Engineering consultancy companies need to play a vital role in the growth of companies. Ercom, a leading player in the global engineering consultancy, ensures that its clients get value for money through customised solutions.Ercom has always strategized itself as an engineering firm with a global vision. It is known for its emphasis on quality, conceptual ideas and EPCM analysis for completion of projects right from conceptualization to commissioning. The company’s motto has always been to ensure complete customer satisfaction and render value for money. It has been able to retain their clientele almost 100 % with the help of an experienced and dedicated team aided with personalized services and team work approach. Ercom is a ISO-9001:2008 multidisciplinary management and technical consultancy organization with its gamut of expertise spread across spread across cement, pharma, infrastructure including captive power plants, ports & jetties including discharging, loading & handling equipments.Introduction:Ercom commenced operations in 1985 in Delhi under the foresighted leadership of P.K.Ghosh with a groundwork investment of Rs 5 lakh. Since, then over a period of around two decades, Ercom has emerged as a major engineering consulting organisation, working continuously with its clients of major corporations in designing improvement programs. The company also provides valuable assistance and other allied services required by the top managements of large corporate groups in India for "Mergers & Acquisitions." The company also provides services in areas including operational optimization, cost reduction, technical and management audits, total project engineering and maintenance services. It is registered with major industrial associations in India like FICCI, CII, CEAI and CDC.Gamut of Operations:Consultancy services have been provided by Ercom to various clients in India, which include reputed cement companies like Grasim, Modi, Lafarge, Seament, Italcementi, Heidelberg, Panyam, Binani, JK Group and few others. Apart from rendering consultancy services to various clients in India, the company has also registered a strong presence in other countries like Bangladesh, Albania, Lebanon, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ukraine, Egypt, Nigeria, Iraq, Cambodia etc. The area of consultancy is spread across diverse areas such as cement, mineral based industries, infrastructure, jetty / port handling systems, sponge & steel mills, Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) systems etc.The company also has considerable experience in preparing bankable techno-economic feasibility reports, assisting cement plants in process re-engineering, productivity optimization, industrial engineering, construction management, process automation, project management / monitoring, geological exploration, operational assistance etc. ERCOM also has extensive experience in the preparation of revival packages for sick industries as well as assisting large industrial houses in India and abroad for takeover study of existing units.The company has also undertaken assignments for World Bank under IDBI/ICICI in cement industry. It has also worked for the SAARC countries on behalf of World Bank. The global reach of Ercom has been further strengthened by its alliance with Integrated Project Services (IPS), for undertaking engineering, design and execution of HVAC projects in USA, India and South East Asian countries. The company has a team of qualified and experienced specialist/engineers for helping IPS USA in the field of design, engineering and project management. IPS is a well known pharma engineering company the world over.Professional work culture:The group has a team of around 500 engineers and designers on permanent rolls, including 45 specialists engaged on retainership basis. The company operates well equipped offices in major metros cities of India.The speciality of Ercom employees lies in the fact that they work alongside the operational managers of their clients for structuring the business in a well designed, well planned and effective manner. Engineers and consultants associated with ERCOM have developed a hands-on, pragmatic and creative style which helps in strengthening the support of the client.The offices of the company are completely automated. Nearly all of the company’s projects make use of computer aided design and drafting, which are in tune with the latest state of the art softwares and internet tools. The systems of Ercom are well connected through a network with an active hotline server installed in USA. The same is well connected to Mumbai and Delhi through the help of the latest softwares and equipment.Ercom infrastructure and human capital manifests its strong positioning in providing basic / conceptual, detailed engineering and construction management services for commercial and industrial organizations.Conclusion:The skill of the company lies in identifying problems and designing solutions, keeping in mind the specific need of the client. However, the company has always taken care to ensure that the solutions designed work in sensitive and difficult organizational and cultural environments. The company has evolved as a one stop solution provider in the engineering and technical consultancy domain. It believes that it has a definite role to play in business areas where the easy yards have already been covered and further improvements to systems, technology, work practices and processes are not easily achieved.Interview with P.K.Ghosh, Chairman, Ercom Engineers Pvt Ltd, Ercom GroupWhat are the major services provided by your company?ERCOM Engineers Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading ISO – 9001 : 2008 Certified Organization specialized in providing technical, management and engineering consultancy to cement and other mineral based industries. The major services provided cover complete gamut of engineering consultancy right from project conceptualization, pre-feasibility, site selection studies, bankable techno economic feasibility report and detailed project reports, geological services including identification of limestone deposits and studies covering deposit assessment, complete geological exploration including computerized deposit evaluation and mine planning etc.ERCOM specializes in providing basic engineering and procurement assistance services including preparation of detailed tender enquiry document for entire plant & machinery, evaluation