Madhus rides the quality service wave

Bangalore-based Madhus Garage Equipments, which supplies its products to nearly all OEMs in India, has added Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to its kitty. Director, sales and marketing, S Ramprasad, told Autocar Professional that the company will supply crash repair equipment as well as wheel balancers. Flush with orders for the XUV500, and clearly in anticipation of providing good service, M&M wants to equip its dealers to be able to provide top-quality all-round service.

Madhus has also got business from the likes of Honda Siel Cars India, Ford India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor for products including crash repair equipment. In the passenger car segment, Madhus has been an exclusive supplier to Mercedes-Benz and as the luxury carmaker plans to set up new dealerships and service centres in the North, Madhus will supply the necessary equipment.

Now, as the fiscal year draws to an end, Ramprasad says the company hopes to record a 15-20 percent growth on the basis of growth in the passenger car sector. However, he puts things in perspective by saying that the rise in sales in the midsize segment, cars priced in the range of Rs 6 -10 lakh, is a contributory factor. “These are the people who want better service and so equipment at the dealerships must match up,” he says. Increasingly, at dealership service outlets, the demand is for quality, trouble-free equipment with no downtime, Ramprasad adds.

Though Madhus has had a good year, its business was affected by the currency fluctuations which necessitated increasing prices of its products by as much as 20 percent which didn’t go down well with customers. However, the situation has stabilised now and the price increase has been limited to 5-6 percent. The products that were affected were those imported from Sweden and Italy.

In the commercial vehicle space, Madhus has added a new client in Mercedes-Benz Trucks, which has a facility near Chennai, and plans to set up about 19 dealerships. The company will supply wheel aligners, tyre changers, wheel balancers and column lifts. The company is also in touch with Eicher as well for orders for the company’s service business. Besides the products mentioned above, Madhus also provides spot welding equipment, AC servicing equipment, gas analysers, tyre inflation and brake testing equipment. These products are global brands sourced from companies like Car-O-Liner, Hunter, Ravaglioli and others.

New products

Last year, Madhus launched two climate control equipment that were sourced from Texa of the US aimed at the diagnostics and maintenance of such systems. The company has been able to bag orders from Mahindra, Toyota and Ford. Ramprasad says supplies have begun after a somewhat time-consuming process because in the garage equipment business, the starting point is OEM approval. However, he adds that he is satisfied with the sales achieved.

Madhus will also supply these products to Mercedes-Benz. The German automaker uses R1234 gas, which is the latest European standard, in its compressors. While this is not the standard in India, Ramprasad expects these products will have to be used as a number of cars are now exported from India.

In the garage equipment business, the best-selling products are tyre changers and wheel aligner and wheel balancer equipment. To provide value to buyers across the country, Madhus has made packages that aim to suit different class of cities. This initiative begun three months ago and the company has able to sell over 100 packages. These combination packages called silver, gold and platinium provide a combination of the latest equipment from Hunter and Ravaglioli, two brands that Madhus markets, sells and services. Priced from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 9.75 lakh, they come with two-year warranties. Buyers can also opt for add-on special offers for equipment like a Ravaglioli Quick Lift or a Nitrogen Tyre inflation system. Madhus also has supplied to tyre manufacturers such as JK Tyre and MRF which helped the initiative take off, adds Ramprasad. These packages are marketed one on one directly by the company which also uses print advertising to reach its target audience. As far as new products go, Madhus recently launched paint booths that have been sourced from China. Ramprasad says that the general perception of poor quality from China is not justified. The product quality and price isn’t low, he reiterates, and Madhus has ensured that the product meets standards. The company is also introducing the Telwin range of smart inductors that can be used in body shops to remove glass, stickers and small dents.

Business challenges

Given that car numbers and technical complexity will only go up, what are the challenges of doing business? Ramprasad says customers want top-notch service and the challenge is to provide this. Madhus has taken this challenge very seriously and has set up a centralised service cell. Though it started over a year ago, it has taken off more recently.

Service numbers are put on to machines that clients buy and all that a buyer has to do is send an SMS to the centralised number which, as a result of technology, gets transmitted to the nearest service person. A follow-up call from the central cell ensures that the complaint has been attended to. Staffed by people who come from a BPO background, they are trained to support the service network with the emphasis being on quick, reliable service and thus improved productivity for the client. Moreover, a digital tracking system comprising four wall-mounted computer screens track what assignments engineers are working on and the ones that have been completed.

At present, Madhus has 20 branches and 60 service engineers but there’s a need for new personnel. Ramprasad estimates that the company needs 10 to 15 percent more. Madhus inducts diploma holders whom it trains as well as it has registered with naukri.com so as to tap from a wider pool. Ramprasad admits that this challenge of staffing is an area of concern.

With over two decades in this industry, Madhus is more than well aware that today’s customers want good service and are willing to pay. The service industry, including automotive, has been growing and that means companies have their task cut out for them. The company is now setting up a training centre in Delhi where it will train its north-based engineers at one location. As a whole, the company conducts 150-200 man-days of training a year. The company recently held a session on crash repairs for Volkswagen dealerships at the general manager level.

As a company that has marketed a range of garage equipment products, has it considered localising some of them? The answer, says Ramprasad, is that this isn’t easy as the products represent a kind of technology and whose manufacturers have updated them continuously. Then there are the numbers as well that are needed to justify local manufacture. However, for two- and four-post lifts, where margins are low, Madhus is open in the future to making them locally. In this area, key to success is obtaining cheaper raw materials and keeping labour costs in check.

Madhus’ main garage business evolves from the wheel alignment sector. These products start at Rs 5 lakh and go up to Rs 11 lakh. Crash repair systems start at Rs 18 lakh and go up to Rs 45 lakh. Madhus believes it has experts who can repair any car in the world.

When this correspondent visited Madhus’ headquarters in its Bangalore suburb, the company was in the midst of preparations for the visit of the owner of the Hunter brand that Madhus sells and services. This visit to a booming service market in India can certainly be seen as an endorsement of the Madhus business.

BRIAN DE SOUZA