Ahmedabad-based Macht Exim LLP claims to be one of the biggest imported machine tools distributors in Gujarat. A young enterprise started just two years ago, the company has developed a wide portfolio of latest lathe machines including all geared lathes, heavy-duty machines, CNC lathes, milling machines, radial drilling machines, shearing machines, etc., to serve the needs of advanced machinery for engineering and manufacturing businesses all over India and overseas.

While most people would naturally assume that being located in an industrially proactive state like Gujarat is by itself reason enough for the success of an enterprise, in reality, things were not that easy. What began as a loose collaboration with other machine tools companies came undone during this period and today, Mr Bhavin Siddhapura, Chairman, Macht Exim LLP, a veteran of the machine tools trade, continues to steer the ship single handed.

While Gujarat is on the path of high growth with a spate of investments coming to the state in recent years, most notably from the automotive sector, Mr Siddhapura feels that awareness about hi-tech products from foreign manufacturers is very low in the Gujarat market. This is a tricky situation for a company dealing in imported machines.

An ISO 9001 CQC registered firm, Macht Exim LLP supplies the best quality and durable machines for better performance. It is associated with Dalian Machine Tool Group Corporation (DMTG), China, a company with a strong R&D base and an in-house casting and parts manufacturing activities. DMTG is a global exporter of machine tools with its products sold in over 100 countries. It has manufacturing activities in several countries and a wide distribution and sales & service network to sustain this huge global operation.

Another major challenge is the relative inexperience of the local workforce in understanding the working of these sophisticated machines. Even when the benefits in terms of high productivity and low payback are obvious, local companies, especially SMEs, were reluctant to opt for hi-tech products, where the initial investment is also significantly high. But today, Mr Siddhapura says that the company has succeeded in addressing most of these issues and is now looking at a high growth trajectory.

For one, the company has done its homework well in terms of the demand projection over the next 10-15 years in Gujarat market. The growing interest of automobile companies with the recent spurt in solar power companies joining the traditional power producers also augurs well. Automobile sector is a major consumer of machine tools and Macht Exim LLP made the pragmatic decision of bringing in hi-tech machines from the international market, which were not easily available in Gujarat previously.

Growing industrial interest in the State however has brought another problem to the fore that Gujarat is traditionally facing - that of labour shortage. But for once, this has worked to the advantage of Macht Exim LLP.

Sophisticated machines are also high on automation that depend less on human skills and also need less number of workers per unit. Many of the new industries that have come with overseas collaboration, especially those with Japanese and German partners, are more techno-savvy and hence prefer high end machines.

Mr Siddhapura predicts that growth will increase manifold during the next decade. He expects Gujarat to be on par with other industrially developed states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and the NCR region in the next few years.

But Mr Siddhapura's vision is not restricted to the state of Gujarat or the even the pan-Indian market. His vision Macht Exim LLP is to service the SARC and the South Asian market.