FAR and WIDE

India Telehandler Market is projected to witness substantial growth backed by the rising infrastructural development in the country especially in the real estate and power & distribution industry underpinned by the increased efforts of the Indian government for the betterment of the country landscape and improvise the economical foreground.

The Indian Telehandler Market is registering slow growth as telehandlers are at a very nascent stage as awareness across sectors is still very limited. On the upside, demand for telehandlers has been increasing steadily, especially from the infrastructure construction and mining segments over the coming years. The only hurdles in the telehandlers’ market growth are lack of awareness of the telehandler’s multifarious uses and customers still preferring the conventional and cheaper pick-and-carry cranes. According to 6Wresearch, the India Telehandler Market size is anticipated to register slow growth. While rental opportunities for telehandlers in a mature market are immense, the Indian rental market is small and the rates are quite high as there is a limited number of telehandlers available.

Compact telehandlers acquired the highest market share as they are operator-friendly with single joystick control for all types of operations. Their most distinguishable feature is the quick and easy recalibration of the Load Moment Indicator, which can be done by simply raising and lowering the boom for a few minutes. Additionally, the stabilizers included in the standard configuration ensure an excellent horizontal outreach. The rear axle locking system enables greater lateral stability for a very high load rating performance for the upper section.

Market Trend

While speaking about the current market for Telehandlers in India, Deepak Shetty, CEO and MD of JCB India, said, “As the Indian market matures, Global best practices are making their way into the Indian Material Handling Industry. There is an increased focus on Safety and Productivity on work sites which presents us with the opportunity of introducing products with the latest and state-of-the-art technology in India. The demand for safe and reliable material handling products is fast growing across a wide spectrum of applications in India. Telehandlers are gaining popularity and are today being used in industries like Agro Logistics, RMC plants and Ceramics where these are used in hopper loading. They are also used in Construction and Infrastructure. Given the versatility of these machines, their popularity has increased over the last few years. One of the major demand drivers is the growing popularity of vertical stacking and an increased thrust on palletisation. Additionally due to their safe design, they are used in Tunnel Applications. Similarly, their versatility is making them equally popular in Infrastructure projects as they can handle a variety of tasks at the worksite.”

Elaborating on the various product offerings from the company in this segment and its USPs, Shetty said, “JCB has been manufacturing Telehandlers globally since 1977. It is today, the world’s leading manufacturer of these machines. In India, JCB offers a range from 7 meters to 20 meters Lift height. With a wide range of attachments customised for specific applications in various industries, they come with an all-new global side engine design to enhance all-around higher visibility, reliability, safety and comfort while delivering high productivity at the worksite.

JCB India currently offers three variants of the Telehandler – the Made in India 530-70 and 530-110, and additionally, we have a 17m machine which is the 540-170 for high lift and reach applications, which is imported from the UK.”

 A few of the key benefits offered by JCB Telehandler are as follows :-

Global Side Engine Design

JCB Telehandler comes with Global Side Engine Design with Hi-Viz low boom mounting ensuring high visibility all around, thus enhancing site safety. Engine installation makes it easy for ground-level service and safe access. Its robust chassis offers high structural life and Single Lifting Ram provides uniform lifting force on the boom.

Safety and Comfort 

The machine provides customers unmatched safety and comfort. The Cabin of the machine has an air-conditioner available as a standard feature for operator comfort and helps in increasing productivity. The cabin is also fitted with Rolling Over Protection System and Falling Over Protection System that enhances the operator safety. It has an Integral Lateral Load Moment Indicator to warn the operator in case the load exceeds the limits and has a stabiliser cut-off for safe working operation. Smooth and Ergonomically installed control levers provide low effort and are responsive for total control and precise load placement at required reach or height.

Superior Design

The machine comes with a legendary ‘U’ shaped boom and a single closing plate welds to reduce joints and stress points. It has boom overlapping for the structural rigidity of the boom. Hydraulic extension rams with no chains are suited for heavy-duty bucket arduous bucket applications. These world-class aggregates help JCB Telehandlers deliver inherent reliability of the equipment.

