Neeraj Mujumdar, CEO, NCM SHOAVA Engineers Pvt Ltd, Indore

In most family businesses, while the first generation is responsible for coming up with a viable idea and establishing the business, the onus of actually scaling the business falls on the second generation. Neeraj Mujumdar is no exception to this. He has built his parents’ engineering unit into a global manufacturing company in less than two decades.

NCM SHOAVA Engineers Pvt Ltd is the only Indian company that designs, manufactures and exports 70 different attachments for earth movers like Rock Breakers, Shears, Grapples, Crunchers and Rotary Screening Buckets. They also manufacture Vertical Shaft Impactors for crushing & screening.

Neeraj has been instrumental in establishing a culture of stringent quality control and convincing overseas clients that his products can match global quality standards. He proudly shares that NCM now exports to several clients in first world countries with global customer acceptability of its products. Apart from its international clients, NCM has a long list of clients in India, including the Indian Railways, PSUs, and OEMs like L&T, JCB and ACE.

GlobalLinker (GL) spoke to Neeraj about his vision to put India on the global map for manufacturing and his firm belief that good quality products are certain to earn favour across the world.

Excerpts from the interview.

GL: Tell us about your business.

Neeraj: NCM SHOAVA Engineers Pvt Ltd was founded by my parents in 1993. Brand NCM is about 'Proudly Made in India'. We are the only Indian company designing, manufacturing and exporting locally made, globally successful range of rock breakers, quick couplers and 70 different attachments for earth moving machines, since 2000. Also, we own patents for Vertical Shaft Impactor, a tertiary stage crusher for aggregate manufacturing plants.

I joined the business 15 years ago in 2001. After the demise of my father, Mr N C Mujumdar, in 2015, I have been shouldering the overall responsibility of running the business, with my mother Mrs Pooja Mujumdar actively supporting the financial aspect. 

NCM’s motto is Pioneer, Precision & Perfection. These words express the spirit behind the team NCM that is reflected in the design, manufacturing, technology and quality of our products. 

GL: Please share your educational background & what inspired you to join this business.

Neeraj: I have done Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune. After that I underwent training in the Fluid Power Society, USA for ‘Hydraulic Machinery’. I was felicitated as one of the top 50 Innovators of India by IIM Ahmedabad in 2006.

I am passionate about putting India on the global map for manufacturing and building the existing business into a global brand. Starting from a small engineering unit of a mere 5000 sq feet, today our factory is over 50,000 sq feet large. Our main focus has been designing, manufacturing and exporting attachments for earth movers which until recently have only been imported. With each subsequent year, the business has grown and the credit for this goes to our very capable team.

GL: What are some of the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

Neeraj: The biggest challenge that I faced is acceptability of Indian manufactured products, especially machinery, abroad. Typically, we are exporting to UK, USA & Europe – all first world countries. These countries have the false belief that anything that is manufactured in India is not of good quality. If you talk about Indian textile, food or spices, they accept it. But if you try to sell them machinery, it takes time for them to believe that India can produce global quality standard products.

They have this preconceived idea that Indian products do not match global quality standards and they send their team for evaluation. Converting this doubt into faith is an uphill task. I have worked really hard to establish customer acceptability of our products in the global market. Moreover, raising finances has been a challenge. Fifteen years back for an SME, ideas did not find finances, as they do today; one needed huge resources to incubate innovation.

In addition, enhancing the competency of the team with the limited resources was a tight rope walk. We realised that quality control is critical to establishing our brand globally. We sent our mid-level managers abroad for client interface training, so that they were exposed to the culture of stringent quality control. Even though this was a very expensive process for an SME, I believe it was well-worth it. This is how a culture of quality seeped into the organisation.

GL: Who are some of your major clients?

Neeraj: We are the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for companies like JCB, L&T and ACE. We cater to mining and road Construction Companies - SEW, Ashoka Buildcon Ltd, Valecha Eng Ltd, Patel Eng Ltd, Oriental Structural engineers among others. Our Government and PSU’s clients include the Indian Railways, FSNL, Bhilai Steel Plants and many more. We export to USA, UK and Europe through distribution channel partners.

GL: You have a very up-to-date website. How important is a good website for your business?

Neeraj: I believe that, ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression.’ A website is the first impression your customer gets about your brand. We update our website on an ongoing basis.

GL: What is your Big Business Dream - how would you like to grow your business?

Neeraj: My big business dream is to see the NCM brand as the top one stop shop for excavator attachments.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Neeraj: I believe that entrepreneurship is crucial to the economy as each business creates jobs. Today is the best time to be an entrepreneur because access to finances is available and there is government support through various schemes & benefits. Lately we have seen many startups that in 3-4 years have achieved phenomenal success.

Running a business is like swimming. No matter how much theory you know, ultimately when you are in the water, how swiftly, skilfully and energetically you act defines whether you sink or swim. An entrepreneur must be a visionary and a person of decisive action. Business owners must brim with passion, should be honest in all dealings and should persevere no matter what obstacles come their way.

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