We at Haulotte believe in the principal of ‘Customer Proximity’

From market trends to technological innovations, Souma Ray, Director, Haulotte India Pvt. Ltd. throws light on the different financial solutions offered by Haulotte. Excerpts…

Tell us about the different access equipment used to cater to different needs at construction worksite?

Access Equipment are used for working at safely & productively heights. There are different variants of machines that can work indoor or outdoor or both, battery driven or diesel engine drive, normal terrain or rough terrain. The variants therefore can be push around machines, Electric or Diesel Scissor lifts, Vertical Masts, Electric or Diesel Articulating Boomlifts, TelescopicBoomlifts, Light Weight Booms, Spider/crawler or Truck mounted booms.

Requirements of Aerial Work Platforms are defined by height and application of use at any worksite. Based on these parameters, the suitable variant of an access equipment is chosen and offered. Hence at Haulotte we strongly believe in doing the application study for our customers so that the best suitable machine can be suggested to them. There are various machines that are available for each variant and based on the customers need the same are offered.

What are the market trends in the access equipment market?

The AWP sector in India is still in its fledging stage and immature as compared to the developed nations of the world wherein it is mandatory by law to use such machines when you need to work at heights over 3m. Over the years the awareness has been growing across sectors such as Construction, Infrastructure, Facility Management, Maintenance, Manufacturing, Power, Mining, Hospitality, etc. More and more sectors are getting added as users of AWP’s. Yet we still have a long way to go unless users understand the advantages of using such a multifarious machine over the traditional methods of accessing heights for work which are not only unsafe but unproductive too. 

Despite the numerous fatalities that happen whilst working at heights, unfortunately we still don’t have a legislation in our country on safety measures whilst working at height which would entail mandatory usage of Access equipment. We hope that such strong laws would be enacted at the earliest which is essential for making usage of access equipment mandatory for safely and productively working at heights.

Could you throw some light on the technological trends incorporated to address the needs of construction industry?

Usage of Access Equipment is widely prevalent in the Construction Industry. Worldwide, one of the major fatalities that happen whilst working at height is due to entrapment. This is a situation in which an operator/user of the machine whilst operating from the platform isn’t aware of any obstruction or structure that may be behind him and whilst raising the platform comes under the structure and gets crushed by it, thus many a time ending up in a fatality. In view of this we devised a technology that is patented by us. This is the ACTIV SHEILD BAR 2.0. This is a anti entrapment or secondary guarding device that is integrated in the platform control cover of our boomlifts. This gets activated when the operator is trapped in a crushing situation. Once activated the machine will stop upward and forward movement, thus allowing the operator to retrieve himself from the entrapped situation by only allowing the operation of lowering and reversing the machine. This can either be done from the platform control box and if the operator is immobilised or lying injured on the platform and unable to move, the same operation can be done from the ground control box. Once the situation has been averted the system can easily be reset from the platform itself by pressing of the dead man pedal and thus ready for use again.

What are the financing solutions offered by your company to purchase access equipment?

Today Haulotte is one of the few Equipment manufacturer who offers in house financing for its customers under its “HAULOTTE FINANCIAL SERVICES”. More than the strong price pressure, it is the lack of liquidity in the market that is affecting the flow of business. Today financing is a major issue for any purchase. In order to address this issue, we at Haulotte have started HAULOTTE FINANCIAL SERVICES so that we can provide in house finance at attractive rates to our customers.

Haulotte Financial Services offers a wide range of financial solutions designed to meet the varying needs of customers business. Depending on the need of our customers we can devise a finance solution for them.

Being a leading manufacturer of aerial work platforms, how do you ensure extended lifespan of access equipment?

At Haulotte we always train our customers on how to properly use and maintain our machines. For such a machine that is used properly and well maintained will have a longer life cycle. Further we also offer a SECOND LIFE option to our customers to renew their machines after years of tough usage. These are specific kits of parts that are devised for each variant which can be used to refurbish a machine and thus extend their lifespan. This Refurbishment program is fully guaranteed by the Haulotte Quality standards.

What are the different services offered to maintain access equipment?

We at Haulotte believe in the principal of “Customer Proximity” and hence all across the world we have our own subsidiaries which cater to the needs of our customers being geographically close to them. Further we are constantly innovating to design more user-friendly services like e-technical training, online identification and ordering of Spare parts through Easy Spare Parts, E-training site for our customers to access training documents pertaining to their Haulotte machines. Further our new generation booms are fitted with the Haulotte Activ Screen which is a screen which incorporates the features of doing fault diagnosis on the machine itself. The operator or Technical staff of the client themselves can identify the fault on the machine and take corrective action or reach out to our Service team for remote assistance. This saves both time and money. Further, all our new machines come Telematics ready and customers can fix their own GPS device to gather information remotely.

What are the measures taken into consideration to ensure pre-owned machines meet the highest quality standards?

Pre-owned equipment is a perfect way to establish or enlarge a fleet at lower cost for a better return on investment. Find your next machine among a wide range of pre-owned equipment, from scissor lifts to telehandlers, as well as articulating booms, vertical masts and more.

Haulotte has implemented strict inspection processes to ensure that pre-owned machines meet the highest quality standards. Model, year of initial registration, mileage and more: it’s easy to choose the right pre-owned MEWP or telehandler with machine-specific ads including several photos as well as a comprehensive list of features. A quick and easy way to meet the needs and budget of our customer!

How did you manage to stay in touch with customers during the lockdown period?

The unprecedented effect of Pandemic and the long lockdown period has affected every walk of life both on personal as well as Business front. In full consideration of the safety of our employees and as per the lockdown declared by the Government we closed our offices and went in to Work From Home mode. However during this long lockdown period we have been in regular touch with our customers to check on their well being and also enquire if they need any assistance from our end.

With the UNLOCK 1.0 announced by the Government, some of the project sites opened up and our customers started work. Our Service team has been ready & geared up ever since for any technical assistance to be provided to our customers and also have attended to their requests.

Tell us about the training offered to upskill employees and keep them updated with new technologies on offer?

At Haulotte we are always evaluating the competencies of our employees. Regular online and onsite technical training programs are organised. Our Service & Training team visit France every year for skill upgradation on the new products that we launch regularly.

Further we at Haulotte believe in all round development of our employees and organise training programs on online platforms and also in person to develop their soft skills and personality development. Employees are our assets and we ensure that they are trained, and their skills augmented regularly for them to work and perform effectively.

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