Palfinger provides integrated solutions for loading, unloading and transporting
Palfinger truck loader cranes have set a very high standard in terms of product quality, technology used, operational/environ?mental safety and strong after service, difficult to match by any conventional pick and carry crane, says Subhamoy Ghosh, Managing Director, Palfinger India.
To what extent has the concept of the truck loader crane been accepted in India?
The truck loader crane is still in a conceptual stage in Indian market. However, with experience, we can certainly claim 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 customer, for eg, hume pipes, generators, etc.There is also an 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 the Indian market.
How is the growth of truck loader cranes dependent on palletised load handling?
Palletisation of load is not a very popular solution in India as of now, compared to European countries, wherein 80-90 per cent of the loads are palletised. Sooner than 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, the majority of Palfinger crane sales made are working with a pallet fork to lift the palletised load and we are expecting a similar trend to start in India but on a longer timeline.If the pallet system picks up in India sooner, it has the potential to change business volumes and market size.
The cost of the pallet is posing a major challenge in the pallet system to grow as business, considering it as an additional investment; this is not true if they calculate for the long term.
What is the current demand-supply scenario for truck-loader cranes?
As the product in a nascent stage, customers/user do take a relatively long time for finalising their decision in favour of such demand.After this long gestation period, we do not want to make customers wait for deliveries.Hence, we have heavily invested on building up of stock of fast-moving variants, in order to reduce order execution time and improve product visibility. Palfinger is a leading global manufacturer with a flexible production schedule and therefore, meeting the customer?s demand expectation in terms of delivery period is no big task. For the last four years (2007-2010), the demand of such equipment has always remained within 150 units.We certainly have big strategic plans to increase this market base in the coming five years.
Brief us on the range offered by Palfinger in truck-loader cranes.
In India, basically we are offering three types of truck loader cranes.
Stiff boom cranes: These are hundred per cent indigenised cranes made by Palfinger in its Chennai facility.These localised cranes are used by customers who are looking for simple lifting and loading solutions.These cranes are supplied with a winch mechanism as standard fitment.We have two variants in this type of cranes, the PS 8000 4.0 which is 8 T metre crane can lift load of up to 4 tonne at 2 m distance and the PS 13000 6.3 which can lift 6 tonne of load at 2 m distance with ease. Further to this product line, Palfinger will launch higher capacity versions in the near future.
Knuckle boom cranes: These cranes have a hydraulically articulated telescopic arm which can be folded and occupies minimal space on the truck chassis.They also have hydraulic power available at the boom end thus enabling the fitment of various attachments which can do more specialised jobs than just simple lifting like brick bundle handling, scrap handling, lifting human being to height with man basket, drilling with earth auger, handling loose or waste material with clamshell bucket, etc.
Palfinger has a huge range of knuckle boom cranes starting from 0.9 T metre up to 116 T metre which can lift load up to 30 T at 4 m distance.Currently, these cranes are imported from Austria but in the future India could well be manufacturing these cranes too.
Timber and recycling crane: These are heavy-duty and robust cranes specialised for use in the process industry where duty hours of cranes are very high. These are very fast and efficient cranes built for severe working environments. In India, these cranes are working successfully in paper mills like ITC, West Coast Paper Mill, and Ballarpur Industries, to name a few.
These cranes can also be used for various applications like scrap handling in processing units, waste handling at transfer stations, coal loading and unloading.
Compared to the conventional systems of load handling, what are the major advantages of truck loader cranes?
Palfinger truck loader cranes have set a very high standard in terms of product quality, technology used, confirming operational/environmental safety and strong after service which is difficult to match by the conventional pick and carry cranes. Palfinger truck loader cranes enjoys a strong history of 50 years, making it very optimised and technologically acclaimed products around the globe whereas pick and carry cranes have no global reference to back up with, is predominantly present only in India and less in other countries. It is an integrated solution of loading, transporting and unloading, thus no multiple equipment is required, and multi-point unloading is possible. Palfinger truck loader cranes have outrigger based stabiliser systems whereas pick and carry cranes carry counter weights in them, thus increasing the chance of crane toppling. Largest safe working area of 250? makes Palfinger truck loader cranes far safer to work with; only 56? is available with pick and carry cranes.
