As India continues to expand its economy and attract global companies, the need for ware?housing products will certainly increase. Kelley plans to combine our world class brands and technology to better serve customers in India, says Steve Sprunger, Vice President ? Sales and Marketing, 4Front Engineered Solutions, Inc. Exce?rpts from an exclusive chat Equipment India had with Steve and Piush Goyal, Managing Director, Kelley Material Handling Equipment India Pvt Ltd.

What is the global footprint created by Kelley?s products and services?
Kelley offers a full line of dock equipment and warehouse products to companies worldwide. This line-up of products includes dock levelers, vehicle restraints, dock seals, dock shelters, impact resistant overhead doors and lift products all aimed at providing cus?tomers the hig?hest quality, dependable products and the lowest cost of owner?ship available in the industry. Kelley?s products are insta?lled at customer lo?cations in nearly every continent in the world. Today, Kelley?s product offering extends beyond loading dock equipment and now includes yard and trailer management software sys?tems, energy savings products and pro?ducts to sup?port a growing global need for ware?house fans (HVLS ? high volume low speed fans).

Tell us about Kelley?s core competency and strengths.
Kelley?s core competencies and stren?gths (product innovation, superior manufacturing and customer service af?ter the sale) are born out of a rich his?tory of innovation, quality and supe?rior engi?neering and a number of indu?stry firsts. And throughout the years, Kelley has strived to manufacture dock equi?pment that makes the workplace safer, more productive and more energy-efficient

Brief us on the range of dock levelers, shelters and seals offered by Kelley.
As the creator of the first dock leveler in the 1950s, Kelley has spent the last 60 years pioneering in the material handling industry and providing companies with a variety of products to meet their indi?vidual facility?s needs. Kelley has the broadest line of pit style and specialty dock levelers as well as dock seals and shelters to fit all size door openings and applications. Further, Kelley?s products extend into safety equipment, specialty dock doors, HVLS fans, master controls, scissor lifts and energy-saving products.

Which range is the fastest moving?
Kelley?s low pressure, air bag dock leveler is one of the most popular dock levelers in the world with over 135,000 units installed. Kelley?s FX (air bag) dock leveler provides customers the benefits comparable to hydraulic dock levelers but eliminates the need for hydraulic components and fluid. Also, Kelley?s line-up of HVLS (high volume low speed) warehouse fans help improve warehouse temperatures, improve work safety and comfort, while consuming a minimal amount of power to operate.

HVLS Fans (big overhead fans) is a relatively new concept for South Asia. Could you tell us little more about this?
Kelley Fusion High Volume Low Speed (HVLS) fans are designed to pro?vide an energy-efficient solution for regu?lating temperature in larges spaces. The patented product is designed to move massive volumes of air at low speed in order to regulate warehouse temperature, improve worker safety by providing a more comfortable work envi??ronment, keep work surfaces dry and maintain product integrity and protect against the spoilage of peri?shable items.

How many equipment you annually manufacture and supply globally?
Kelley operates seven modern pro?duction facilities with the total capacity to produce over 40,000 dock levelers per year. All Kelley products are installed and serviced by a global network of profe?ssional distributors.

How do you view the current global market scenario, especially after the slowdown? Has it impacted Kelley?s business performance?
As the global economy has changed, Kelley has seen a reduction in capital spending associated with new facility construction. As a result, Kelley has fo?cused its engineering resources towards developing products that can be added to existing facilities and that will help customers further increase productivity and eliminate energy loss/waste.

What is your present set-up in India?
Kelley Material Handling Equipment India is currently set up as a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of 4Front Engineered Solutions. With three loca?tions in south, west and north India, the growing Kelley team is led by Piush Goyal, Managing Director. All personnel are strategically located to assist custo?mers with their warehouse design and productivity needs.

Who are your major customers worldwide and in India?
Kelley supplies warehouse products and dock equipment to the largest warehousing and manufacturing com?panies in the world. Kelley has established a positive reputation with these com?panies as a result of consistent tech?nological advancements, impeccable qua?lity and a commitment to customer service. The list of customers (both Manufacturing and Warehousing sector) in India also includes: Tetrapak (Pune), Indo Space Rohan, Wal-Mart (Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka), AO Smith (Bangalore), MJ Logistics (Haryana) and Semco (Pune).

