A.T.E. : Innovations for excellence

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Mr. Mukesh P. Trivedi, Senior Vice President,Infrastructure Water Projects A.T.E. Enterprises Private Limited
Mr. Mukesh P. Trivedi, Senior Vice
President,Infrastructure Water Projects
A.T.E. Enterprises Private Limited

A.T.E.

Q. A.T.E. ENTERPRISE being one of the leading distributors of pumps in India & has established its brand in the pumps market, how did you in the last few years achieve remarkable position in Indian market?
A.T.E. Enterprises Private Limited is recognized in the pump industry for more than 25 years having provided solutions for liquid transfer in partnership with world renowned brands in various industrial segments in India.

Flow technology forms an integral part of Clean Technology Group of A.T.E.; the offerings include energy efficient solutions for wide spectrum of application based solutions; be it pumping, mixing and aeration of water, wastewater to sewage and storm water management. The other areas of liquid transfer cover precession and controlled dosing and metering solutions for handling corrosive and hazardous liquids.

Flow technology’s services include selecting and sizing pumps and systems with knowledge based application engineering and excellent after sales services. The company has also developed its own pressure boosting system – BoostStar.

Q. Can you please brief us about international alliances ?
A.T.E.’s flow technology division is a comprehensive & end-to-end solutions provider for liquid transfer problems of its customers. Based on its principals’ domain expertise and specialization in varied applications, A.T.E. brings to its customers some of the world’s leading technologies in the Indian market. We have an extensive product portfolio that covers a wide expanse of applications areas to serve the band-width of industrial and building services markets in India.

Our product portfolio include multinational brands such as

  • ABS Pumps, Germany for sewage & wastewater submersible pumps, mixers, aerators, etc
  • Huber SE, Germany for screens, screenings treatment, grit separation and treatment, sludge treatment, membrane bio reactor (MBR), micro screening / filtration, etc
  • Ebara Corporation, Japan for stainless steel high pressure single and multi-stage pumps
  • • Iwaki, Japan for dosing, metering and seal-less magnetic drive pumps
  • Yamada, Japan for air operated double diaphragm pumps for corrosive fluids and for greasing and lubrication systems.
  • Daido Machinery Corporation, Japan for positive displacement internal gear pumps
  • Walchem, USA for automated dosing controllers and allied instrumentation in water treatment, electroplating, chemical processes, etc.
  • Hydropneumatic Pressure boosting systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

With over 9 sales and service offices in major cities across India, A.T.E. is a single window partner for customers comprehensive liquid transfer solutions.

Q. What are the latest initiatives A.T.E. ENTERPRISE has undertaken in industrial pumps space? Which are your focus areas?
Water and wastewater segments offer promising markets for at least next decade if not more hence our emphasis would be to focus on these segments. Efficient water flow management in conditions of varying water pressure and fluctuating demand has always been a challenge. It is an even greater challenge to manage flow while optimizing energy consumption. Amongst the host of systems that are currently available in the market, the ‘BoostStar’ hydro-pneumatic (HyP) pressure boosting system from A.T.E. wins hands down as it combines efficient water management and optimum energy consumption.

‘BoostStar’ is designed and engineered to manage the water flow of high-rise apartments, townships, bungalows / villas, commercial buildings such as malls, hotels and office buildings and also for industrial applications. What is unique about BoostStar is that it provides the highest level of intelligence and automation. It has the most advanced inbuilt features such as configurable time-of-day and day-of-week demand patterns, pumps auto-cascading and rotation for prolonged pump durability, Q/h runtime graphs, advanced protection, data and fault logging, BMS connectivity and remote alerts & notifications via SMS. A.T.E. BoostStar HyP systems are engineered using the most stringent quality and testing standards. At the heart of the BoostStar HyP systems are the world’s leading brand of centrifugal pumps manufactured by Ebara, Japan, and instrumentation and control systems built using the best components. The scalable design of the BoostStar HyP systems enable a variety of configurations, ranging from basic fixed speed systems to advanced and fully automated variable speed systems.

Q. What are the market opportunities for A.T.E. ENTERPRISE products in India? How do you plan to position these products?
As mentioned earlier, water and wastewater segments in India offer big opportunities both in short and long term. We have excellent offerings from global leaders to cash on the opportunities. We are quite well-placed with designers, accreditation with consultants, contractors and endcustomers, not only because of salient features of our offerings but also leveraging from proven performance track. The house of A.T.E. is synonym with quality, reliability and pre and post sales service support.

Q. In order to sustain at frontier position, what are the marketing strategies that are applied & will be applied for Indian market?
We in A.T.E. strive to provide its customers world-class technology, world-class quality and world-class service. This DNA is borne out by the high level of satisfaction expressed by our customers in an independent survey & also emphasis on human relationships, its ethical business standards and its uncompromising values which has resulted in the group being looked upon as a reliable partner by customers, partners, principals, suppliers and employees alike. Over the years, A.T.E. has gained know-how in start-up and scale-up of manufacturing operations encompassing feasibility studies, plant location, manpower recruitment, lay-out, construction, selection of plant and machinery, regulatory compliance, vendor development, commissioning and streamlining of operations, quality controls, etc. Exposure to state of the art manufacturing and supply chain practices through joint ventures; continuous learning and innovation enable us to put up excellent manufacturing facilities in a short time.

