Youngman India humbly accepts the leading position in the Lightweight Scaffolding Industry which is redefining the speed of completion and most importantly safety of most fit-out projects within INDIA.
India is at an inflection point of change in construction industry, as more and more well informed people are investing in the industry right from labourers, supervisors, engineers, international partners and many more which will bring a huge change to the perception of construction in whole and will in return help achieve the high aspirations of the country, some namely, house for all, better roads and connectivity, electricity to the last mile and superb lifestyle.
I still remember the day we started it was nearly impossible to talk to contractors on increasing speed and turnover of projects to increase revenue and cash flow, but now we see the same people concentrating more on improving speeds, quality of build and robust cash flow to support their growth.
We are still away from quality of construction comparable to our American/European counterparts. I am hopeful we are catching up quickly and will be an inspiration to all in some time. India will become the hub of innovation and success in devising new improved methods and equipment suiting the demand of indigenous market which is growing at phenomenal rates, for example the highway construction is standing at a whopping CAGR of 23.25% in FY 14-18.
Brief on our company: Youngman India started in Sep 2011, as a subsidiary of Youngman Group UK which was then acquired by world leader of ladders, Werner. Post this acquisition, Youngman India had a management buyout and is now being controlled in India. Youngman India is growing approximately 100% YOY from last 4 years and intends to follow the same which brings us back to board every quarter finding the next big improvement to leap forward. We now have a very sophisticated self-designed computer software tailored to our needs not only automating multiple tasks but also helping us in detailed analytics too gauge demand behaviour of our customers, payments processes, inventory asset management and managing credit. Credit and asset management are the two most important aspects of a rental business.
Youngman India envisions business model in India similar to HSS or Speedy Hire in the UK and United Rentals in USA. We started rental offerings with lightweight scaffolds in aluminium and fibre glass and quickly moved to ladders and steps. We introduced Duct Lifters and Gypsum board lifters from Sumner in 2017 and later in the year had another tie up with Altrad for their range of Concrete mixers. 2018 came with a major tie up with Hilti for rental operations in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Hilti gave us its breakers and core cutting machines and their expertise to offer to our customers.
Kindly share with us your views on the current market trend, which is going to influence the construction machinery market in the ongoing year, 2019?
Current market trend if you ask, is obviously towards getting more done in less time and less cost, but market has started to understand that quality and safety comes at a cost, the only difference is timing and quantum. If its pre-emptive its less and creates a productive environment, if not taken care of it proves to be a huge cost and repeat work.
The above observation, will definitely create a equipment shortfall in the market which will be either met by capital push by users to buy the equipment or will create a demand for rental companies to supply the demand.
If you ask me, the contractor should never invest into construction machinery or equipment for majorly 3 reasons:
Firstly, they are not trained to manage or take proper care of the equipment and why should they be as its not their core competence. It becomes a deviation to the core business. Secondly, it’s very difficult to manage logistics, keep up the utilisation of the equipment, also when there is downtime or less projects where to store the equipment, and in case there is a stream of projects find extra capital to fund new equipment. Thirdly and finally, why to amortise and maintain equipment as fixed asset in balance sheet and never depreciate full in lifetime, whereas on rent you can take it as a direct expense and get full tax benefit in line with cash expenditure.
Give details on your latest product series, launches and the driving ideas which have made you to create your products, such as your observance on the need of the customers in the market.
Youngman Manufacturing India Private Ltd manufactures state of the art lightweight scaffolding which is primarily sold under Youngman brand. Youngman India on the other hand rents scaffolding and also allied products from reputed brands like Sumner, Altrad, Hilti and many more. Youngman India procures best products in the market in terms of quality and serviceability and then offers them in highly flexible rental plans to meet our customer needs. We are always open to add more brands into our range and we are hopeful of adding some exciting brands this year too.
What are you expecting from the market of construction machinery in the year 2019, as there might occur changes in the government of India and it may impact the whole industry’s policies?
See the government might change but basic infrastructure is needed. You cannot expect India not having roads, not having house for all, now these are basic needs of people of this country. I am firm believer either the new govt will deliver them or we will have a new govt so I am very confident this growth is not going anywhere.
Brief us on your leading position and the market strategies which you are going to apply, in order to remain competitive and make the best use of the available opportunities in the construction machinery sector.
In short, I would say it’s not about snatching a pie of the market, rather it is about creating the market for equipments. It’s all about showing and imparting the skills which make a difference. We at Youngman are a firm believer of this and we take demonstrations very seriously. Last year we conducted nearly 200 site demonstrations and we wish to take this number to more than 1000 this year. We at Youngman believe what will keep us competitive will be our strength of our customers, if we can help them at the right time, do whatever it takes to make their project successful, no one can even touch us.
