Gone are the days when the concrete equipment manufacturer could focus solely on assembling machine parts and dispatching them to the construction sites. In today?s competitive era after sales services have come to occupy centre stage. As the structural and design complexities increase, it is becoming more and more challenging to pour concrete at site. Pumps with longer ranges, flexible booms and tie ups with contractors are some of the developments and initiatives by equipment suppliers to support the construction sector. Increasingly, the equipment buyers are asking for mobile batching plants, which can be easily relocated and erected in shorter time frames. The equipment industry is evolving to meet these demands.

One of the growing concerns is the shortage of skilled technicians in the field. The concrete equipment industry has to upgrade its skilled force to face the challenges of the growing economy. As the nation moves ahead to build its infrastructure, the need for trained manpower is only going to grow.

The demand for speedier construction, especially for residential and commercial housing, flyovers, roads, etc., has encouraged adoption of mechanised techniques of construction boosting demand for construction equipment in India. A range of multinational players has already established itself in the market. Although Chinese equipment suppliers have emerged as a viable commercial option, they have been seriously restricted by the near absence of service network in India. Apart from capital cost involved, the modern customer looks for operations and maintenance costs, spare part support and the delivery schedule too. On several occasions Chinese equipment suppliers have failed to deliver equipment and services as per delivery schedule. In following interactions we try to gauge what the concrete manufacturers look for when choosing equipment.