertakes mainly turnkey projects during greenfield or brownfield expansion of cement plants. Since the cement sector investments are cyclical in nature our share also vary according to the cycle of investments in the cement sector. Currently, it is about 6 per cent of our outstanding order book.What is your turnover? What was the growth in the last five years? Our turnover during FY 2010-11 was nearly Rs 1985 Crores and our growth in the last five years has been by nearly nine times from a turnover of Rs 231 crores in FY 2006-07.What are your future plans for the material handling division? We are planning to build on our past performance and coupled with our EPC capabilities look at larger material handling projects in various core sectors. Our product range in crushing and screening system for various applications is exhaustive and we have an excellent installation references. Further, to increase the range of our product offering, we shall be entering into technology agreements/ collaborations for products like wagon unloading systems, ship loaders, ship unloaders, etc.In the next five years, 200 million tonnes will be added to the cement capacity? Is the material handling industry geared-up to the demand?200 MTPA would typically refer to approximately 60-70 plants and with specific reference to material handling it would typically refer to a conveyor requirement of 400-500kms. Considering the past record, this is much higher but there is sufficient capacity available with respect to the material handling equipment. Tecpro itself has capability to provide conveyor components for more than 100-150 km of conveyors every year However, this depend upon the spacing of project implementation and total timeframe available. Further Tecpro with its capability to undertaken EPC contracts of large scale, has already bagged orders from UltraTech Cement for Waste Heat recovery boiler (in collaboration with Nanjing Triumph Kaineng Environment and Energy Company Ltd of China who has more than 100 installations all over the world for WHR based power plants/ boilers for cement industry) and captive power plants based on coal and other fuels.How do you rate your conveying systems in comparison to other domestic supplier and imported? We have found that we have been able to provide reliable equipment and also provide excellent after sales service. Our track record and the repeat orders that we have received from many leading organisations in power, steel, Cement sectors indicate that our systems are superior in terms of design and quality. It is very critical in a conveyor projects that you have the requisite skills, capabilities and infrastructure to suit the site requirements for erection and commissioning. We feel that Tecpro has the strength and capability to execute any kind of project and hence we give a higher rating to our systems.