Portal Engineering Pvt. Ltd.

Managing Director K Ravishankar (KR) and Director Vishal Kulkarni (VK) share insights with your author (SP) on the company’s key accomplishments.

SP: When was Portal Engineering Pvt. Ltd. established, and what are the company’s major achievements? How has the company’s evolution and transformation taken place over the years?

KR and VK: Portal Engineering Pvt. Ltd. was established in 2014. Before that, the company was a proprietary company; hence, we can say that the foundation of Portal was laid in 2006. We always believed in the idea of designing and developing indigenous products instead of importing and trading without any value addition.

We started with a small setup and a two-employee company. Today, we are proud to be a company with a strength of 100 employees. Generating employment and providing livelihoods to our countrymen has always been a driving force behind running the company with perseverance, despite facing challenges at every step.

SP: What are the company’s key product offerings specific to the elevator industry, and which segments in the elevator industry are you targeting?

KR and VK: Over the past 17-plus years, Portal has succeeded in being known as the leader in the segment of automatic doors for car and goods elevators. We have been consistently producing vertical telescopic automatic doors.

Apart from vertical telescopic auto doors, Portal also makes vertical bi-parting (auto and manual) doors, manufacturing and exporting hydraulic cylinders, power packs and car frames for passenger elevators, as well as goods/automobile elevators.

The other segment in which we take pride in being a leading manufacturer is dependent car parking systems, where we are producing parking systems that can accommodate up to four cars vertically. We are mainly targeting the low-rise elevator segment, including home elevators, car elevators and lifts in hospital and commercial premises.

SP: How has Portal Engineering positioned the brand in the elevator market?

KR and VK: Portal as a brand wishes to position itself as the most reliable partner to its customers by providing world-class products manufactured mostly indigenously with best-in-class after-sales support. Portal has already tied up with overseas leading brands that are distributing our products without any complaints. We wish to become a brand that will help made-in-India products earn the same respect as imported products.

The biggest challenge that we have faced as an Indian manufacturer is that people in India have blind trust in imported products. To overcome this, we have recently entered into a partnership with companies from Europe and Australia to present a product built in India and engineered overseas that will be superior in terms of engineering value, as well as aesthetics.

SP: How do you see market drivers like technology upgradation and safety influencing demand patterns in 2024 and beyond?

KR and VK: The market is evolving at a breakneck pace, and we as a manufacturer have to match the speed by getting our machines and employees upgraded to cater to the ever-evolving and demanding market needs. With raised living standards, end users are not hesitant about paying a bit extra to get added safety features and comfort.

In terms of products, we are transitioning from a regular elevator standard cylinder (which every local and imported hydraulic brand is selling) to a more advanced cylinder by having a hard chrome-plated cylinder that improves the seal (as well as piston) life by 10-20 times. This has already been implemented for select customers. Once it gets popular, when customers start sharing their experiences, we hope that it becomes a norm and customers start demanding hard chrome-plated cylinders from every hydraulic system provider.

For vertical auto doors, we have re-engineered some electromechanical locking systems, which are completely indigenous and long lasting, unlike the standard door locks, which have a very high wear/tear/breakdown rate.

Steadily, we have been selling power packs with electronic valves (mostly closed loop), which have superior ride quality and high energy efficiency. These products had low acceptance because of prices.

SP: Which segments in the elevator industry are driving maximum growth, and how is Portal Engineering contributing to this aspect?

KR and VK: Portal Engineering, with its sufficiently long and successful history of making automatic doors for car elevators, will be launching its own in-house developed auto door (center opening and telescopic) for passenger lifts. The prototypes and pilot batches have been installed for trials for the past six months. The pilot batch products are undergoing rigorous life and stress tests to ensure that a flawless, world-class product is offered to the customer.

With our overseas partners and their confidence in our capabilities, we are soon going to start assembly of gearless machines for elevators. The plant setup is underway and will be fully functional by the second quarter of 2024.

About Portal Engineering

Since the foundation of the company, Portal Engineering has grown to become one of the most trusted names in the products it manufactures in terms of product quality, affordability and after-sales, on-site support. With 1,000-plus vertical telescopic doors manufactured every year and 400-plus hydraulic kits produced annually, it is considered one of India’s fastest growing companies.

Along with acquiring new clients, Portal has retained existing clients and created a strong bond with loyal customers. In-house R&D and a testing tower make the company capable of taking complex orders and testing every product before it is dispatched from the facility.