Customer And Employee Centricity Is Our Focus As We Navigate The Challenging And Uncertain Period
27 Jan 2022
ELGi Equipments was founded as a reciprocating air compressor and garage equipment manufacturing company in 1960. Over the years, ELGi has transformed into a global air compressor manufacturer with a broad line of innovative and technologically superior compressed air systems that are considered among the highest in energy efficiency in the market. ELGi has consistently worked towards ensuring that its customers achieve their productivity goals while keeping the cost of ownership low.
ELGi offers a complete range of compressed air solutions from oil-lubricated and oil-free rotary screw compressors, oil lubricated and oil-free reciprocating compressors, centrifugal compressors dryers, filters, and downstream accessories. The company’s portfolio of over 400 products has found wide applications across industries ranging from automotive, general engineering, textiles, pharmaceuticals, construction and mining, railways, food and beverages, cement, and oil & gas.
Technological innovations and recognition
At ELGi, we’ve recently launched our portable air compressor for the water well drilling industry, the PG 1250. We’ve also introduced an upgraded version of our electric lubricated screw air compressor available in fixed speed and variable speed variants, the EG 55, and our new EV range of screw air compressors.
Our PG 1250 Portable range of air compressors come with an innovative auto high drill system powered by ELGi’s patented Intelligent Control System (ICS) that ensures optimal drilling speed and pressure while guaranteeing exceptional drilling performance irrespective of strata, depth, and water yield conditions. The Intelligent Control System (ICS) also ensures faster penetration, better fuel efficiency, and lower cost per foot, resulting in maximum savings and profit for the customer.
The upgraded EG55 lubricated screw air compressor ensures breakthrough energy-efficiency gains, enhancing our world-renowned EG series range. With an improved cooling system, efficient air end, larger air filters, and more efficient and durable oil filters, the EG55 contributes up to a 5 percent improvement in specific power consumption than the previous generation. This translates into significant savings for the customer in terms of annual life cycle costs. The EG55 units offer customers significant efficiency improvements, best-in-industry uptime, cost leadership through technology innovation, together with one of the most extensive warranty programs in the industry.
The EV11-45 kW range of compressors is a perfect option for customers looking for reliability under harsh working conditions, energy efficiency, compact footprint, and minimal maintenance needs. The efficient air filtration with the new twin element air filters ensures a clean air supply to the air end, warranting a longer life for the components. With design temperatures of 500 C, the optimally sized coolers and fan ensure the EV series is always up and running efficiently, even in scorching summers. The system design results in lower air and oil temperatures and ensures longer life of the oil. The reliable 3-stage air oil separation ensures compressed air with an oil carryover of less than one ppm, resulting in high air quality and a greener environment.
We’re proud to be the first globally established industrial air compressor manufacturer to have won the prestigious Deming prize in over 60 years. This is an important milestone in our TQM Journey. Every ELGi product bears testimony to our hallmarks of reliability and performance while meeting or exceeding industry-specific demands such as energy efficiency, cost-efficiency, ruggedness, zero oil tolerance, or air delivery precision.
Smart manufacturing practices backed by ongoing R & D
Today, our engineers have access to real-time events and analysis, enabling them to focus on problem-solving and developing solutions. The implementation of digitized tracking, monitoring, and control of the energy consumption of machines deployed in our manufacturing units has reduced our annual power consumption by 12.5% and increased the energy efficiency of our plant operations by 24%.
From the traditional method of capturing data manually and analyzing it, we have moved to a digital paperless factory initiative across assembly lines to track efficiency and quality parameters, real-time. We have also implemented digitized automated testing and inspection solutions to test our compressors and critical parts, resulting in time, effort, savings, and data accuracy.
In addition, we have deployed auto-guided vehicles and digitized feedback-based measurement systems to ensure quality at each product assembly stage. Grinding is one of the operations that generate heat, dust, and vibrations. We have introduced a robotic fettling system to avoid human exposure to the grinding operations and enhance productivity.
Our pressure vessels manufacturing unit has implemented a state-of-the-art automated vision-based robotic welding system that automatically positions and welds the child parts to the shell. This system has resulted in increased productivity, remarkably high weld quality and accuracy, reduced consumables, workforce, scrap and rework, improvement in safety, and simplicity of operations.
I’d also wish to mention the digitized remote customer inspection portal for final product inspection eliminating the need for travel to our factory for product inspection. We have also invested in digital tools such as smart glass, integrated with cameras and systems to live stream the compressor test results to our customers.
Steps to maintain leadership position
To maintain our leadership position in key focus markets such as India, North America, Europe, South-east Asia and Australia, we have developed a Strategic Business Plan (SBP), which embeds a financial plan focused on setting goals on revenue, profitability (measured by EBITDA) and returns (measured by ROCE). We have set broad targets for the SBP to be achieved by 2025-26: Revenue> $ 400Mn, EBITDA>16%, ROCE> 30%.
The strategic business plan will focus on backward integration in manufacturing, developing new products and technology, growing aftermarket revenue, developing talent and management, and building on the digital strategy. At a corporate level, the key drivers to achieve the SBP goals will be aggressive working capital management and cash generation, judicious investments in organic and inorganic opportunities, strategic divestiture of non-core portfolios, and real estate.
Vision for 2022 to stay ahead, braving the challenges
Customer and employee centricity is particularly important as we navigate the challenging and uncertain period that we are going through. Ensuring speedy response and resolution for customers’ requirements is the norm but in the current circumstances we have to raise the bar on these standards. This will enable the lowest total cost for the customer and thus help them win in their business.
Employees are continuing to go through highly uncertain periods in terms of the health and well-being of themselves and their families and their financial security. Ensuring their physical and financial wellbeing is the number one priority. This will alleviate a lot of the concerns of our people and will enable them to concentrate on the challenge at hand. We have a terrific team that has pulled together and delivered under very challenging situations.
