Procurement plays a pivotal role in the success of any project and usually well precedes project scheduling. For meticulous and effective procurement, the data base of vendors needs to be created and the loyalty of the vendors need to be checked. Especially for the precast industry, most of the raw materials are not available in India. Vendors have to be imported from other country. The procurement team should be aware and sort out the lead times for the materials in need. With time, the procurement process will become mechanised and easier due to availability of many approved vendors in data base.

Indian market cost-sensitive
Cost is crucial. Especially in India, the market is very sensitive to cost. Every client is looking for aggressive costings.

“When we are giving offers, the cost and quality delivery of the project needs to be balanced equally. If you offer cheap rates by cutting the quality of execution, it will hit back big time in future. When making offers, we have to do costing without compromising the quality of the products, and executions. This major challenge is inevitable,” says Shridhara.C.N., Head-Technical and Marketing, Preca Solutions India Pvt Ltd

Innovation in precast
“We are in the business of executing buildings by using precast pre-stressed technology. This is the need of the hour for the present Indian market. In precast technology, all building elements will be produced at factory in controlled environment. Bring the casted products to the site through trailers and connect at site to give the shape of the building,” he said. This type of construction is fast without compromising on quality of construction.

The grade of concrete using in precast is minimum M40 and all the elements casted in the steel moulds will give smooth finish. No plastering is required on top of the precast elements. This quality controlled production will increase the building’s workability and durability of the building.

Increasing productivity
The procurement team should create their own vendor data base. Also, they should visit the building material exhibitions and workshops to update themselves with new innovations. They should depend on multiple vendors instead of single vendors. This will help to arrange the material on time. Also, they have to sort out the critical items and non-critical items in procurement. Critical elements always keep some advanced stock in store. Non-critical items need to be procured based on the required lead times.

The launch of Make in India has provided impetus to the local manufacturers.
“We encouraged some of the local vendors to develop our required products by sharing technical details to them. Some people succeeded and helped a lot. The products made in India will suppress the leading time and so much money on import duties. Indirectly, this will help in the growth of our nation,” he added.

While local manufacturing is a great change and Make in India has provided options for the same, the product quality should never be compromised in manufacturing. Some people failed because of not maintaining required quality standards, which is a key concern.

When making offers, we have to do costing without compromising on quality of the products, and executions.
Shridhara.C.N., Head-Technical and Marketing, Preca Solutions India Pvt Ltd