Gandhi Automations Pvt Ltd is India’s No.1 Entrance Automations and Loading Bay Equipment Company. The head office is in Mumbai, manufacturing and warehouse in Bhiwandi and branches spread across India. Dock Levelers adhere to the most advanced concept with the most stringent safety standards. The prefabricated solutions for the quick construction of loading bays allows a cut by 60% of the construction time of pits and dramatically reduces the need of man labour. "Our corporate policy is to provide high tech products at affordable price, by considering their utility in tomorrow’s world. Fundamentally we keep ourselves one step ahead in product technology. Basically we provide customized total solution as per specific need of a particular company." Samir Gandhi, Managing Director of Gandhi Automation Pvt Ltd shares his views with Sandeep Sharma about his company, products & solutions, industry growth, latest trends, demand scenario and client preferences. Edited Excerpts… Could you brief us about your company, mission and objectives? Gandhi Automations Pvt Ltd is India’s No.1 Entrance Automations and Loading Bay Equipment Company. The head office is in Mumbai, manufacturing and warehouse in Bhiwandi and branches spread across India. We are equipped with a staff strength of 400 that continues to increase as we expand our business. Out of this 150 are engineers some of whom are trained overseas. We do not restrict ourselves in just importing the products, selling it to Indian customers and then forgetting about it. Right from the beginning, we have been following this norm of sending our engineers to the training centers of our manufacturing partners so that we are not found lacking in undertaking after sales service here in India. These engineers when they come back in turn train our personnel at the regional level. We have a solid base in our customer care department. We also have a dedicated toll free number operating on a 24x7 basis. The bottom-line is that we can make ourselves available anywhere in the country. We started our business with manufacturing of manual rolling shutters and went on to importing automations for rolling shutters. That was the first decisive step in bringing in advanced automations. From then onwards, we gradually enlarged our product portfolio – automated gates, boom barriers, doors etc. Around the year 2000, we introduced products which are primarily used in Logistics and Warehouse operations like Dock Levelers, Dock Shelters, Sectional Overhead Doors, etc. One thing led to another and we began to design doors and gates using the latest structural and mechanical engineering software and this is how we grew. Tell us about your product offerings in the Material Handling Equipment (MHE) category and the USP of your products & solutions? We design, manufacture, supply, install and maintain highly sophisticated industrial doors and loading bay equipment. The doors meet various objectives like temperature control, dust ingress, noise control, maintain hygienic conditions etc. at the same time allows seamless traffic of forklifts, pallet trucks etc. All our products are based on European and American technology that conform to very high standards of safety. Our Dock Levelers adhere to the most advanced concept with the most stringent safety standards. The prefabricated solutions for the quick construction of loading bays allows a cut by 60% of the construction time of pits and dramatically reduces the need of man labour. Our product range includes Aircraft Hangar Doors, Heavy Industrial Doors, High Speed Flexible Doors, Sectional Overhead Doors, Cold Storage Doors, Hermetic Doors, Fire Doors, PVC Strip Doors, Flap Doors, Sliding Doors, Swing Doors, Dock Levelers, Dock Shelters, Tail Lifts, Scissor Lifts, Automatic gates, Boom barriers, etc. Which are the hot verticals and geographies driving growth for your business? Expansion and modernization happens at different levels in almost all the sectors in India. Since Material handling equipment is basically used for movement, storage, protection of materials it can be used in any industry that is into manufacturing. There is no restriction on the type of industry that can use Dock Levelers, Industrial Doors or Tail Lifts. However these are used mostly in Warehouses and companies which adhere to automated solutions for logistics. What are the latest trends in the Entrance Automation systems? The Indian industry has started giving emphasis on technology updation and industry norms. Gandhi Automations has always endeavored to bring in products from across the globe primarily focused on safety along with features that enhance speed and life of the automations. The soft start and soft stop facilities avoid stress and wear on the mechanical parts, thus ensuring long life of the product. The Energy Saving Automations are equipped with a new generation control panel which allows energy consumption to be optimized both in operating and stand-by modes. The sensors for the opening and closing of the doors are advanced electronic systems which detect the presence of people and also the direction of the movement of people. The width and depth of the detection area can also be adjusted. It is also imperative to provide automations that are of intensive use at the same time absolutely safe. Our products have inverter powered 230 V three phase actuators and the safety photocells along with the manual emergency opening device make our products safe, reliable and long lasting. What kind of customisation do you offer to your clientele? Our corporate policy is to provide high tech products at affordable price, by considering their utility in tomorrow’s world. Fundamentally we keep ourselves one step ahead in product technology. Basically we provide customized total solution as per specific need of a particular company. We take into consideration the need of customer & accordingly provide the best customized total solution. Basically we have a thorough knowledge of warehousing, logistics movement in industries. We first suggest the client the automation required for his layout of workplace, like the placement of automated doors at strategic places, the number of Dock Levelers required etc. This consultancy is value added because it is unbiased. The clients understand the convenience & necessity of our product. For Gandhi Automations it is just not selling a product but providing solutions to our clients. Hence for the client being associated with Gandhi Automations provides an added advantage. What kind of growth do you see amidst global turmoil and all time low sentiments prevailing in India? Despite prevailing global uncertainty and low sentiments in Indian industry we as a company are positive on improvement in the Indian economy and expect a demand for goods movement and create opportunities for suppliers of goods- handling products and services of all types. Overall the Indian industry has started giving emphasis on the technology updates and industry norms. To address the need of user friendly operations, entrance automations is the latest technology. It gives comfort, swiftness and above all security, the pre-requisite benchmark. The demand for automations is expected to soar in India in spite of massive augmentation in indigenous production. The manufacturing industry will need automation products to fill in gaps and meet niche requirement. Keeping this in mind we are investing heavily into expansion of our facilities as we are very positive about the Indian Economy. What needs to be done by the Government of India to boost economic growth? Implementation of GST would play an important role to boost the economic growth of the country. Infrastructure of warehouse, road, railway and port requires to be developed on a fast-track basis. Implementation of GST without further delay will not only boost the economic growth in India but will also have some tangible benefits for the logistics industry.