Q. Can you please elucidate the contribution of technology innovations in the success of A.T.E. ENTERPRISE products?
With depleting water resources, water scarcity is turning out to be a serious challenge not only for current use, but also for the use of future generation. In this context, the importance of effective water management through treatment, recycle and reuse cannot be overemphasised. The day is not far when ‘your most reliable water source could be – your treated wastewater’. The A.T.E.‘s Clean technology group apart from liquid transfer solutions also offers a comprehensive range of state-of-the art technologies and customized solutions for sustainable water management. The company has the technology and the experience to handle difficult to treat effluents and has successfully executed complex treatment schemes, enabling their customers to not just meet stringent zero discharge regulations in landlocked areas but also manage recycle and reuse of wastewater.

Q. Brief us about the quality policy for A.T.E. ENTERPRISE business?
We at A.T.E., believes in and commits itself to “Total Customer Satisfaction”. We endeavor to be a Customer Oriented Company which delivers: Products of the best quality, appropriate technology and world-class services, which meet and preferably surpass-customer expectations. We strive to attain and retain market leadership by continual improvement in each field of our business activities, provide a challenging, fair and fulfilling work environment, operate in an environment friendly manner with a social conscienceand provide our stake holders adequate returns.

Q. Please highlight more about A.T.E. ENTERPRISE top line product range? Is there any new launch or in pipeline stage?
The A.T.E. is into the domains of textile engineering, clean technology, machine – to – machine (M2M) solutions, flow technology and print & packaging solutions. Each vertical has its solutions and segments defined. Product range too is vast to cover. Through Clean technology, A.T.E. aims to provide world-class, sustainable solutions in Energy & Water – in particular: comfort conditioning; wastewater management (STP, ETP); pumps & other equipment for managing flow.We do have new solutions in pipeline for launching in near future. One of them is a solar thermal system which can deliver heat in the form of steam/thermal oil at temperatures of 140oC to 200oC. Single solar equipment will generate 100kg/hr per day of steam. Existing thermal systems, when supplemented with A.T.E.’s solar concentrator, would reduce consumption of fossil fuels to a very large extent. The group is also developing unconventional renewable energy solutions based on biogas.

Q. How do your perceive Indian pumps industryagainst the global market?
Indian pump industry is quite matured one, particularly for the centrifugal and bore-well pumps. With a history of more than eighty years in manufacturing, Indian manufacturers not just cater to local markets but also serve overseas demands. Pumps being the basic equipment for every sphere of the national economy, the Indian pump industry have in its own growth, contributed immensely to the economic growth of the country. The enterprise in the Indian pump industry merits appreciation for the achievements of prompt and competent indigenisation of almost every type of pumps in gigantic sizes, of a variety of constructional features and operational sophistications & of pumps in a variety of materials of construction. The industry has over the years built up great potentials to meet technological challenges. It is estimated that the production of pumps in the country is presently of the order of ` 1200 crores, contributed by some one million pumps per year, produced by some 500 odd manufacturers of large, medium and small scales. (Reference: Indian Pump manufacturing association website)

Q. What are the key technological trends that are driving pump industry?
Trends that drive pump industry globally are to create barriers through technology differentiations. Focus on energy efficiencies and meeting demanding statutory regulations particularly on energy, environmental and safety.

Q. According to you what is the future of the Indian pumps industry?
Even though Indian pump industry was always challenged by global players on technology and reliability, Indian manufacturers had costs to its advantage, however now with Chinese players coming in contention, we can sustain our position by continuously adapting new technologies, materials, quality, productivity, & service in that order. Success will also depend on a brain trust of technical people in the organization. Good business planning therefore must include the engineering expertise that has made such business possible in the past & will without doubt continue to do so in the future.

Q. According you what are the factors affecting to your business?
The growth impediments are largely on account of slowing down of economy and industry facing a liquidity crunch. In private sector, deferring investment plans and on institutional front it is on account of inordinate delays in project executions. Input costs like power, fuel, interest and distribution costs are putting pressure on margins.

Q. According to you what are the measures to be taken by Indian manufacturers in order to compete with global players?
Global competition is essential for overall growth. It keeps Indian manufacturers abreast on new technologies and stretches them to raise the bar to upgrade themselves on critical factors. Continues efforts must be made on improving processes and there-by improve quality, and productivity. Commit to match the reliability comfort offered by global players. The other differentiation would be to be flexible on customizing to customer needs as this may be difficult or quite expensive with global players. Indian manufacturers should leverage our relatively low cost engineering skills to their advantage.

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