Our plant can produce about 700 standard and process cranes annually
Users need to look at the total cost of ownership, Mean time between failures (MTBF), and mean time to restore (MTTR). On all the three fronts Demag scores well. We provide support over the life of the equipment through consultations, parts and services, says Suhas Baxi, CEO and Managing Director, Demag India. In an exclusive chat with Equipment India, Baxi outline the major trends and the company?s core competencies. Excerpts from the interview.
Is there a trend from the user segments in outsourcing the services from the solution suppliers?
We have been consistently providing services to our customers starting from erection and commissioning of the cranes or components. During warranty to our customers enjoy preventive maintenance services under the Demag Critical Crane Care (CCC) programme. We further provide maintenance contracts tailored to one?s needs. There are standard packages too available. We have almost 40 per cent of our customers covered under maintenance programmes. Yes, this is an area where customers see value in services provided by experts in the field.
We have extended our portfolio and are now also offering services on non Demag cranes and hoists. Another area under specialised services is refurbishment and modernisation. Under the refurbishment services a range of solutions are available to users starting from installation of an anti-collision device to a data logger. We also provide highly specialised crane audits where the condition of the crane is evaluated using some modern techniques and a residual life estimation is provided. The Residual life can be optimised or improved via refurbishment solutions.
What is the latest range in the Bas portfolio for the Indian market?
The BAS (or basic) range of products has been introduced specially for the developing markets. The BAS family of products includes chain hoists, rope hoists, EOT cranes and light crane Systems. The conventional Demag products are full feature products and hence for many applications the features on our conventional chain hoist or rope hoist may be overkill. This is where the BAS range of products comes in. For duty conditions up to 2M+ we have introduced chain hoists and rope hoists that meet most industry requirements. These products have simple electrical controls but are designed and built to be as rugged as any other Demag product. To share an example our DC BAS chain hoist has a conical rotor motor, has 2 speeds as standard. These features ensure safety and performance respectively and are not available in any equivalent product in the market. Further these products are very competitive. The Indian industry has accepted these products very happily and we have seen tremendous growth in this range. We plan to soon launch a light crane BAS (LC BAS) profile which can be used for applications like gun suspension in assembly lines.
What is the range offered by Demag for heavy lifting requirements?
We classify our EOT cranes into standard cranes and process cranes. The standard cranes range extends from 3 T to 60 T. These are workshop duty cranes and can be offered for duty conditions upto M4 or in certain cases M5. Process cranes are typically customised cranes offered for duty conditions upto M6. These are typically required for steel manufacturing and handling, paper industry, cement industry, power equipment etc. Process cranes can be offered upto 450 T.
How do you assess the performance of the last two quarters?
We have definitely grown over last year. The last two quarters though have been tough with many decisions repeatedly being delayed. Our business in India has however grown vis-?-vis last year and some of the steps taken by us especially in the area of market driven products and services has helped us.
What is your take on the government?s move to regulate the import of used equipment?
The process of creating new industrial assets in India should be based on adaption of new and modern technology. If the technology is not available locally in the country, import at reasonable duty rates is the right solution. Import of old technology and assets should be subject to stringent safety and modernisation norms. Duty needs to be used to provide level playing field rather than create disadvantage for global players.
Give us a brief on the manufacturing facility, and R&D.
Our manufacturing facility is located at Chakan, near Pune. We could say, we are in the Detroit of India since this is the largest auto hub in the country. We set up this plant which is a very modern crane manufacturing facility to be able to produce Cranes upto 250T and also ensure that all manufacturing is done in house under the stringent quality control measures followed by Demag. Demag globally follows what we call as the Demag manufacturing practice which through ergonomic manufacturing practices and workflows ensures safe and efficient manufacturing. Our plant can produce about 700 standard and process cranes and about 24 km of KBK tracks annually. Demag India also has centre of excellence or a global R&D centre in India. Globally Demag has four such centres, two in Germany, one in China and the India center which was set up in 2007. This is a global pool of specialists that work on various aspects including improvement of current designs and also introduction of new products and solutions. The BAS range of products was a result of work done by this global team.
Why should a customer buy from Demag?
As mentioned through these discussions, users need to look at the total cost of ownership, Mean time between failures (MTBF), and mean time to restore (MTTR). On all the three fronts Demag scores well. We provide support over the life of the equipment through consultations, parts and services. Given the quality of our products MTBF is very high and in the event of a failure we ensure a minimum MTTR. Cranes are not production equipment for our customers, but their absence hampers production severely. We ensure high uptime of our products through inherent good quality and support services.
What other benefits could users want?
What is your take on competition on different product segments like light weight cranes, fire protected cranes, process cranes?
