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Could you share with us your vision on launching Maquina in India?
When we were executing projects, we had faced the challenge of getting the right equipment at the right time. Even when we know we have hired the equipment 1,000 km away from the location which was available at just within 100 km from the location. This was one reason to start this business. Second idea was whether we should restrict ourselves to providing such kind of a platform where only a mass making venture or do something beyond that which gives value added services also to the people who don?t have the time to look into the process of equipment selection and utilisation into their projects. This was the concept behind this venture when we thought of making a platform wherein we can act not only as a mass making solution but also beyond that, both the customer and client can be in a win-win position.

What is the spectrum of services to be provided through ?Maquina? - Equipment Management portal launched by Ajashy?
Our platform provides services for renting in and renting out, buying and selling, equipment certifications as we do health inspections for equipment as well, wherein we play a pivotal role by giving a complete health analysis of the machine. We are also open to do the operation and maintenance services of the equipment. We have now also entered into AMC services.

For the worthwhile equipment going on rental through our platform we do the detailed installation of GPS sensors. We give dashbord and controls for both the leaser and the lessee so that the complete utilisation of the machine can be tracked by the leaser who is the owner of the machine. If anything is going beyond the contract will be able to track. For the lessees also there is a complete control over the machine while in operation.

How do you propose to propagate the brand Maquina?
As we have launched this platform at Excon 2015, we are depending on exhibitions, print media, social media, our marketing team which is already in place in the northern part of India. Soon we will be opening our office in Mumbai, as well as Hyderabad from where we will be catering to the west and south markets. As of now we have no plan for East market, but 3-4 months later we will plan for that market.

How do you gather members for your platform?
We have a team of about 20 internal marketing personnel who are in the field meeting various customers to explain the application and collecting the database. By end of the year we will probably have 2,000 odd listings in our plan.

Is there membership fee for utilising the services provided by Maquina portal? If yes, what are the rates?
As far as registering on our website there is no charge. If somebody wants to avail our value added services we charge a nominal fees which starts at as low as Rs 3,000 per month.

What is customer profile targeted by Maquina?
All those who use construction equipment are our customers which include all EPC companies, real estate companies, etc.

What are the key benefits of using Maquina instead of other platforms?
The major benefit can be controlling of machines. If a person is taking a machine on hire, his machine should work, it should have a maximum uptime, the operator should be available, whatever the job being undertaken should be performed by the machine. These are the major things a customer wants when he hires a machine. So we ensure that a customer is supported with all these core points

. Compared to other platforms, we go one step further from providing the machine. Probably we start from where they end their process. If a customer needs an operator for the machine, we send from our pool of operators.

What is your team size?
We have around 30 of us, to be precise 28 based in North India. We will be starting in Mumbai and Hyderabad from this January.

Where do you see the business in the next five years?
Construction equipment sale in India is close to $5 billion and average rental in the Indian market is 7-8 per cent of the total market, which is very unlike compared to developed markets. We see the rental market to grow by at least 20 per cent in the next 3-4 years.

Currently, which equipment category is moving the most?
As of now, excavators and dozers are moving the most. There is a huge demand for graders and rollers also. There is a dearth of these equipment but the corporates don?t want to invest in these equipment because the market is not yet stabilised. By virtue of this trend, they depend on the rental market.

SPML Infra promoters invests in Maquina
Maquina won the belief of the promoters of the SPML Infra who have decided to invest in the Maquina portal. Rishabh Sethi, Executive Director, SPML Infra, said, ?I welcome this new approach and believe that it will bring a lot of change in the way the renting and buying of construction equipment. Maquina goes a step ahead in giving the lessors and lessees full control of the usage of equipment and allows project managers to utulise their key resources in timely execution of the projects which directly improves the credibility of any organisation.?