- Aditya K Gupta, CEO & MD, AGE Group of Companies

The AGE Group, headquartered in the industrial town of Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region, is a well-diversified group of companies involved in manufacturing, imports and exports, distribution of products in field of material handling, automation and mechanical power transmission. Mr Aditya K Gupta, CEO & MD, AGE Group of Companies, in this online interview, talks about the group and its activities. Excerpts

What was the inspiration behind this enterprise? How did it start and what is the present status?

The economic growth of any country rides on the wheels of industry, which must rotate continuously at all times. It was with this mission of conveying non-stop movement in the industry that A G Engineers, the flagship company of AGE Group was started in the year 1988 with focus on bringing best quality products from the world's leading companies and providing equally high level of professional services with personal touch.

At present, the 26 years young and energetic enterprise comprises of 6 group companies: A G Engineers; A G Belting Pvt Ltd; AG Derco Belting (India) Pvt Ltd; AG Muller Technik Pvt Ltd; and SWR Belting (India) Pvt Ltd. The sixth group company operates in the hospitality sector.

What are the different kinds of products offered, and the various brands and services available in AGE Group basket?

From beginning, the vision was to become leaders in providing a one-stop-solution for mechanical power transmission and conveying applications in the industry. In our quest to give the benefits of latest technology and best products to industry for better productivity, we have forged alliances with renowned manufacturers worldwide and now enjoy long association to become their dependable partners in India. Our main business activities are in manufacturing sector, import and export, countrywide distribution and hospitality sector.

We have put up an Indo-Dutch joint venture with Derco B V Holland having 3 manufacturing lines for lightweight PVC, PU and SI coated conveyor belts. It's a state-of-the-art facility spread across 28,000 sq.ft of built up area; this is the only facility of its kind to produce world-class conveyor belts in whole of Southeast Asia. We also manufacture mechanical component like timing pulleys, V-pulleys, and poly V-pulleys, etc. Timing pulleys are manufactured in technical guidance of MULCO Group, Europe.

We are also country distributors for several of the world's leading companies in the field of mechanical power transmission belts, conveyor belts and allied components (see box).

What is the infrastructure available for servicing the specialised application based needs of customers?

From the humble beginnings more than 26 years ago, the AGE Group has today grown into one of the leading players in the country for conveyors and mechanical power transmission components having modern infrastructure, with all the latest state-of-the-art machines for custom designed conveyor belt fabrication, including belt slitting, splicing, finger punching, cleat welding, side walls sealing, guide rope sealing installed in factory sheds spread over 85,000 sq.ft, having shop floors laid out as per technical guidance and layouts from the renowned overseas principals and collaborators, who are universally accepted as pioneers and world leaders in their field. All along our rewarding journey since 1988, we have continued to invest in our business by improving infrastructure and expanding capabilities despite the uncertain business climate based on single most important factor, viz., assured customer support. This, more than any other factor, has played a crucial role in growth of our business even through the recent tough and testing times with the economy hitting a rough patch.

Our services also include transmission drive calculations and designs, analysing the conditions of currently operated drives and evaluating newly installed belts at our customers' end. We can also provide full technical support, consultancy and training courses to our customers so that they get all advantages in terms of durability, reliability and performance.

How strong and effective is the after sales service of AGE Group?

Having served the industry with distinction for over 25 years, we are proud to have a team of well qualified trained professionals working on modern production lines to offer latest state-of-the-art products backed by service commitment straight-from-heart. Our staff is well qualified, motivated and continually trained to provide satisfaction to our customers. Our channel partners are also specialised distribution centres having proper equipment and trained personnel for providing after sales services.

In fact our association with each customer goes beyond selling just the belts-n-components. Our approach has always been to help them build a complete system that fundamentally changes their material handling and manufacturing operations for better.