These machines come with a variety of attachments which makes them versatile. The widely used attachments are a Shovel, Heavy Duty Forks, Grabs, Unloading Rake, Crane Hook – Fork Mounted, Jib Crane, Grain Bucket, Cotton Bucket, Power Grab, Man Platform and Drum Handlers etc.

Every machine incorporates the traditional JCB strengths of ruggedness, reliability, structural integrity, performance, visibility and safety. With the use of JCB’s purpose-designed attachment range further enhancing the tasks possible, the world-class range of Made in India JCB Telehandler offer exceptional versatility, productivity and reliability for all material handling applications.

Along with quality and durability, another key factor in maximising machine uptime is easy serviceability. With a side engine design, all checks are quick, simple and safe to carry out from ground level and most service intervals, including boom lubrication.

The lifting capacity (3000kg-6000kg), long reach and impressive lift height (7 metres to 20 metres) in JCB Telehandler are complemented by a wide range of attachments (over 40) which makes these machines the first choice of machines in the construction and infrastructure domain.

Impact of Covid-19

While explaining the impact of Covid-19 on the business, Shetty said, “As we all know, COVID has had an unprecedented impact on lives and livelihoods. Due to an increase in the infection rate around us, the health and safety of our colleagues and their families being important, we decided to pause manufacturing operations for 10 days, starting 1st of May 2021. This was a precautionary measure and applied to all our manufacturing locations at Ballabgarh, Pune and Jaipur. We had built sufficient inventory levels to support the demand for our products during this period.  Despite this, all our customer and dealer facing functions have been operating under COVID protocols. We have ensured that there will be no disruption in product support for equipment being used by our customers to the extent possible. JCB has a wide dealership network with over 700 outlets across India. We have invested significantly in digital technology across our operations. Today our customers can get door delivery for their Parts requirement if they place an order online or through our Mobile Application. We are hopeful of recovery of the business once the effect of the Pandemic tapers down. The infrastructure development requirements of the country are immense. We saw a similar situation last year as well when the business sentiment improved significantly toward the end of the year. We remain committed to the India Growth Story, however, at the moment all our efforts are towards the safety and wellbeing of our stakeholders.” 

Technology

On the major changes taking place in terms of technology, Shetty said, “JCB India has pioneered the integration of digital technology in its range of machines through advanced Telematics called ‘LiveLink’. JCB machines work in off-road and often remote locations and LiveLink helps in remote monitoring and fleet management on the key parameters of Service, Operations and Security of equipment. LiveLink now helps over 1,80,000 JCB machines communicate in real-time on machine location, operations, performance, downtime, service alerts and security. The technology enables better site management and equipment utilisation, thereby improving operational efficiency and cost-saving. Geo-fencing and Time-fencing have enhanced the security of these machines. Technology has been transforming the way Machine-to-Machine and Machine-to- Customer business is being done. All vital information about the machine is available to customers on their mobile devices through a web browser or also through the ‘LiveLink’ mobile application. Additionally, the system also sends out alert SMSs to registered mobile numbers. LiveLink benefits customers in better fleet and fuel management by enabling remote monitoring and management of their machines. It incorporates GPS, Telecommunications, Machine Electronics and IoT, enabling the equipment to remain in contact with the owner, dealer and JCB. Accurate monitoring of machine hours and service alerts improve maintenance. Technical alerts and maintenance history data helps customers manage the machine health to keep your machines running or maximum uptime and return on investment. Early warnings with detailed machine history enable users to plan work effectively. This cutting-edge technology can help lower servicing and running costs by ensuring machines are operated to their optimum performance, reducing fuel consumption and unnecessary machine wear. By monitoring idle-time and real-time fuel consumption, LiveLink helps manage the whole life cost of ownership, driving down costs, driving up productivity. It also helps keep machines safe and improves control over machine misuse. Alerts can be set up for when a machine is moved out of or into a predetermined zone, these geofences are customisable to the space required.”

