Integrated Solutions
Today in India, the mobile crane market is largely oriented towards and segmented on the straight boom concept. At the lower end, it is the popular pick and carry cranes built on a tractor base, and at the higher end, it is the truck-mounted heavy duty cranes.Customers now look for application based solutions and profit earned through efficient handling of loads, and this augurs well for the knuckle boom solution as well.
Says Raman Joshi, President, Manitowoc Cranes India, ?We do not feel that the Indian crane market is suffering too badly, but it?s fair to say it?s slightly depressed. India remains one of the world?s leading developing markets and there is a huge variety of large-scale projects, many of which our cranes are already working on. Projects are from a variety of verticals but energy and infrastructure are the most active and are likely to remain so.?
?The market looked good in 2010-11 and 2011-12 but since April 2012, it has been in decline. Shortage of floating money, difficulties in getting term loans, a payment crisis in the market, shortage of coal supply for new power plants, reduction in tax advantage in windmill investments, etc, are the factors which have affected the market,? says Ajay Kumar Somani, Director, Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India.
Somani adds, ?The demand is mainly in construction of refineries, thermal power plants, atomic power plants, windmill erection for crawler cranes and for tyre-mounted cranes, it is cement plants, steel plants, support cranes for windmill installation, Metro, flyovers, elevated roads, etc. The requirement of crawler cranes is about 20 percent if the complete range is considered, and for all- terrain cranes, it is about 5 per cent.?
Trends
Speaking about the trends in the mobile crane market Joshi said, ?Traditional pick and carry cranes will remain popular in India in the foreseeable future.However, as the market continues to develop and projects become more ambitious, companies demand more from their machines.They need cranes that can perform larger lifts and a wider variety of lifts.This can mean choosing a stronger and more versatile all-terrain crane over what may seem a more cost-effective option that is far more limited in its capability.
Says Martin Seibert, Head?Cranes, India, Terex Cranes, ?Terex Cranes is a global company with many locations around the world; this allows us to have an overview of customer needs across multiple geographies. What is true is that each customer has a different need, and the need is complex. There is no worldwide trend, but more of characteristics that each customer demands. For example, in Australia, they use pick and carry; Europe is more of an AT cranes market; Japan goes for more rough terrain cranes, etc. There are multiple variables that impact this, some of them are related to regulations and some of them to preferences and historical issues (ie, using a type of crane because it has been historically popular).
Subhamoy Ghosh, Managing Director, Palfinger India, says, ?We are already witnessing a shift towards using safer, more advanced technology and many companies are replacing the entire fleet of pick and carry cranes with the truck loader knuckle boom cranes due to safety issues.? Ghosh continues, ?You can already see Palfinger knuckle boom cranes functioning today in India in the brick and tiles industry, mining industry, waste management sector, railway wagon maintenance and general lifting and loading in several other industry segments. The utility of these cranes varies industry to industry. We are therefore, not providing a crane but a solution to a specific application. We do application studies and demonstrate utility of the crane on field in the any specific application.? The concept of knuckle boom cranes is new. But as the industry progresses towards the use of specialised and application-oriented machines, and more importantly, as the user-segments are drawn towards safer and more efficient methods of loading and unloading systems, knuckle boom cranes can well be a worthy competitor to the pick and carry cranes. The number of players in this segment is also on the rise. The knuckle boom crane is set to take over the market by serving it with safer and more efficient systems.?
While pick and carry cranes have a market share of about 95 per cent in the total lift-and-carry crane category, as per the industry trends knuckle boom concept is gaining market share as these cranes are a more efficient solution. In the developed market, almost 90 per cent of the market is knuckle boom cranes in the lift-and-carry category while in India, the situation is completely the reverse.Pick and carry cranes being self-propelled, there is no emission regulations applicable on the engines used to power them whereas knuckle boom cranes being truck mounted, are already governed by the emission norms under the Central Motor Vehicle Regulations.
