Building confidence with ACE Micromatic Group
Alankar Group has been around for more than 31 years now. What first started as a machine shop has now grown to include a foundry as well. And Mahadev Chougule, with the support of his three brothers, has not only braved many storms but also emerged triumphant.
We reach Belgaum on a pleasantly cloudy day. On our way to meet someone we have heard has made his journey through many struggles, the scenery consists mostly of green in the horizon and many emblems of the thriving machining industry.
Once inside the modest office premises of the Alankar Group near Udyambag, we meet the man himself. Mahadev Chougule, who has seen the worst of financial times and yet has had the courage to swim up through it all.
“My father had an automobile repair factory. This was a business that saw money come in steadily because of a new dam that was being built nearby. At that time, the total repair cost of an automobile would come to about 90 rupees. Even then, people would request my father to do the job anywhere between 60 and 70 rupees”, remembers Chougule. It is this considerate and giving nature that finally cost Chougule’s father his flourishing business.
“In my father’s time, there was no concept of saving money at a bank. So, all the money we made through the business would be stored in pots at home. Father was a kind-hearted man who would not stop at helping whoever came asking”, he confirms.
The automobile business that, once upon a time, had many takers fell subsequently. And this happened mainly because the construction of the dam was completed and as a result, the demand for automobile repairs that had been created, fell.
“I was 12 when all this happened but I was deeply affected by the distress my parents were going through. It’s then that I decided I would have to step in, in whatever small way I could. Our financial situation prompted me to turn into a newspaper delivery boy. That gave me only 15 rupees a month but I felt I was doing my bit”, says Chougule.
Once he appeared for his SLC exams, Chougule decided studying anymore would drain his family’s finances further. Soon, thanks to his father’s goodwill, he earned the position of a helper at a lathe factory nearby. “The first three months for a helper were not only probationary but also non-compensatory. Once three months were over, a helper would be paid 30 rupees a month. The only thing that kept me going was a strong urge to keep learning about lathe machining. As a helper, I wouldn’t be allowed to handle machines on my own. So, I kept watching work happening until one day, out of the blue, I got a chance to display my skills. It was a risk because the original turner had been fired. However, I took a shot and before I knew, the factory owner had promoted me to the position of turner ”, he recalls.
At the age of 18, after he had worked on lathe machining for a while, Mahadev Chougule set up his own business. “After working in that first job, I went on to work for Polyhydron for a year or so. But soon, I felt the need to start on my own. At the time, it was my first employer who put faith in me and gave away one of his machines to me. I didn’t have money so I opted for an old machine, to pay for which I had to ask
for money from mother. She gave me her jewelry but I promised her that I’d pay her back in a year’s time. That’s where the name ‘Alankar’ comes from”, says Chougule. Once Chougule had crossed this first stumbling block, he got to know about a Yojgar Yojana scheme that had recently been started in Belgaum. “This scheme helped me take a loan of 25, 000 rupees with a repayment period of seven years. However, luck was on my side and I was able to repay the loan in six months flat”, recounts Chougule.
What, though, changed his life was the way his relationship with Ace Micromatic Group was formed.
“From 1990, I had wanted my factory to have a CNC machine. What always stopped me from thinking ahead was that I neither had knowledge of English nor computers. The other major factor was the investment I would need to make. A CNC machine would cost me
anywhere between 12 and 15 lakhs – the total value of my business”, he points out.
Fate, of course, had other things in mind because in 2002, he met an Ace Micromatic representative who did not force him to buy but left him thinking about how great a possibility he was missing out on. “Initially, I was apprehensive to meet Mr. Nandan. And then, even when I
did, I saw no way of buying a machine that costly. But Mr. Nandan asked me to approach KFFC, a co-operative bank. If I could obtain a loan, I could obtain a CNC machine”, says Chougule. After this, events just fell into place in a way that despite Chougule not having many of the documents the bank needed, he got a 15 lakh loan. “This was just the start of my journey with Ace Micromatic Group. In time, I took many such loans and paid them off – a process that led me to buy 14 machines manufactured by Ace Micromatic Group”, he adds.
The high productivity of these machines combined with Ace Micromatic’s excellent service principles has made sure Chougule stays happy at what he does. “Recently, I got a call from a huge multinational company where I got the feedback that the jobs we are producing are of wonderful quality. The company gave us a project for which they said they would give us time till four days. But the machines from Ace Micromatic Group have served me so well that I had the confidence to say I could do the same in a day. The customer was so happy with the result that the next thing he wanted done was machining”, he clarifies.
Alankar Group has been around for more than 31 years now. What first started as a machine shop has now grown to include a foundry as well. And Mahadev Chougule, with the support of his three brothers, has not only braved many storms but also emerged triumphant.
Courtesy: ACE Micromatic Group