Analysing the future market for telehandlers in India, he said, “Infrastructure development and the economy are interlinked and directly impact one another. We feel that the opportunities for our industry will significantly open as the Pandemic subsides and lives start to return to normal.

Two key sectors are set to emerge in the coming years – the first being Infrastructure development in Rural India and the other will be the creation of world-class healthcare infrastructure across the country. Schools, colleges, industries will need to be created and segments like municipal waste, village roads, rural infra are set to grow.  A significant capital allocation, of up to INR 5.54 lakh crore, in roads and highways, railways, ports, airports, waterways, rural and urban infrastructure, and most importantly, healthcare infrastructure has been announced. These projects not only demand the best quality output but will also require work to be done on tight timelines thus, creating a need for specialised, intelligent and technologically advanced construction equipment. From a healthcare infrastructure perspective, we need to revolutionise the sector with world-class on ground healthcare facilities built across the country. Hospitals, Institutes, research facilities etc. will need to be scaled up, all of which would again require the use of smart construction equipment.  Products such as Telehandlers are best suited for these projects due to their versatility and Safety. They deliver a combination of value, new digital technology and world-class quality. At a national level, an impetus to Roads & Highways, Railways, Irrigation and large projects like Sagarmala and Bharatmala would drive demand for Construction Equipment. Additionally, the focus on creating 100 new airports, Smart cities and Metro projects will certainly open up newer opportunities ultimately resulting in the improved demand for construction equipment. Additionally, PMGSY and rural roads will boost demand.”

Make-In-India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat

When asked about JCB’s commitment to Make-In-India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, he said, “The ‘Make in India’ programme was launched six years ago with a focus on making India a Manufacturing Hub for the World. Today, it has dovetailed into Vocal for Local and the ambition to become ‘Atma Nirbhar’ or Self Reliant. India will need to be competitive and strong-willed to be able to compete with global players in all aspects of the value chain including demand and supply.

To cater to the vision of making India ‘Atma Nirbhar’ (self-reliant) and to compete with global standards, the industry has realised the criticality of investing in building world-class infrastructure in the country. JCB is focusing on greater adoption of technologies like Telematics, IoT, Big data, and Data Analytics along with Machine Learning. We today have five state-of-the-art factories in Delhi-NCR, Pune and Jaipur – all of which operate on the principle of ‘One Global Quality’. Our Jaipur factory is also a gender diverse facility, with over 30% of the workforce on the shop floor being women. Our sixth factory at Vadodara which will focus on exports is currently being constructed. Innovation has been the cornerstone of JCB’s operations around the world. In India, we have a full Design and Innovation centre at Pune which is our largest outside of the UK.

This facility develops exciting and new technologies of the future for Global and Domestic projects. We thus, Innovate, Design, Manufacture, Sell and Export from India. We have exported our ‘Made in India’ products to over 110 countries from India. JCB is an embodiment of the Hon’ble Prime Ministers vision of ‘Make in India’ and Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Our machines have been contributing to the building of world-class infrastructure in the country for over 40 years.”

Shetty further added, “The ‘After-Sales Support’ is one of the keys deciding factors in the overall buying cycle of a product. Hence, it plays a significant role as we stride towards resuming growth in the market demand. The big-ticket infrastructure development projects, demand specialised, intelligent and technologically advanced construction equipment, supported by consistent, quick and effective after-sales services, to achieve the best quality output on tight timelines.  With a wide distribution network of over 60+ dealers and over 700 outlets across India, JCB India provides an unmatched distribution and service network to its customers. Since JCB machines work in far-flung areas, it is imperative that well-connected product support minimises downtime and maximises productivity.  Our dealers employ about 8,000 professionally trained personnel in India and the dealerships provide vital product support to customers for their equipment. Furthermore, SmartServe, an internal tool that is an application for service requirements, service engineers and service jobs, enables the dealership to locate and map service engineers.”

Hits: 101