Our brand promise is – Value Delivered. Always : S. A. Mohan

S. A. Mohan, CEO, Maini Materials Movement Pvt. Ltd., is a Graduate in Commerce from University of Mysore. He joined Maini in 2009. Prior to this he was with Molex India as its Sales Director – India & Asean for networking products. He spent 23yrs at Molex and was responsible for setting up the company from its inception. Molex Inc., is a US based Global Corporation engaged in manufacture of Electrical and Electronic Connectors & Interconnection systems. During 1991-93 he attended the Management Training Program conducted by the faculty of Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He was one of the global employees to have been deputed for this program for development of leadership skills. At Maini, Mr. Mohan is instrumental for path-breaking initiatives in the areas of Strategic Planning, Business Development, Design, Manufacturing, Brand build, team building, customer relations and so on. His marketing savvy and charismatic approach to man management are helping Maini to be a vibrant corporate entity and a technology leader in its chosen field. Mr. P. K. Balasubramanian speaks to Mr. S. A. Mohan to learn more about Maini, its brand values and its dynamic leadership. Excerpts:

Q. Maini was earlier well known for its materials handing products. Today it is a total solutions provider. How do you describe the transformation in the perception of the company?
Yes, earlier Maini was concentrating more on its products like Racking Systems, Stackers, BOPT’s etc. Since we are one of the very few companies who design, manufacture and supply products which can ater to end-to-end needs of a warehouse, we started offering full solutions. Today we have a single face and a unified sales team to offer the benefit of solutions to the customer whatever be his requirements.

Q. What are the new alliances you forged to leverage and offer a large basket of products & solutions to Indian industry?
We have been the leader in materials handling. In order to cater to the increasing demand for more complex equipment, we forged a strategic alliance with Nacco Material Handling Group – one of the top materials handling equipment manufacturers, globally, to manufacture and sell their Yale range of products in India. Nacco is a market leader in USA with over 26% market share. With Nacco as a global partner, we are manufacturing European design Forklift Trucks and High Reach Trucks for the rapidly developing Indian market. These high-end products are co-branded and sold in India. The Maini brand of products which include Dock Levellers, Scissor Lifts, Stackers, Battery Operated Pallet Trucks, Tow Trucks, Hand Pallet Trucks have all been strengthened to cater to a wide range of applications.

Armes Maini, our JV with Feretto Group, Italy is a leading manufacturer of Storage Racking & Shelving Systems. We offer a complete solution for a large spectrum of storage needs. We design and manufacture Maini Buggy (Electric Golf carts) which are offered as in-campus mobility solutions to all industry segments. Further Maini Group has pioneered Electric Cars in India and continues to be one of the largest electric car manufacturer in the world.

Q. I understand you have formed a new Society for Materials Handling. Can we have details?
Yes, I am one of the active founder members of the newly formed Society of Indian Materials Equipment Manufacturers SIMHEM, operating from Mumbai which is formally affiliated to CII. Some of its members include Josts, Godrej, Voltas, McNeil, Exide, Jaldoot, Puma and Maini. The society meets periodically to drive common industry based goals and objectives.

We are also affiliated to WITS (World Industrial Trucks Statistics) and have access to import data, order booking position, etc. which will give insightful information to member companies. This organization allows the member companies to understand the market size at an industry level which in turn helps in driving investments and other decisions. SIMHEM along with CII Logistics Institute have started conducting end-user seminars to enhance awareness of use and benefits of Material Handling Equipments. Two events were held in Chennai & Pune where over 150 people participated. The next seminar is scheduled to held in New Delhi on 14th Feb 2014. At this seminar, atleast two of our member companies will present white papers on Innovations in Materials Handing Equipment. This will be followed by presentation by End User’s who speak about their perspective, which is then followed by a panel discussion. I am also a member of the Logistics Advisory Council of CII and take active participationin the Seminars/workshops in warehousing technology either as a speaker or a panelist.

Q. What are the latest trends in materials handling you have spearheaded?
One notable trend Is the use of AC Drive technology with all its advantages. We are using it in our Battery Operated Material Handling Equipments & Electric Golf Carts. The use of Brushless Motors has made the equipment maintenance-free and brought down the ownership cost to the customer. Then we have come out with several variants for the hospitality sector. Front office buggies for instance. For the airport segment, we have already launched an 8T Tug for Baggage Handling. In the domain of Storage Racking we have come out with Multi-Tier Systems like G+3/G+4 with conveyors & lifts. We are in the process of launching Carousel based storage system & ASRS.

Q. What have you to say about your management style?
In management we follow the ‘empowered style’. We hire the right people and empower them. Goals and strategies are jointly developed and communicated across the organization for implementation and measurement on a periodic basis. Everyone will then be expected to perform and deliver results. We train and encourage all of our employees to develop soft skills.

Q. Which are your group companies and what are their activities?
Maini Precision Products is our flagship company which has two divisions namely Auto Div. which manufactures high precision components and assemblies in addition to Filters & Filters components. Then there’s the Aero Div. which manufactures wide range of components used in Aerospace Industry. This company derives large portion of its revenue from Exports to Europe and USA.

Second company is Armes Maini Storage Systems Pvt. Ltd. which makes storage racks, etc. This company is well established in its segment with very large and well known customer base. Maini Plastics & Composites in the 3rd Company which specializes in Vaccum Formed Plastic Components. They manufacture all the body parts for Mahindra Reva Electric Car. They also serve customers in several other industry segments.

Then of course we have Maini Materials Movement which is into the whole gamut of Materials Handling Equipments including Forklifts, Reach Trucks etc. This company designs and manufactures Electric Buggies which are extensively used as In-Campus transporation solution for People and Materials. We have implemented CRM in to cover both Sales & Service functions. After market services are very robust thru CRM wherein all complaints are logged in with a ticket numbers and responses are tracked with fixed time frames. Escalation path has been established for unresolved issues which comes to me on the fifth day.

Q. What have you to say about your customer relations?
We have instituted good systems and processes to ensure consistent customer service. We work to deliver products to customers within the shortest possible lead time, more closer to their expectations. CRM is helping us to address and resolve customers complaints, if any. Besides, the top management is accessible to all customers. We assist / advise the customers on the material availability, supply position of equipment or parts, etc. for specific projects and needs. I attend customer meetings to discuss strategic initiatives on new projects.

Q. What are the new products and technology innovations one can expect from the stable of Maini?
We are the pioneers in electric cars. We are also the pioneers in the materials handling space. We keep coming up with new products all the time. We shall be introducing vertical carousels & ASRS systems shortly.
We are looking to offer industry specific products and solutions which address business problems of our customers. We have supplied VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) trucks which can operate in an aisle width of 1.6 mtrs and store and retrieve materials from 16 mtrs height. These are some cutting edge technology solutions which are quite futuristic for India.

Q. So what’s your brand promise to the customer?
Our brand promise is: “Value delivered. Always”. We strive to offer them the right solutions and ensure it works at the lowest total cost of ownership.

Q. What’s your vision for Maini?
Our vision is to be among the top two players in the country in the space of Materials Handling Equipments & Warehousing Automation. We plan to retain our market leadership in Electric Buggies.