In our constant efforts to give back to the environment, Godrej has invested in expanding the range of its battery-operated fork trucks.

– Anil Lingayat

Executive VP and Business Head, Godrej Material Handling

Which sectors are driving the growth or market outlook for warehousing equipment?

Warehousing sector growth is driven due to increasing consumer consumption in India with different varieties in FMCG/FOOD/RETAIL to name a few – driven by e-commerce and modern retail and increased manufacturing in sectors like pharma and food & beverages which has been driving warehousing space due to complexities of supply chain logistics/geographies in the front end and volatilities of supply chains and availabilities in the back end due to geo-political situations and the covid situations globally including shipping challenges.

These are driving the warehousing sector growth over and above companies investing in optimizing their whole supply chain solutions post-GST.

The major growth drivers have been the pharma, e-commerce and modern retail sectors, besides third-party logistics. While the larger players in these industries drove growth, part of it also came due to buying by SME companies who faced labour challenges due to possible labour migrations during the initial lockdowns and fear of the pandemic. They had to mechanize handling operations to drive output in their operations. Additionally, there is a notable rise in consumption and corresponding demand patterns across sectors such as healthcare, consumer electronics and Fast Moving Consumer Goods. These sectors are playing a vital role in driving the growth of the warehousing equipment industry.

Has Covid 19 brought in revolutionary changes in the WE industry and do you see a rise in demand for automated MHE post-Covid with social distancing norms becoming a new normal?

Warehouses began seeing a transition to more organized storage that sought to utilize vertical space while compressing the footprint in the early 2000s. This gathered momentum through the last decade as sophistication in terms of flooring standards, lighting and ventilation, real-time tracking of goods, RFID, IoT, automation, and Warehouse Management Systems kept pushing the envelope. The pandemic essentially changed consumer buying behaviour as much of their purchases shifted online. This accelerated the growth of e-commerce, leading to a surge in demand for organized storage and handling. In warehousing, demand for material handling equipment is expanding, and this trend will continue in the foreseeable future. Companies are increasingly turning to their material handling partners for answers as they face new challenges in logistics, storage and handling, as well as the need to minimize human interaction within the four walls of the warehouse to maintain social distancing and safety.

Customers are seeking more warehousing efficiency improvements with minimum human interventions and so different automated solutions are being explored one among them is automated material handling.

What are some of the emerging technological trends in the WE sector?

Many of the new trends are focused on managing a wider variety of SKUs while optimizing system inventory and maintaining a smooth flow of goods through the supply chain. These needs depend on leveraging AI and sophisticated WMS. As far as the brick-and-mortar portion of warehouses is concerned, large customers are exploring automation of storage and handling to varying degrees, particularly to reduce human errors in picking/placing goods and pallets. Material handling equipment like Reach trucks and Articulated trucks are expected to reach higher than ever before as users want to exploit vertical space utilization. To facilitate the safe handling of such machines at locations as high as 12.5 metres, devices like camera systems, warning lights, and biometric access systems are gaining ground. Warehouse trucks are required to be safe, productive and responsive to the operator’s touch. Godrej Material Handling has launched an independent fleet management system called ‘Godrej Safelog,’ which offers IoT-based solutions to help monitor fleet health, perform preventative maintenance, and optimize fleet size.

How is your company tapping trends like electrification and connected vehicles in the warehousing sector?

In our constant efforts to give back to the environment, Godrej has invested in expanding the range of its battery-operated fork trucks over the last several years. This includes new introductions in Electric counterbalance forklifts, Reach trucks and Articulated trucks. These equipment address almost the entire range of handling equipment required by a modern warehouse.

Godrej recognized years ago that the future is electric and has been moving on this path since over a decade. While our IoT system offers several services to customers, the business case for truly connected forklifts is still some distance in the future.  The business case for connected forklifts will soon become viable.

Experts anticipate more manufacturing to shift from China to India. What are your views on this?

The recent pandemic and various geopolitical events over the last few years have made many global businesses re-think their off-shoring strategies. Several have moved to a China +1 strategy. There is a huge opportunity, but India will have to compete for it. India’s objective should be to improve industrial competitiveness and expand its global trade share. In order to achieve this goal, infrastructure must be built that improves India’s export competitiveness.  There is no dearth of entrepreneurial talent or will. Given the right climate, there are immense opportunities in pharma, textiles and garments, automobiles and auto components, engineering goods and so on.

What are your growth plans / future prospects for your company in terms of warehousing equipment?

Godrej Material Handling, the market leader for forklifts in India, has been constantly innovating over the years to bring safe, modern and viable technology to its customers. Our organization will continue to deeply engage with modern Indian warehouses and strive to meet all its needs in handling, storage and automation. Godrej is already manufacturing a few kinds of warehouse trucks like Reach trucks and Articulated trucks that are import substitutes. We also build the latest kind of Electric forklifts with twin motor drives that guarantee a high-performance level that is essential for the Automotive, Beverage and various Engineering industries. We are also the only Indian manufacturer to build 5 tonne capacity Electric forklifts, expanding the application of cleaner technology for heavier handling needs. We continue to introduce new technologies like Li-ion batteries and IoT systems for fleet monitoring and maintenance.

The company has tremendous promise in the coming year and beyond, as it also adapts to new technologies and innovates to meet shifting consumer demands. We will continue to provide new goods and services to the market and invest in the development of new technologies to help our customers improve their productivity, efficiency and workplace safety.

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