“All Cat machines are designed with safety as the central theme.”

Amit Bansal
Head Sales & Marketing-
Building Construction Products,
Caterpillar India

The 216B3 skid steer can handle a wide range of mechanical and hydro-mechanical work tools.

Caterpillar has a wide range of skid steers globally, and has entered the Indian SSL market with the launch of 216B3. “The market development for SSL needs to focus on promoting its range of applications through demonstrations at work sites,” says Amit Bansal, Head Sales & Marketing- Building Construction Products, . Bansal shares his views on the growth opportunities and challenges in developing the SSL market.

The market for skid steers is still heavily underdeveloped. As a major player in the segment with a production facility in India, what is your take on this?
The market for Skid Steer Loader (SSL) is developing in India and the user industries are gradually appreciating the value of SSL. Currently, major buyers for SSL are civic bodies, biomass power plants, construction companies (real estate), cement industry and others. Given the current impetus in the infrastructure sector, we expect a surge in demand in the coming years.

The main advantage of SSL is its compactness and variety of applications. Given this advantage SSL has tremendous potential in industries where space and speed of operation are crucial for success. But the main challenge is lack of awareness. Given this challenge, Caterpillar is constantly working with its dealers to increase awareness level by demonstrating the machine’s applications at actual sites, road shows, displays in exhibitions, and training of operators.

Customer’s preference for backhoe loader, which is regarded as offering greater versatility, seems to have limited skid-steer loader usage to specific niche applications. Does it mean that the OEMs have failed / not focused much on the market development?
The exponential growth of backhoe loader (BHL) can be attributed to the innovative use of the machine, especially by few customers who have made a business proposition by entering into hiring market. However, given the wide range of attachment for varied applications, SSL is definitely above BHL in its range of applications. Therefore market development for SSL needs to focus on promoting its range of applications through demonstrations at work sites. Also as manufacturers, we need to promote the concept of ‘right tool for the right job’ and a lot of developmental work is required in this direction.

Do you think it is the high price perception of the skid-steer loader compared to backhoe, preventing the growth of skid steer market? What is the possibility of bringing some sort of ‘price parity’ with backhoes, like in the US market?
This is potentially one of the reasons why SSL market has not been able to take off at a substantial rate. The proposition of price-value for SSL has not been accepted by the market in comparison to BHL. However, SSL has become a niche product for applications where bigger and usual machines like BHL and hydraulic excavators (HEX) cannot be used.

With increasing manpower cost and focus on efficiency and safety, we expect SSL market to grow in India, though it may not be comparable to developed markets, as the usage patterns are very different.

How do you view the impact of the entry of compact telehandlers into the market, especially for material handling applications?
Both products have been designed for different purposes and as such, direct competition between them will be minimal.

Predominantly, skid steers are sold with standard loader bucket thus limiting its application. How do you expect to change this scenario? What are the attachments on offer from CATstable?
SSL is a utility machine which is highly versatile. Mostly, the machines are used in construction of residential and commercial buildings for moving materials like sand, bricks, cement, crushed stone aggregates etc. They are also used for material handling and movement in heavy construction like the construction of bridges, elevated roads, metro rail infrastructure, tunnels to name a few, where space is restricted and SSL is an ideal option. SSL is also used in various process industries like cement industry, brick industry, paper, sugar, glass, steel industry, recycling industries etc. SSL offers very practical solutions for waste collection and solid waste management and find favor with governmental bodies like municipalities and corporations. They are very popular in agriculture and dairy segments as well. With respect to other attachments, the right value proposition needs to be conveyed to customers to help them understand the benefits coming out of it. Besides bucket, they can also be fitted with attachments like pickup brooms also called sweepers, augers, pallet fork, grapple bucket, hammer, planer and many more depending upon the requirement.

What is the current demand-supply scenario and what is the expected scenario by 2020?
The government’s push on infrastructure, housing and development of both rural and urban areas is expected to escalate demand of skid steers by 2020. If you look at the current market trends, the customers are looking for machines that are not only efficient and value-driven but also score high on versatility and safety.

It is estimated that the overall market for SSL’s in India has been in the range of 500-600 for last few years with sufficient supply from multiple manufacturers. The demand for SSL’s is expected to grow in construction, real estate, solid waste management and industries and the market can witness an escalated demand of 1000 units by 2020.

Brief us on the range offered by CAT in skid steers – the unique features that make it highly fuel efficient.
Though we have a wide range of SSL’s globally, we entered the Indian SSL market with the launch of 216B3. In the current condition, we feel that this size class machine has the maximum opportunity and it will remain that way for some more years to come. The machine is fitted with a 51 HP Caterpillar engine and has a rated operating capacity of 635 kg. This machine can handle a wide range of mechanical and hydro-mechanical work tools.

The machine is fitted with load sensing hydraulics and provides optimum performance. Thus the hydraulic oil flow is directed to where it is needed. It is also fitted with a foot throttle in addition to hand throttle to adjust engine RPM. This allows the operator to set the engine at lower RPM and while facing a heavier load the RPM can be increased by pressing the foot throttle. Once the operator takes the foot off the pedal it comes back to the original RPM which is lower. This works in tandem with load-sensing hydraulics offering better fuel efficiency.

Elaborate the safety features in-built in the skid steer range?
Caterpillar takes safety very seriously and all Cat machines are designed with safety as the central theme. Here are some of the safety features found on our 216 B3 skid steer.
• The canopy/cab of the machine is ROPS compliant.
• Arm rest bar – unless it is pulled down the engine cannot be started. When it is raised the machine’s parking brake automatically engages and hydraulics lockout.
• Spring activated hydraulically released brakes ensure effective and fail-safe braking.
• Operator presence – seat mounted sensors automatically engage the parking brake if it does not sense a minimum of 22 kg, after a few seconds.
• Dead engine lower valve helps in bringing down the loader arm in case of an emergency situation.
• Rear Glass has O ring to quickly remove the glass for emergency escape.
• Backup alarm is standard.
• Optional beacon (To show the machine is in operation during day/night).

Brief us on the cab – operator’s comfort/visibility?
Caterpillar’s 216B3 SSL has a spacious and ergonomically designed cabin with low effort joysticks which are used for driving and operating. The operator gets excellent visibility to edges of the bucket and the static is standard and suspension seat is available as an option.

What is the significant rated operating capacity (ROC) in your range of skid steers? Has there been any upgrade in ROC?
We offer skid steer loaders with 635 rated operating capacity. It is estimated that almost 65-70% of the market is in the 600 to 650 kg rated operating capacity market. Since the concept of SSL is still in its early stages of acceptance amongst users, we feel that volume of growth will come more from this size class of machine. Large machines will continue to have their own limited niche application.

What are the major growth drivers for skid steers and how as an OEM you try to enhance the level of awareness?
Automation to drive better productivity/efficiency, manpower availability and safety and niche usage will be the major growth drivers for skid steer loaders. As this machine is still in concept stage in India, we educate our existing customer base to enhance the level of awareness. Though SSL finds use in a wide variety of application and segments, a major ones would be general construction (Residential and Commercial) and industrial applications like steel, cement, foundries. Of late, opportunities have also arisen in the waste handling application in government bodies like corporation/ municipalities/local bodies.

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