”We are more flexible and receptive so as to be able to adapt to rising market demands and changes much before our competitors,” says Dr. A.V. Mohan, Executive Director (Sales & Marketing), Messer Cutting Systems India Pvt. Ltd.

 Messer Cutting Systems India Pvt. Ltd. is one of the most successful manufactures of CNC thermal cutting machinery. In an interview with B2B Purchase, Dr. A.V. Mohan briefs on the industry trends and his company’s recent initiatives.

Could you brief us on the current business scenario as far as your business is concerned?
With India expected to ‘turn the corner’ on the back of structural reforms, its economy is projected to clock 7 % growth in 2015 even as China would see an economic slowdown is an important input . 2015 could be the year that India changes the game . In the short term, low oil prices are likely to increase GDP growth, ease the pressures of India’s high current account deficit and help bring down inflation. The recently announced Union Budget saw India take a step towards implementing new structural reforms which will boost the economy.

As far as capital goods sector is concerned, the rates of central excise and customs duties maintained at the previous levels in order to aid the success of the ‘Make in India’ initiative will help. Capital goods sector will see a robust year on year growth led by huge order inflow especially from oil and gas sector, power, and metals. Overall, we see powerful growth trends emerging.

Which are your target industry segments?
Construction, mining equipment, structural solutions companies, defence, power and general engineering etc. A large number of job shops in our country cater dedicatedly to these segments. We are associated with almost all of them.

How do you perceive the confidence level in your end-user industry segments?
As far as Messer Cutting Systems is concerned, we are still and will continue to strive to be the first and last choice for our valued customers.

Keeping pace with the increasing optimism across Indian industry, what are the initiatives you have taken?
We have taken lots of initiatives in the recent past. We have targeted product related innovations like high-tech laser bevelling solutions, heating solutions. We have expanded our market to countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal etc.

We have strengthened our service back-up to customers by adding toll free call centre based full time responsive customer addressal initiatives.  We have launched our industrial skill building and education packages which will slowly be implemented in our vocational training institutes, engineering colleges and also research institutions which will be a major contributor towards the “Make in India” campaign launched by our Prime minister.

Over and above, we have a very “personnel centric” work culture – we do not miss any opportunity to acknowledge and reward our performing team members, distributors and alliance partners. Our attrition rate is “zero” and we have distributors, partners who are with us since our inception and going strong till date.

Are you going to introduce any new product or technology?
As mentioned earlier, we will be introducing new product or technology. Laser cutting systems, heating solutions, and industrial skill building packages would be our priorities.

Plasma cutting or laser cutting – which is better and why?
They cannot be compared. Both have their merits, de-merits and specific applications.

Finally, what makes you different from your competitors?
In short, our customer-driven approach, we take care of our employees. We are more flexible and receptive so as to be able to adapt to rising market demands and changes much before our competitors. This is exactly why we are the leaders in the market consistently for over 15 years now and becoming stronger as time is progressing.