We are one stop solutions for all the customer segments.

Sunil K Gupta, CEO & MD, Kion India

KION India has around 30% market share currently in Indian MHE market and aspires to increase it to more than 35% by 2020 through its multi-brand offering and market reach.

Kion India is the market leader in Indian MHE space and currently holds more than 30% market share. The company has effectively positioned its products through multi-branding strategy to cater to customer requirements across segments. “With integration of our brand strengths and utilization of synergy among their S&S channels, we enhance our product portfolio and customer reach as well as provide efficient aftersales support. We try to be one step ahead of the market,” states Sunil K Gupta CEO & MD – Kion India.

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s there a perceptible shift towards cleaner and greener technology products in the warehouse equipment segment? 
Robust product, reliable technology and brand orientation is the customer preference; however customer expect brand to take care of technology. Customer is always looking for value for money products. Market witnessed a shift towards more reliable and high performing machines since last two years and trend is likely to be continued.
The government push towards clean and green energy as well as environment awareness is pushing the market for cleaner and greener technology products. The growth in Electric forklift market is mainly driven by a shift towards environment friendly products.

We are a customer centric organization and our R&D team at Pune is continuously working towards evolving our products and bringing future ready products; to provide value for money to our customers. KION India understands our responsibilities towards environment and we continuously evolving our products accordingly. We are the first company to produce cleaner technology based Reach truck in India. We recently launched an environment friendly Electric forklift with advanced twin motor drive technology providing very small turning radius.

Every equipment/industry vertical is being impacted by disruptive technologies. What is the scenario in the MHE segment, especially in warehousing equipment?
Business in India is continuously moving towards innovations, development or improvement of cost competitive products or processes or services and looking towards business model which has a high potential of employment generation and wealth creation.

The Indian market is also developing and moving towards Industry 4.0 and automation has to be adopted in coming years. In Indian MHE segment a fully automated, software controlled warehouse is the future milestone. Being the market leader, we always set new benchmark for ourselves and for the industry. We are serving our technology savvy customers who are looking towards high technological solutions for their MHE requirement through our premium products under the brand Linde and Dematic. We are looking forward to ramp up automation technology in India.

How bright is the scope for ‘automated/smart warehouses’ in the Indian context?
With the increase in industrial growth, rise in demand of consumer goods and services augmented by increase in disposable income and focus on efficiency and safety, market is shifting towards automated products and solutions in coming years.

Practically after a certain volume; manual material handling is beyond human control and requires advance and automated solutions. As much we move towards large capacity warehouses, automated and smart warehouses become vital for efficient operations. With the environment awareness as well as compliances and govt. push towards green and clean energy, future smart warehouses are likely to be based on non-pollutant energy efficient material handling equipment. Battery operated electric forklifts and warehousing equipment will be base of automated/smart warehouses and pull the demand of battery operated material handling equipment.

How do you assess the positive impact of the latest developments in the port sector?
Port is a high value customer for industrial trucks business. The latest development and policy upgradation are creating investment friendly environment for port industry and we will see much more investments in the port segment in coming years. Spending on modern infrastructure with a focus on increased efficiency leads to increased demand for industrial trucks and warehousing equipment. Our specific equipment (forklift) designed to cater the requirement of port segment will definitely get a boost due to increasing demand of port segment.

Do you expect a demand pull for the higher capacity forklifts and forklift trucks?
The advance cargo handling methodologies requires technological advance lifting equipment to handle the higher tonnages at higher height and modern technique of handling container carriage to prevent the goods from damage. This will definitely pull the demand of higher capacity reliable machines.

Currently customer is looking for customized and reliable material handling solutions as per their business requirement rather than MHE equipment only which is very positive for KION India; as we are one stop solution provider for all the customer to fulfill their material handling requirements. Market is already witnessing high growth in the demand of high performing higher capacity reliable machines which can improve utilization of assets.

We still lag behind with regard to standardization of logistics infrastructure which has hampered the growth of containerization and palletization. How does the scenario look like after the GST roll out?
Ground storage and manual material handling is still common in the country with high share of small warehouses &logistics providers. However trend is now shifting towards advance and reliable ways of material handling to improve the productivity and reduce losses. With roll out of GST, consolidation of smaller warehouses build for tax efficiency will convert into fewer but large capacity warehouses to improve the operations efficiency.

Please also elaborate on the solutions provided by KION India? Why should a customer buy from KION India? Also tell us about your road map for 2020 to meet the changing trends in the markets.

KION group is represented in India by its five brands – OM, OM Voltas, Linde, STILL and Baoli. We are one stop solutions for all the customer segments for their MHE requirements through our extensive product range and diversified solutions. Our vast sales and service network with more than 100 customer touch points across India makes sure our products and services are within customer’s reach.

OM Voltas & OM has catered to the economy and lower value segment of Indian material handling market and has been the dominant player through the years. Linde, STILL and Baoli are prominent import brands. Linde & STILL brands are well established in the premium segment while Baoli is a key player of lower economy segment of Indian MHE industry. We are offering automated ware house systems and solutions through our brand Dematic.

The Indian industry is growing with faster pace. With the high pace of growth business become more dynamic and less predictable. Hence an agile approach with quick responsiveness is the key business requirement. Market is clearly shifting towards more reliable and high performing products. KION India is passionate to grow and outpace the industrial truck and material handling industry. KION India has around 30% market share currently in Indian MHE market and aspires to increase it to more than 35% by 2020 through its multi-brand offering and market reach.

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