The flagship plant of Aryan Pumps & Enviro Solutions on the outskirts of Pune exudes pride from the moment you enter the facility. Ashish Bhatia unknots are the contributors to success at the environmental engineering solutions company.
An approximate two hours drive from Pune, the MH MSH 71 led us to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) belt in Indapur. It is home to Aryan Pumps & Enviro Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Aryan). The environmental engineering solutions provider helmed by Prashant Sutar, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) has a diversified portfolio consisting of highly complex liquid waste cleaning vehicles, fire and rescue vehicles, and pumps designed for special application duty cycles. Besides the complete range of liquid waste cleaning machines, the company also manufactures high pressure, vacuum, de-watering and slurry range of pumps. Dedicated to upholding the dignity of labour by way of introducing mechanisation to essential services like manual scavenging, the company has bound the manufacturing personal, processes and quality standards for vehicles like the suction cum jetting recyclers with a single unifying objective.
This objective at the manufacturer is to leave no stone unturned when reverse engineering, complex customer requirements and striving to meet them through the company’s indigenously built, simplified and global solutions. Expressed Sutar, that the inherent differentiators of the company are evident from fundamental manufacturing facets like Standard Operating Processes (SOPs) incorporated both upstream and downstream in the value chain. From sourcing raw materials to feeding the flagship plant with in-house components from a dedicated components manufacturing unit in Pune, to fitting auxiliary components and superstructures on OEM sourced vehicles tweaked for the respective duty cycles, to testing the finished vehicles before dispatch. Inspired by some of the most advanced markets globally, Aryan leverages its rich exposure to best-in-class and state-of-the-art, next-generation technologies found in use as real-world solutions.
Direct contribution
At Aryan, the goal has been to break down complex solutions through a frugal and cost-effective approach which is perhaps the company’s biggest value proposition for its customer. Contrary to the industry-wide prevalent practice of differentiating between the finished goods for domestic markets vis-a-vis international markets, with dedicated production lines, Aryan, claimed Sutar, doesn’t differentiate. The company builds products with technological superiority, quality, fit and finish built for universal acceptance of a diverse clientele. The clientele at Aryan comprises municipal corporations, water boards, disaster management departments, oil and gas companies, industries including the defence forces.
As an essential service provider, the company is a direct contributor to government programmes like ‘Make in India’, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat, ‘Swachh Bharat’ and ‘Smart Cities’ through its product and services portfolio. This is evident through unified operations at the manufacturing unit where sub-assemblies feed the larger assembly. The company is known to have first thought of a manufacturing unit in 2013. Even in a tough 2020, the company bagged milestone business wins, for instance, becoming one of the few Indian origin engineering companies to execute a sale in highly technologically advanced Western European countries. The company wants to establish itself as a strong player in the developed markets to gain traction in the developing markets and not vice versa, expressed Sutar. The company banks heavily on its dedicated R&D unit in Pune to keep with the trends, like in design and operation logic. A few electronic components are imported as an exception. The R&D unit is directly responsible for sought after offerings like the easy to operate, control panel interfaces for the high-end gadgetry.
World-class
The quest for world-class originates from meticulous operations of the well-equipped shopfloor with a well thought of layout. Broadly split into dedicated zones, the plant is divided into assembly zones like fabrication areas, and a machining area. The latter was found to house rolling, band saw and bending machines to support the operations. Critical components sat neatly on the fringes of these zones for easy access by the technicians. This quest for excellence also transcends beyond the shop floor to the vehicles fitted with the superstructures, and when testing ahead of their dispatch. Aryan, for instance, can supply these superstructures and high-end machinery on a range of OEM platforms, from seven-tonne to 32-tonne, for instance.
From domestic models to global models like the versatile Freightliner 114SD and the Volvo FH 500 Globetrotter. The two were found to be under works at the manufacturing unit as part of the prestigious global order book of Aryan, for the North American and Western European regions respectively. Of the two, it was the Freightliner that made the heart skip a beat! Sutar cited it as a stepping stone to the company’s penetration in the North American market. The demo of its remote-controlled operations by a trained operator, and with immaculate precision to control a logical flow of actions was highly impressive. Add to it, is a significant upgrade for customers, the revised axle load norms have allowed the company to offer bigger superstructures. From 7,000-litre capacity recycler tanks, the company has graduated to 9,000-litre tanks which are expected to have a direct bearing on the productivity of operators. A big positive.
A top-down approach
The persistence to accept nothing less in a top-down approach has given the company a strong foundation on its home ground to build upon. It has given Aryan, a global standing in niche segments across diverse markets from being erstwhile relatively unknown, shared Sutar. The company is known to have benefitted from working closely with its customers. It is said to have helped it understand customer needs better. The ‘Aryan’ make special application commercial vehicles today wear the ‘Made in India’ badge not only in India but also across diverse markets like the North America on one end of the spectrum; Western Europe on the other end of the spectrum. Expressed Sutar, that’s the only way one can identify these modern vehicles which blend well, yet hold their own, in comparison to the domestic best sellers of the respective export markets the company has entered into. Aryan has reached a stage from where it is claimed to be in a position of predicting future trends in the special applications vehicle segment. This has elevated it to the big league.
The shopfloor at Aryan has technicians under the aegis of the senior management shifting gears as we are about to end our day-long outing at the flagship plant. The technicians are certain to score high on the internal KPIs at this rate. To me, it’s a pleasing sight after the Covid19 shutdowns and the lesser than usual capacity utilisation, much talked of at plants, globally. It hints at a sign of recovery in the niche special application commercial vehicles segment. At 10.30 pm on my digital dial, my unique accommodation overlooking the overbooked shopfloor is a reminder of team Aryan putting in the man-hours. It is walking the talk. The workforce execution and their manufactured finished goods speak for themselves as contributors to the sense of pride in the air at the environmental engineering solutions company.
Do watch full coverage on Youtube, Industry Talk | Aryan Pumps & Enviro Solutions – Part 1