Worldwide customers include Coca-Cola, Costco, Pepsico, Mercedes, Honda, Walmart, UPS, DELL, Target, Toyota, General Motors, Costco, and hundreds of 3PL providers, developers, architects and construction firms.

Being a leading global player in the loading dock equipment and big fans, has Kelley been able to benchmark quality products?
Kelley operates by the philosophy of ?Zero Defects.? As the leader, we must constantly strive to improve all aspects of our operations in order to better serve our global customers. Unlike other qua?lity programmes that can be complicated to understand and difficult to embrace by all employees, the terms ?zero? and ?defects? are universally understood. The pursuit of Zero Defects applies to all functions within Kelley and is one that requires all employees to constantly stri?ve to improve.

What are the unique features of aFX? air-powered dock leveler?
Kelley was the first to develop a low pressure, high volume lifting system (air bag) for use with dock levelers. The aFX air-powered dock leveler is a cost effe?ctive alternative to hydraulic levelers and provides customers with the lowest lifetime cost of ownership.

The heavy-duty lifting system is de?signed to withstand the rugged enviro?nment of the loading dock and over the past 15 years, the aFX dock leveler has been installed in over 135,000 appli?cations worldwide. The design utilises an industrial fan motor to inflate a reinforced vinyl air bag and ultimately position the dock leveler ramp for use. This rugged activation system has significantly fewer parts than hydraulic dock levelers yet provides similar operating benefits.

Tell us about the safety features incorporated in your products.
Kelley has been developing and designing safety into their products for almost 60 years. From reinforced structural frame design, standard LED communication lights, programmable logic controllers and integrated control panels to name a few, Kelley incorporates a number of safety specific features into its standard products.

Most of the products we have introduced in the last 18 months are specifically designed to improve energy efficiency in some manner. These include perimeter weatherseals for dock levelers, a more efficient winglet design for our HVLS fans, TKO VertiCool door for cold storage application, as well as 4SIGHT dock and yard management software

How do you view the competition in this field and what differentiates Kelley from the competition?
Numerous competitors have deve?loped since Kelley established the industry in the early 1950s yet we continue to be the recognised leader in the design and production of loading dock equipment. Kelley has developed more first-to-market technology than any other company, and such products combined with our state-of-the-art production facilities and network of distributors is what differentiates us from competition.

Brief us on your global manufacturing facility. Is there any plan for a facility in India?
Kelley operates seven production facilities in three different counties with a cumulative square footage of nearly 600,000 sq ft. Kelley Material Handling Equipment India is currently investi?gating the prospect of producing pro?ducts in India.

What are the aftermarket solutions offered by Kelley?
Kelley, through APS Resource, pro?vides a full line of aftermarket acce?ssories, replacement parts and service progra?mmes design to keep your loa?ding dock running safely and efficiently. These include energy saving lighting solutions, air-powered leveler conversion kits, pro?tective systems, vehicle res?traints, impact barriers, ramps/portable plates, full main??tenance plans and much more.

Why should a customer buy from Kelley?
Kelley was founded as an engineering and manufacturing firm and our commit?ment to Zero Defects ensures our customers will receive the highest qua?lity, most dependable products with the lowest life-time cost of ownership avai?lable in the industry. The dedication to these products does not stop after the sale as Kelley supports our products with strong warranties and a skilled network of factory trained distributors.

Where do you place Kelley India five years down the line?
Kelley intends to continue investing heavily in the development of new tech?nology in order to support our cus?tomer?s needs for greater productivity, safety and energy efficiency within their operations. This commitment will allow Kelley to maintain its industry leadership into the extended future.

For more information on Kelley India and its products, contact for New Delhi: +91 9717211122; John.Walia@kelleyindia.com and Pune: +91 9890072923; Abhijeet.Sonawane@kelleyindia.com.