Is cost a deterrent for the wide acceptance of these lifting systems?
More than cost, I would say product and concept awareness is not widespread to achieve desired volumes. With our aggressive marketing activities, we are trying to bring awareness about the multi-utility of truck loader cranes. Palfinger truck loader cranes are functioning today in India in the brick and tiles industry, waste management sector, manufacturing companies, infrastructure projects, railway wagon maintenance, and general lifting and loading in several other industry segments. The numbers of truck loader cranes in the market shall increase exponentially as its visibility increases and application areas are explored by Indian customers.
SAFETY FEATURES
Safety comes first at Palfinger. Palfinger truck loader cranes are built with the highest safety standards with safety features specially designed keeping workers? safety in mind. To ensure stability, the crane and truck combination is selected through a computer-aided system known as PACWIN. Thorough engineering calculations are done for each and every case. Palfinger cranes are equipped with safety features like:
? Load holding valves: provided on each cylinder and prevents the crane from dropping even in case of a breakage of hydraulic hoses. No risk of crane dropping.
? Laser profiling and special robotic welding creates an immensely strong crane base frame increasing durability and safety.
? Lever control on each side of the crane, so the operator is always able to see the load when lifting, thus ensuring higher operating safety.
? Top seat control package: Full overview on the whole environment of the truck, thus enhancing safety during working.
? Optional features like Overload Protection System which does not allow the crane to lift loads beyond its rated capacity. No risk of crane overloading and bypassing safety norms, thus no safety hazard.
? High Power Lifting System (HPLS): This feature increases the capacity of a crane up to around 15 per cent with reduced operating speed. Increased capacity with no compromise on safety.
? Integrated Stability Control (ISC): This feature is a system that monitors the stability of a crane vehicle. Stability assured.
Palfinger truck loader cranes have set a very high standard in terms of product quality and technology used.
To what extent has the concept of the truck loader crane been accepted in India?
The truck loader crane is still in a conceptual stage in Indian market. However, with experience, we can certainly claim 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 customer, for eg, hume pipes, generators, etc.There is also an 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 the Indian market.
How is the growth of truck loader cranes dependent on palletised load handling?
Palletisation of load is not a very popular solution in India as of now, compared to European countries, wherein 80-90 per cent of the loads are palletised. Sooner than 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, the majority of Palfinger crane sales made are working with a pallet fork to lift the palletised load and we are expecting a similar trend to start in India but on a longer timeline.If the pallet system picks up in India sooner, it has the potential to change business volumes and market size.
The cost of the pallet is posing a major challenge in the pallet system to grow as business, considering it as an additional investment; this is not true if they calculate for the long term.
What is the current demand-supply scenario for truck-loader cranes?
As the product in a nascent stage, customers/user do take a relatively long time for finalising their decision in favour of such demand.After this long gestation period, we do not want to make customers wait for deliveries.Hence, we have heavily invested on building up of stock of fast-moving variants, in order to reduce order execution time and improve product visibility. Palfinger is a leading global manufacturer with a flexible production schedule and therefore, meeting the customer?s demand expectation in terms of delivery period is no big task. For the last four years (2007-2010), the demand of such equipment has always remained within 150 units.We certainly have big strategic plans to increase this market base in the coming five years.
Brief us on the range offered by Palfinger in truck-loader cranes.
In India, basically we are offering three types of truck loader cranes.
Stiff boom cranes: These are hundred per cent indigenised cranes made by Palfinger in its Chennai facility.These localised cranes are used by customers who are looking for simple lifting and loading solutions.These cranes are supplied with a winch mechanism as standard fitment.We have two variants in this type of cranes, the PS 8000 4.0 which is 8 T metre crane can lift load of up to 4 tonne at 2 m distance and the PS 13000 6.3 which can lift 6 tonne of load at 2 m distance with ease. Further to this product line, Palfinger will launch higher capacity versions in the near future.
