Vasim Pradhan, Sales Head – India & International Business, Ashar Locker. In an interview with B2B Purchase.

In terms of business meetings with industry leaders and customers, Excon has always been a unique experience for us. Except for the climatic disruption that created some discomfort for the visitors, there was a minor drop in the expected footfall during the exhibition’s first two days, but we gained good traction thereafter, says Vasim Pradhan, Sales Head–India & International Business, Ashar Locker. 

Ashar Locker’s products were exhibited at Excon 

We displayed our entire product line at the event including new products such as the Tufflex screens, which are the next generation of PU wire screens. We are currently importing them from our parent company in Australia. We also had our entire line of anti-clogging screens on display which have been driving market demand for the last few years. During the event, we also displayed a dropper product profile as well as other related accessories.

Featured products and their applications 

We were the first to develop the anti clogging mesh, despite the fact that it is produced by a significant number of people today; no one has yet perfected it. The anti-clogging mesh allows our mining and crushing customers to keep their operations running even when the weather is not favourable. Our customers may now run their plants 24X 7 even during the monsoons. The product is positioned in such a way that it adds value to the whole aggregate or mining production, lowering our customers’ cost per tonne. Furthermore, its precision provides the exact efficiency that a crushing plant requires when operating over traditional wire meshes.

The effects of infrastructure trends 

India’s infrastructure is well positioned to help the country achieve its goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy. The government has put a lot of money into infrastructure development, but it should create a committee to oversee the commodity index.

When it comes to steel prices, they have been increasing rapidly which has created a significant impact on the total infrastructure costs. The cost for our products comprising roughly 90 percent steel, has increased significantly for the customer.

From a macro perspective, the increase in steel prices is affecting the overall price of infrastructure throughout the category. But hopefully, this will not be an option for a long time. As a result, we are pleased with the government’s infrastructure spending but much more needs to be done to keep up and stay in the race.

Product quality and efficiency 

We’ve always positioned our products for A-grade clients who rely on us for exceptional value and quality. We are the only firm in India which uses Tata steel or equivalent wires in all our products that distinguishes us as a premium supplier of the highest quality available. Even our production procedures and quality control are subjected to rigorous testing to ensure that we maintain 95 percent efficiency rate.

Innovations in the post-COVID era 

During the first and second waves, business was severely harmed, but COVID has revolutionised the way technology is employed. To be more specific, it has accelerated the entire technological process. COVID is responsible for the things we have today; otherwise, this technology would only be available in the next four or five years. Since actual site visits were not possible during the COVID period we engaged with our customers regularly through webinars, trainings, and meetings. We had also kept our customers in touch with our service team 24X7 so that they could be guided in the event of an emergency or installations. Another advantage of COVID is that India is seen as a viable alternative to China which is a significant push that will greatly benefit Indian manufacturers in the coming years.