I love India and her people,” says Efi Rosen in an excited tone. “Your people are so modest. They have the most intelligent brains around the world. India will take over the globe soon. It is amazing that Tata introduced a car (Nano) for €1500. That is like breaking all records. They will shake the automobile world upside down,” he says.
But his love for India is not the reason why Rosen, the Managing Director of Rosemor International Ltd, UK, visited India in November 2009. He was here to market the escalator cleaning machine at Clean India Pulire 2009. Called the Rotomac 340, the escalator cleaning machine can vertically climb the escalators and clean them.
“Normally, a major job for escalator manufacturers or companies that use escalators is to take out the entire escalator once a year, lay it down horizontally and clean it before reinstalling it. But with Rotomac 340, they can do away with this tiresome procedure. The machine can climb the entire escalator and clean it,” avers Rosen.
That would help in reducing accidents too. Like 10 years ago, the escalator at King Cross station in the United Kingdom had caught fire because of the dust and oil deposits collected over a long time. Many people had died in the accident. Had it been regularly cleaned, such a mishap may not have happened. Also, the world over, the companies, malls and establishments using escalators have to dole out an exorbitant amount towards the maintenance of escalators. That can be checked with this product.
On a lighter note, Rosen recalls an incident that happened in Kolkata when he visited the city last. “I asked a few people what they thought was the colour of an escalator and most of them came up with the answer – ‘black or brown’. It was hilarious as the original colour of escalators is silver. But it wasn’t their fault. Often, grime and dust get deposited on the escalators over a period of time and make them look brown or black.”
This is not the first time that Rosen has brought his product to India though. He was here two years ago, at Clean India Pulire 2007 with the same product. But then, that was just the initiation of Rotomac on this side of the Asian market. Since then, he has been involved in talks with many companies and government bodies that have shown interest in the product.
Rosemor International has partnered with Gruppe Littlesilver in India to market the product that costs £20,000. “We have had very powerful meetings in India,” informs Rosen. “They have been with the top directors of airports, escalators, malls, railways, Reliance, etc. The managements of Mumbai International Airport and Reliance have shown immense interest in the product. We feel that the way the talks are going, Mumbai International Airport might be our first buyer in India,” he says confidently. Rotomac 340 is 135cm long, 53.6cm wide and 125cm high. Rosemor has bought the worldwide rights to sell the automatic escalator deep cleaner from Tennant, its manufacturer known as the leader in cleaning equipment.
Gruppe Littlesilver claims: “No heavy lifting is required for the machine and just one button operation lifts the machine from step to step”. On running Rotomac, the escalator surface is left clean and dry with no risk of contamination to lubricating oils in escalator drums or damage to electrical circuits. During the cleaning process all the embedded foreign matter that could damage the escalator combs and steps is removed. An important aspect of this cleaning process is that sand, dirt and spillage which would normally have combined with oil and grease to form a grinding paste in the escalator mechanism and could damage the escalator combs and steps, are completely removed.