Knuckle boom cranes: These cranes have a hydraulically articulated telescopic arm which can be folded and occupies minimal space on the truck chassis.They also have hydraulic power available at the boom end thus enabling the fitment of various attachments which can do more specialised jobs than just simple lifting like brick bundle handling, scrap handling, lifting human being to height with man basket, drilling with earth auger, handling loose or waste material with clamshell bucket, etc.
Palfinger has a huge range of knuckle boom cranes starting from 0.9 T metre up to 116 T metre which can lift load up to 30 T at 4 m distance.Currently, these cranes are imported from Austria but in the future India could well be manufacturing these cranes too.
Timber and recycling crane: These are heavy-duty and robust cranes specialised for use in the process industry where duty hours of cranes are very high. These are very fast and efficient cranes built for severe working environments. In India, these cranes are working successfully in paper mills like ITC, West Coast Paper Mill, and Ballarpur Industries, to name a few.
These cranes can also be used for various applications like scrap handling in processing units, waste handling at transfer stations, coal loading and unloading.
Compared to the conventional systems of load handling, what are the major advantages of truck loader cranes?
Palfinger truck loader cranes have set a very high standard in terms of product quality, technology used, confirming operational/environmental safety and strong after service which is difficult to match by the conventional pick and carry cranes. Palfinger truck loader cranes enjoys a strong history of 50 years, making it very optimised and technologically acclaimed products around the globe whereas pick and carry cranes have no global reference to back up with, is predominantly present only in India and less in other countries. It is an integrated solution of loading, transporting and unloading, thus no multiple equipment is required, and multi-point unloading is possible. Palfinger truck loader cranes have outrigger based stabiliser systems whereas pick and carry cranes carry counter weights in them, thus increasing the chance of crane toppling. Largest safe working area of 250? makes Palfinger truck loader cranes far safer to work with; only 56? is available with pick and carry cranes.
Is cost a deterrent for the wide acceptance of these lifting systems?
More than cost, I would say product and concept awareness is not widespread to achieve desired volumes. With our aggressive marketing activities, we are trying to bring awareness about the multi-utility of truck loader cranes. Palfinger truck loader cranes are functioning today in India in the brick and tiles industry, waste management sector, manufacturing companies, infrastructure projects, railway wagon maintenance, and general lifting and loading in several other industry segments. The numbers of truck loader cranes in the market shall increase exponentially as its visibility increases and application areas are explored by Indian customers.
SAFETY FEATURES
Safety comes first at Palfinger. Palfinger truck loader cranes are built with the highest safety standards with safety features specially designed keeping workers? safety in mind. To ensure stability, the crane and truck combination is selected through a computer-aided system known as PACWIN. Thorough engineering calculations are done for each and every case. Palfinger cranes are equipped with safety features like:
? Load holding valves: provided on each cylinder and prevents the crane from dropping even in case of a breakage of hydraulic hoses. No risk of crane dropping.
? Laser profiling and special robotic welding creates an immensely strong crane base frame increasing durability and safety.
? Lever control on each side of the crane, so the operator is always able to see the load when lifting, thus ensuring higher operating safety.
? Top seat control package: Full overview on the whole environment of the truck, thus enhancing safety during working.
? Optional features like Overload Protection System which does not allow the crane to lift loads beyond its rated capacity. No risk of crane overloading and bypassing safety norms, thus no safety hazard.
? High Power Lifting System (HPLS): This feature increases the capacity of a crane up to around 15 per cent with reduced operating speed. Increased capacity with no compromise on safety.
? Integrated Stability Control (ISC): This feature is a system that monitors the stability of a crane vehicle. Stability assured.
Palfinger truck loader cranes have set a very high standard in terms of product quality and technology used.
A-303, Navbharat
Estates,
Zakaria Bunder Road,
Sewri (West), Mumbai - 400 015,
Maharashtra, India
+91-22-24193000
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