Demag has been the leader in the area of light crane systems. Our KBK cranes have become generic names in the industry. Process cranes are another area where we have tremendous developments to share. Our process cranes range starts at 5 or 10 T and extends upto 450T. These cranes are now available as per IS or DIN standards. Our initiatives in standardization have ensured we use the best quality components tailored to our design. Our standardisation and localisation initiatives have also made our process cranes more competitive.
Is there a trend from the user segments in outsourcing the services from the solution suppliers?
We have been consistently providing services to our customers starting from erection and commissioning of the cranes or components. During warranty to our customers enjoy preventive maintenance services under the Demag Critical Crane Care (CCC) programme. We further provide maintenance contracts tailored to one?s needs. There are standard packages too available. We have almost 40 per cent of our customers covered under maintenance programmes. Yes, this is an area where customers see value in services provided by experts in the field.
We have extended our portfolio and are now also offering services on non Demag cranes and hoists. Another area under specialised services is refurbishment and modernisation. Under the refurbishment services a range of solutions are available to users starting from installation of an anti-collision device to a data logger. We also provide highly specialised crane audits where the condition of the crane is evaluated using some modern techniques and a residual life estimation is provided. The Residual life can be optimised or improved via refurbishment solutions.
What is the latest range in the Bas portfolio for the Indian market?
The BAS (or basic) range of products has been introduced specially for the developing markets. The BAS family of products includes chain hoists, rope hoists, EOT cranes and light crane Systems. The conventional Demag products are full feature products and hence for many applications the features on our conventional chain hoist or rope hoist may be overkill. This is where the BAS range of products comes in. For duty conditions up to 2M+ we have introduced chain hoists and rope hoists that meet most industry requirements. These products have simple electrical controls but are designed and built to be as rugged as any other Demag product. To share an example our DC BAS chain hoist has a conical rotor motor, has 2 speeds as standard. These features ensure safety and performance respectively and are not available in any equivalent product in the market. Further these products are very competitive. The Indian industry has accepted these products very happily and we have seen tremendous growth in this range. We plan to soon launch a light crane BAS (LC BAS) profile which can be used for applications like gun suspension in assembly lines.
What is the range offered by Demag for heavy lifting requirements?
We classify our EOT cranes into standard cranes and process cranes. The standard cranes range extends from 3 T to 60 T. These are workshop duty cranes and can be offered for duty conditions upto M4 or in certain cases M5. Process cranes are typically customised cranes offered for duty conditions upto M6. These are typically required for steel manufacturing and handling, paper industry, cement industry, power equipment etc. Process cranes can be offered upto 450 T.
How do you assess the performance of the last two quarters?
We have definitely grown over last year. The last two quarters though have been tough with many decisions repeatedly being delayed. Our business in India has however grown vis-?-vis last year and some of the steps taken by us especially in the area of market driven products and services has helped us.
What is your take on the government?s move to regulate the import of used equipment?
The process of creating new industrial assets in India should be based on adaption of new and modern technology. If the technology is not available locally in the country, import at reasonable duty rates is the right solution. Import of old technology and assets should be subject to stringent safety and modernisation norms. Duty needs to be used to provide level playing field rather than create disadvantage for global players.
Give us a brief on the manufacturing facility, and R&D.
Our manufacturing facility is located at Chakan, near Pune. We could say, we are in the Detroit of India since this is the largest auto hub in the country. We set up this plant which is a very modern crane manufacturing facility to be able to produce Cranes upto 250T and also ensure that all manufacturing is done in house under the stringent quality control measures followed by Demag. Demag globally follows what we call as the Demag manufacturing practice which through ergonomic manufacturing practices and workflows ensures safe and efficient manufacturing. Our plant can produce about 700 standard and process cranes and about 24 km of KBK tracks annually. Demag India also has centre of excellence or a global R&D centre in India. Globally Demag has four such centres, two in Germany, one in China and the India center which was set up in 2007. This is a global pool of specialists that work on various aspects including improvement of current designs and also introduction of new products and solutions. The BAS range of products was a result of work done by this global team.
Why should a customer buy from Demag?
As mentioned through these discussions, users need to look at the total cost of ownership, Mean time between failures (MTBF), and mean time to restore (MTTR). On all the three fronts Demag scores well. We provide support over the life of the equipment through consultations, parts and services. Given the quality of our products MTBF is very high and in the event of a failure we ensure a minimum MTTR. Cranes are not production equipment for our customers, but their absence hampers production severely. We ensure high uptime of our products through inherent good quality and support services.
What other benefits could users want?
What is your take on competition on different product segments like light weight cranes, fire protected cranes, process cranes?
Demag has been the leader in the area of light crane systems. Our KBK cranes have become generic names in the industry. Process cranes are another area where we have tremendous developments to share. Our process cranes range starts at 5 or 10 T and extends upto 450T. These cranes are now available as per IS or DIN standards. Our initiatives in standardization have ensured we use the best quality components tailored to our design. Our standardisation and localisation initiatives have also made our process cranes more competitive.
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