The Procurement trend is still price-based. The contractors do not have the proper expertise for proper validation of tower cranes with respect to the quality and life of structurals, mechanisms, electrical controls and VFD controls, which will in turn saves about 40 per cent of the power consumption, says PV Ramdev, Managing Director, Everest Engineering Equipment. Excerpts from the interview...

The Indian CE market is expected to grow at 12 per cent CAGR by 2017. How do you see the opportunities for tower cranes?
The tower crane segment has even higher growth opportunity in 2015-17. The real estate and power sector will show a tremendous growth during this period. So the tower crane requirement will increase to 30-40 per cent.

What are your strategies in getting maximum mileage out of the huge potential?
We have a steady policy to improve customer support. We have to inculcate the latest technology and its advantages according to Indian conditions.

What are the challenges to be addressed to achieve its expected long-term potential?
The current potential and manufacturing facilities in India will not be sufficient to meet the Indian pace. The availability of exact raw materials and proper mechanisms are still not available in India. It is the fact that we are all still depending on foreign players. Since majority of raw materials and mechanisms are imported by Indian manufacturers, why can?t the corporate companies think for a direct import of tower cranes, which is proven several decades in the market.

How is the current demand-supply scenario for tower cranes?
Demands are partly met with the Indian manufacturers, but the critical, high capacity and luffing cranes are still to be addressed with foreign suppliers.

How do you look at the current trends in procurement in this business vertical?
The procurement trend is still price based. The contractors do not have the proper expertise for proper validation of tower cranes with respect to the quality and life of structurals, mechanisms, electrical controls and VFD controls (which will in turn saves about 40 per cent of the power consumption).

How challenging is the procurement-related activities in tower cranes business?
The procurement of a tower crane becomes challenging because of the confusions created by various manufacturers and dealers.

The exact validations according to the site requirement will be get diverted through different methodology, and the bitter result will come after a year of operation where the warranty of the tower crane will be over. To avoid such situations, we recommend forming a technical team (internal or external) who will recommend 3-4 exact tower crane brands suitable for their requirement.

How effective is your supply chain?
We are trying to associate with the customer as a part of their team from the beginning to the end of project. Hence the entire responsibility got shared and the supply chain concept becomes an external body.

What sort of procurement technology you use? And how do you evaluate its performance?
We are concentrating on the best quality, best performance with in affordable price range. The most important is the quality of the personnel in helping the after sales services at any point of time, as the concrete cannot be diverted because of tower crane.

What to look for when buying a tower crane

• Type of tower crane (inner climbing or external)
• The maximum load to be lifted at what radius
• Space restrictions
• Life span of these tower cranes without major break down (5, 10, 15 or 20 years)
• Whether the hoisting/luffing mechanism is VFD controlled to save 40 per cent power consumption
• Whether the slewing control is RCV-based to take care of heavy wind loads
• Whether the hoisting rope is non-twisting type
• Whether all safety features like hoist, trolley, slew, over load, over moment limit switches as well as the load radius display systems are installed