Palletisation of load is not very popular solution in India as of now as compared to European countries, wherein 80- 90 per cent of the loads are palletised. Sooner or later, this scenario will change in India as users have started understanding the benefits of pallet systems. Businesses that are using standard pallets for loading and unloading can have much lower costs for handling and storage, with faster material movement than businesses that do not.In Europe, majority of Palfinger cranes sales made are working with a pallet fork to lift the palletised load and we are expecting similar trend to start in India but in a longer horizon. ?If the pallet system picks up in India sooner, it has the potential to change business volumes and market size. The cost of pallet is posing a major challenge in the pallet system growing as business considers it as an additional investment. This is not true if they calculate for the long term,? says Ghosh.
Elaborating on the growth potential of truck loader cranes, Ghosh says, ?The truck loader crane is still in a conceptual stage in the Indian market. However, with experience, we can certainly claim that the acceptance of this concept is on the rise. Demand is being propelled mainly by few application areas like brick handling, scrap handling, and pre-cast handling segments where no other material handling system can be as productive or cost-effective as the truck loader crane. There is a growing demand from manufacturers/distributors who have to deliver their product to their end customer, products like the hume pipe, generators, etc. There is also increasing demand from industries like steel and power sectors wherein plant movement with safety is a big concern. We can certainly say that application needs, efficiency improvement, and growing concern of safety are critical growth drivers of this concept in Indian market.?
Safety
According to Joshi, different countries impose different levels of legislation, and these can even vary from region to region. More can always be done to improve safety, but it must be led by the government and policed correctly. Joshi says, ?As a manufacturer, we play our part too, ensuring our products are built to the highest possible standards. As a global corporation, we implement the same levels of safety procedures in all our factories. Our factory in Pune, for example, features some of the latest technology and precision machinery to ensure its manufacturing processes meet the standards we have set for ourselves.?
Says Seibert, ?Our objective is to help our customers succeed and be profitable. This objective translates into safety. For Terex, safety comes first, so we factor that safety in all stages of the product development and we have come up with best-in- class innovative safety features. Versatility, that is what our cranes offer our customers so they can take on more jobs.?
Joshi sums up the scenario on a positive note, ?As India confirms its place as one of the world?s leading developing economies, we are confident that the next three years will see even more projects get underway and present great opportunities for our business. As projects get bigger and schedules get shorter, we continue to develop cranes of the highest standard that are not only productive but durable, so they can work harder for longer and meet the demanding challenges of the future.?
Says Raman Joshi, President, Manitowoc Cranes India, ?We do not feel that the Indian crane market is suffering too badly, but it?s fair to say it?s slightly depressed. India remains one of the world?s leading developing markets and there is a huge variety of large-scale projects, many of which our cranes are already working on. Projects are from a variety of verticals but energy and infrastructure are the most active and are likely to remain so.?
?The market looked good in 2010-11 and 2011-12 but since April 2012, it has been in decline. Shortage of floating money, difficulties in getting term loans, a payment crisis in the market, shortage of coal supply for new power plants, reduction in tax advantage in windmill investments, etc, are the factors which have affected the market,? says Ajay Kumar Somani, Director, Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India.
Somani adds, ?The demand is mainly in construction of refineries, thermal power plants, atomic power plants, windmill erection for crawler cranes and for tyre-mounted cranes, it is cement plants, steel plants, support cranes for windmill installation, Metro, flyovers, elevated roads, etc. The requirement of crawler cranes is about 20 percent if the complete range is considered, and for all- terrain cranes, it is about 5 per cent.?
Trends
Speaking about the trends in the mobile crane market Joshi said, ?Traditional pick and carry cranes will remain popular in India in the foreseeable future.However, as the market continues to develop and projects become more ambitious, companies demand more from their machines.They need cranes that can perform larger lifts and a wider variety of lifts.This can mean choosing a stronger and more versatile all-terrain crane over what may seem a more cost-effective option that is far more limited in its capability.
Says Martin Seibert, Head?Cranes, India, Terex Cranes, ?Terex Cranes is a global company with many locations around the world; this allows us to have an overview of customer needs across multiple geographies. What is true is that each customer has a different need, and the need is complex. There is no worldwide trend, but more of characteristics that each customer demands. For example, in Australia, they use pick and carry; Europe is more of an AT cranes market; Japan goes for more rough terrain cranes, etc. There are multiple variables that impact this, some of them are related to regulations and some of them to preferences and historical issues (ie, using a type of crane because it has been historically popular).
