Building blocks of success

Universal Construction Machinery has come a long way from the days of a single lathe and welding machine workshop.

When Rohidas More, a youngster from a family of farmers from Kopare in Pune district came to Pune city, he was sure he wanted to be his own master.

Arming himself with apprenticeship training at Pune's Divgi Metals, More set up his own workshop and began handling job work for big industries such as Bajaj and Tata Motors. Back in 1975, all his workshop comprised of was a lathe, a drilling machine and an arc welding machine.

It was in the early 80s that More hit the trail to his destiny: To become the leading player in the area of manufacturing construction machinery. And to raise Universal's top-line from a few lakhs to close to Rs 100 crore.

More's entry into this line was with a concrete block making machine. In 1996, More's elder son Ranjit joined him. This mechanical engineer, who is now the managing director of Universal Construction Machinery and Equipments, knew the way the infrastructure sector was growing and the need to tap international markets.

It was at his initiative that Universal participated in a global construction machinery show in Bauma, Germany. Universal's ability to adapt the design and size of imported equipment to Indian requirements attracted many customers.

"Concrete mixers with 30 cubic feet capacity are excess for Indian construction players and the unused capacity meant higher operating costs," Ranjit says.

Universal is now set to double its export earnings. In addition to the basic construction equipment, the Persons and Material Lift (PM lift) and the completely home-grown work platform will drive worldwide sales, says Ranjit.

"These two products have a huge demand abroad, especially in the Middle East and Far Eastern markets."

Not surprisingly, Universal's client list reads like a who's who of construction sector. L&T, Gammon India, Afcons, all source machines from them as do Europe's construction giants Holzman, Dwidag and San Marina.

Universal also has a tie-up with the world's biggest construction machinery auctioneers, Richie Brothers and is also planning to open sales offices in Fiji, Dubai, Munich, New York.