We are seeing a shift in the market from general purpose machines to specialized equipment that is driven by higher productivity requirements of end – users.

– Kennady V Kaippally

Country Manager, Bonfiglioli India

How do you rate your company’s journey so far and what do you think are the major factors contributing to your success saga in the industry?

We have been in India for over two decades and the journey has been rewarding, with many learnings. Indian market offers both unique opportunities as well as challenges for manufacturers like us. We see opportunities for market growth as infrastructure spending increases and market evolves and matures. However, the challenge in such an environment remains in developing or adapting products and manufacturing capabilities that suit the specific demands of Indian market. Innovation in products and manufacturing practises remain a key in overcoming these challenges. We have continuously invested in our local manufacturing facility and engineering centre, in developing these innovative products and manufacturing capabilities in our endeavour to meet these challenges.

What has been the shift in buying patterns from the end-user segment?

Indian markets have evolved over time, and this is getting reflected in the buying patterns of the end -user- segments. We are seeing a shift of the market from general purpose machines to specialized equipment that is driven by higher productivity requirements of end – users. This trend is visible across the applications few examples would be the increasing usage of excavators for earthmoving, horizontal drilling machines for cable laying, twin shaft mixers for batching plants etc. Another trend which is apparent is the desire of end users for equipment’s with better safety features. These buying preferences are getting reflected in customers move towards equipment’s with higher safety features, as can be seen in growth of equipment’s like new generation of cranes that are gaining ground. Bonfiglioli has the largest range of products available globally with any manufacturer, suited for these specialized and diverse applications and should be a beneficiary of these changes, resulting from shift in buying patterns of end-user segment.

Tell us about the technological trends in your range of products?

The major trends we are witnessing in our range of products have been integration and electrification. Mechanical gear trains are getting integrated with hydraulic motor and control valves, thus forming one plug and play drive unit. Bonfiglioli was the first drive manufacturer to make such integrated units. These have become benchmarks in the industry and are known for their compactness, ruggedness, efficiency, and high-power density. We are also witnessing conventional drive trains getting electrified. Bonfiglioli has developed a range of electric drives and axles for various applications like track, wheel, slew etc, with high performance motors and maintenance free brakes. All these products will be showcased in the exhibition.

What differentiates your company from other competitive players in the construction equipment space?  

Our business philosophy always has been to partner with OEM who are leaders in their business and develop tailor made, highly customized power transmission solutions catering to their requirements. Over past two decades of our presence in India, we have worked closely with all the major OEM’s in the industry, to develop an unmatched range of products that have become bench mark in the industry.  This enables us to cater to all the major transmission applications of our customers and we are generally a one stop shop for all our customers.

What products are being showcased / launched at Excon and what will be your focus of display? 

Excon has always been an exhibition where we have presented the latest of our product offerings and for this year’s expo, it is no different. Along with showcasing our marque products like solutions for excavators, transit mixers, road building machines, material handling machines, that are well known this year we will be showcasing some of the latest product offerings. These would include some of the products specially developed for Indian market like a new gearbox for pump drives and new self-loader mixer drive. We will also be focusing on our electric solution like 600F high-efficiency, low-noise planetary axles and drives with integrated high-performance electric motors for tow tractors and other such applications, 600WE planetary wheel drives incorporate an integrated, maintenance-free electric motor. We expect all these new age products to define the future market for power transmissions in construction industry.

What are your expectations from Excon, especially after a period of lull due to Covid 19 pandemic?

We have been participating in EXCON, since its 6th edition and over these editions we have seen growth of this exhibition mirror the growth of the construction equipment industry in India. Excon gives us the chance of showcasing our solutions and latest offerings for the CE industry. It also gives us an opportunity to meet customers from different CE market segments under one roof. We expect to interact with broad range of customers that would result in both tangible and intangible benefits for us as well as our customers. These interactions, especially after a period of lull due to Covid 19 pandemic, will give us more insight and broader perceptive of the market.

What is your insight on your company’s road map for next three years?

Last year, we recorded our highest ever sales as construction industry had the second highest annual sales, surpassed only by highs we saw in 2018. We expect this trend to continue and industry to expand and surpass the previous highs. Government initiatives like The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) with an initial sanctioned amount of 102 lakh crore, combined with ‘Gati Shakti’ plan that aims to break departmental silos and bring in more holistic and integrated planning & execution of projects, to drive the growth in the industry. We are in the process of completing the expansion of our Indian facility in Thirumudivakkam, that has significantly enhanced our capacity and will help us in meeting the growing demand of our customers for the next three years.

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