Subhamoy Ghosh, Managing Director, Palfinger India, says, ?We are already witnessing a shift towards using safer, more advanced technology and many companies are replacing the entire fleet of pick and carry cranes with the truck loader knuckle boom cranes due to safety issues.? Ghosh continues, ?You can already see Palfinger knuckle boom cranes functioning today in India in the brick and tiles industry, mining industry, waste management sector, railway wagon maintenance and general lifting and loading in several other industry segments. The utility of these cranes varies industry to industry. We are therefore, not providing a crane but a solution to a specific application. We do application studies and demonstrate utility of the crane on field in the any specific application.? The concept of knuckle boom cranes is new. But as the industry progresses towards the use of specialised and application-oriented machines, and more importantly, as the user-segments are drawn towards safer and more efficient methods of loading and unloading systems, knuckle boom cranes can well be a worthy competitor to the pick and carry cranes. The number of players in this segment is also on the rise. The knuckle boom crane is set to take over the market by serving it with safer and more efficient systems.?
While pick and carry cranes have a market share of about 95 per cent in the total lift-and-carry crane category, as per the industry trends knuckle boom concept is gaining market share as these cranes are a more efficient solution. In the developed market, almost 90 per cent of the market is knuckle boom cranes in the lift-and-carry category while in India, the situation is completely the reverse.Pick and carry cranes being self-propelled, there is no emission regulations applicable on the engines used to power them whereas knuckle boom cranes being truck mounted, are already governed by the emission norms under the Central Motor Vehicle Regulations.
Palletisation of load is not very popular solution in India as of now as compared to European countries, wherein 80- 90 per cent of the loads are palletised. Sooner or later, this scenario will change in India as users have started understanding the benefits of pallet systems. Businesses that are using standard pallets for loading and unloading can have much lower costs for handling and storage, with faster material movement than businesses that do not.In Europe, majority of Palfinger cranes sales made are working with a pallet fork to lift the palletised load and we are expecting similar trend to start in India but in a longer horizon. ?If the pallet system picks up in India sooner, it has the potential to change business volumes and market size. The cost of pallet is posing a major challenge in the pallet system growing as business considers it as an additional investment. This is not true if they calculate for the long term,? says Ghosh.
Elaborating on the growth potential of truck loader cranes, Ghosh says, ?The truck loader crane is still in a conceptual stage in the Indian market. However, with experience, we can certainly claim that the acceptance of this concept is on the rise. Demand is being propelled mainly by few application areas like brick handling, scrap handling, and pre-cast handling segments where no other material handling system can be as productive or cost-effective as the truck loader crane. There is a growing demand from manufacturers/distributors who have to deliver their product to their end customer, products like the hume pipe, generators, etc. There is also increasing demand from industries like steel and power sectors wherein plant movement with safety is a big concern. We can certainly say that application needs, efficiency improvement, and growing concern of safety are critical growth drivers of this concept in Indian market.?
Safety
According to Joshi, different countries impose different levels of legislation, and these can even vary from region to region. More can always be done to improve safety, but it must be led by the government and policed correctly. Joshi says, ?As a manufacturer, we play our part too, ensuring our products are built to the highest possible standards. As a global corporation, we implement the same levels of safety procedures in all our factories. Our factory in Pune, for example, features some of the latest technology and precision machinery to ensure its manufacturing processes meet the standards we have set for ourselves.?
Says Seibert, ?Our objective is to help our customers succeed and be profitable. This objective translates into safety. For Terex, safety comes first, so we factor that safety in all stages of the product development and we have come up with best-in- class innovative safety features. Versatility, that is what our cranes offer our customers so they can take on more jobs.?
Joshi sums up the scenario on a positive note, ?As India confirms its place as one of the world?s leading developing economies, we are confident that the next three years will see even more projects get underway and present great opportunities for our business. As projects get bigger and schedules get shorter, we continue to develop cranes of the highest standard that are not only productive but durable, so they can work harder for longer and meet the demanding challenges of the future.?
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