Y Srinivas Reddy, Founder and Managing Director, Bevcon Wayors.
Our emphasis on R&D, foreign collaborations and in-house manufacturing facilities make our products truly world class. We have major market share in turnkey execution of fuel (coal/coke/lignite) handling systems for thermal power plants across India and have also executed various raw material handling projects for the steel and cement plants. Plus, we have multiple foreign collaborations across the world that have helped us offer matchless services to our clients, says Y Srinivas Reddy, Founder and Managing Director, Bevcon Wayors. Excerpts from the interview.
How do you assess the growth potential for bulk material handling industry?
Business of Indian bulk material handling for last two years has been deeply affected by volatile markets and by ambiguous policy situations. Considering the momentum in the infrastructure sectors in particular power, ports, mining and cement, a steady growth rate of 15-20 per cent can be seen in the bulk material handling sector for the next five years There is great scope for the material handling industry in future once guiding policies regarding environmental clearances, land acquisitions and method of awarding contracts are defined by the government in a transparent manner. I am optimistic that Indian material handling industry will have golden days ahead.
What are the latest innovations from Bevcon?
Recently we got technology agreement with Overland Conveyor Co., USA, for cross country long distance conveyor and pipe conveyors. The will be used in power and mining industries. Using belt conveyors to transport ore, coal and other materials from the mines and ports to the processing plants or power plants has been proven to be an efficient method of transportation. These conveyors can follow most terrains and have little or no impact on the enviornment. Operating and maintenance costs are low and they are extremely safe to operate.
Introduction of high angle sandwich belt conveyors has made it possible to convey any mineral from pit bottom to the surface. The technology is developed in collaboration with Dos Santos International, USA, for open pit mine and for in-pit crushing. The technology also minimises the impact on environment and brings down the operational cost.
How do you spread awareness about your latest innovations?
Awareness about new developments in the bulk material handling industry is not a big challenge in the present age of information. However, as a manufacturer we have to take extraordinary initiatives in promoting the product by way of interactions with consultants and clients by conducting seminars, showcasing products in exhibitions, use of print media of concerned segment journals and of course through internet.
How energy efficient is Bevcon’s range of solutions?
Bevcon provides cost effective solutions to the industry with a series of new generation material handling equipments like steep angle conveyors, air-supported-belt conveyor, sandwich conveyors etc. Recently we have implemented revolutionary concept in one of the cement plants in India for conveying clinker from wagon unloading to silo storage in most cost effective and very low power consumption.
What are the challenges in front of the industry?
Risk assessment is major challenge for the industry considering tight cash flows and time consuming financial clearances from Institutions. Also, slow project clearance processes of the government puts extraordinary strain on the industry and on the economy.
Tell us about your R&D efforts.
Our in-house research and development group called TDG develops on average 10 to 12 new equipment per year for the various material handling needs. The core focus of the department is development of new products, validation of those products and providing cost effective solutions. The group consists of ‘subject matter specialists’ from various domains working collectively to get the desired results. We have also approached the DISR for recognition of our facility as an R&D hub.
Could you throw some light on the sales and distribution network of your company?
We believe that our strong sales and marketing team, along with our after-sales services team, separates us from our competition. To make our services easily accessible we have established full-fledged regional sales and service offices in cities like Pune, Chennai, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, New Delhi, Vadodara and in Raipur. All regional offices are complete with sales and marketing teams, application and design engineering experts, quality assurance and as well project management personal.
How important the role of a consultant especially for MHE in the cement industry?
In my view, most of the cement companies are highly dependent on consultants in overall designing of the plant and defining equipment specifications. But in last couple of years it has been noticed that few big industrial groups have formed their own specialised project engineering groups that are taking control of entire projects from concept to commissioning. However, overall the role of consultants is very crucial and to the best of my knowledge their role in material handling industry is not being undervalued.
Tell us about your company and your operations?
Bevcon is a leading provider of high-quality, technologically advanced integrated bulk material handling and processing solutions. We have large market share in turnkey execution of material handling applications in raw material handling systems for steel plants, cement plants, fuel (coal/coke/lignite) handling systems, for coal and biomass based power plants, in-plant material handling systems, ferro alloy plants, sugar, fertilizer, agri, lime coke handling systems etc.
We have three state-of-the-art manufacturing set-ups in Hyderabad equipped with latest technologies such as latest plasma cutting machine etc. Our 3rd state-of-art fully automised idler and pulley manufacturing plant will be start running at full scale by next financial year at Hyderabad. Recently we have started our 4th full-fledged manufacturing plant at Raipur.
We have plans to expand our manufacturing base by putting up 5th manufacturing unit in Hyderabad to manufacture stackers and reclaimers, sandwich conveyors and material handling components. We have adopted world’s best processes like SAP, ISO and kaizen 5s systems at our facilities.
We have executed around 2700 projects with repeated customer base of 62 per cent by providing innovative and cost effective processes solutions backed by in-house research development and as well as through external collaborations. Our product range covers almost all equipments and turnkey project solutions pertaining to material handling applications. Bevcon is profit making debt free company from the inception and last year our sales turnover was 185 crores and has been growing at a CAGR of 20 per cent.
All of us are committed towards the core value of the organization – iTREAT that stands for innovation, trust, reliability, empowerment, attitude and transparency. We appreciate the aspirations of our employees and the efforts they make towards achieving excellence.
Could you brief us on your CSR initiatives?
As a corporate, we are aware of our social responsibility and feel grateful towards the society and intend to give back to it. Our aim is to usher an all inclusive growth. Time and again, we have taken initiatives to support education for poor, extending education towards the specially abled children, making knowledge available for the visually challenged ones, holding health camps and to provide free medicine for children and to make safe drinking water available for all. All this CSR activities are carried out under an initiative called i2i – imagination 2 impact, a Bevcon CSR initiative.
Landmark Projects
- High capacity coke handling at TATA Jamshedpur through side wall belt conveyors, which will be the largest ever conveying application in India.
- First of a kind 500 tph metal recovery plant for JSW Ispat through Harsco.
- World’s 1st coal gas based DRI plant for ever highest 2400tph raw material handling system for Jindal at Angul.
- Setting up state-of-the-art 800tph radial coal stacker of 270 degree rotation to handle 50,000 tonnes storage stockpile capacity with ground track hopper system for unloading coal from wagons and along with conventional reclaiming system at IMFA.