of offers from machinery suppliers and preparation of contract documents for both Indian and international projects.Our services also include complete detailed engineering for process, mechanical, electrical & instrumentation, civil and structural design, project monitoring & management – EPCM services, inspection of QAP for machineries and site supervision and management. Apart from the project engineering services, we have also provided our services to many clients for complete take over & due diligence studies, maintenance studies, productivity improvement and technical audit as well as product diversification for optimizing the production cost and profitability.How big is the market for turnkey engineering services in India? How do you compare the engineering services market in India vis-?vis other countries?As per our broad estimate, India’s present cement market for engineering services for consultancy organizations is about Rs.100 – 125 crores per annum. Since there is a market trend to go for turn-key supply packages, in the which the major part of the engineering is done by the turn-key supplier / contractor, the total engineering services market may be around Rs.400 – 450 crores per annum, if we include the engineering being carried out by the turn-key suppliers and review by the consultants.Please elaborate on some of the major projects executed by you in India and abroad.We have provided engineering consultancy services to many major projects in India from the Aditya Birla Group, JP, Dalmia, JK Corp and JK Cement, Reliance, Heidelberg, Lafarge & Holcim etc. alongwith many international projects in UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic apart from SAARC countires of Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka etc.Some of the major projects including 7500 TPD complete clinkerization line of Gulf Cement Company in UAE, which has been successfully commissioned and the clients have entrusted ERCOM for installation of 33 MW power plant based on Waste Heat Recovery System. Similarly we are executing a major cement project of JK Corp in Durg with two split located grinding units. We are also working on a number of major split located / brown field grinding units and cement terminals for the Aditya Birla Group.What kind of support do you expect from the government for engineering services vertical?We expect the government to support the engineering service organizations to ensure that we get a level playing field. The government of India has introduced Service Tax for all engineering services and the income tax incentives for export of engineering services have also been withdrawn.What is your view on the future of the engineering services industry in India?At present there is a significant trend for turn-key projects in both India and International market. In such a situation, a major part of the engineering is carried out by the turn-key suppliers and the role of the consultant is limited to review of the complete engineering apart from project monitoring & management services. This trend is likely to continue in the near future resulting in a reduction in the detailed engineering job for the consultancy organization.What are your company’s future plans and how do you propose to accomplish them?Our company is on the path of very major expansion and consolidation process with the induction of reputed foreign partners and also acquisition of some major engineering companies within India, which is likely to make us the largest engineering consultancy group in the country with over 500 man power strength and our offices located in almost all major cities in the country.Which was the toughest challenge faced by you till date and how did you overcome it?ERCOM had undertaken many challenging projects including complete engineering consultancy for 7500 TPD single line clinkerization unit of Gulf Cement Company at Ras Al Khaimah, installing the largest capacity of Vertical Roller Mill of that time supplied by Polysius, Germany. In the same location, we are now doing engineering consultancy for a very large 33 MW Waste Heat Recovery based power plant.ERCOM were associated with Aditya Birla Group – Ultratech Cement on Grasim – Raipur, Vikram Cement, Aditya Cement & Bathinda, where the quarry & land were challenging issues and the layouts were finalized in consultation with the experts from both sides, to arrive at the best compact layout, keeping the technology & efficiency levels in mind, ultimately bringing down the overall cost of the project.We have set up a cement plant in Bahrain based on unique concept of global sourcing of all raw materials, apart from number of cement projects in India from reputed groups. Most of these projects require retro fitting and accommodating the machinery in the existing plants, which require sharp engineering skills and innovations, due to the lay out and space constraints.ERCOM worked with Raysut Cement Company in Oman, where the plant capacity was only 250,000 TPY initially and from there the plant management & experts from both the sides worked together to bring the plant capacity level to 3.3 MTPA level today, by upgrading the kiln, pre heater, pre calciner, cooler as well adding new line, judiciously designed within the compact layout to reach this capacity level, with lot of flexibilities of using standby equipment between the lines, so that the ultimate production level & efficiency levels are maintained throughout the year.What are your major achievements and which has been your biggest achievement?I sincerely feel that as consultants, we have indeed played a vital role to achieve the highest level of benchmarking, competitiveness and financial health of the cement industry not only in India but also in many countries abroad, where we have provided our services.It is well known that many cement projects are getting very unduly delayed due to the various impediments and approvals related to land acquisition, environmental problems etc., which results in increased capital cost and adversely affect the viability of such projects. While, trying to put in our best efforts to provide all the technical and conceptual inputs for quick implementation of cement projects, this is a major issue, which needs to be looked into by the government and policy makers. We as consultancy organization, tried to provide maximum impetus to this, through various forums like FICCI, CII, CDC etc., some of which yielded positive results.