We, at Kobelco, are looking at India very seriously as a manufacturing base.

E. Moses, Executive Vice President, KOBELCO Construction Equipment India

How do you look at the government’s initiative of ‘Make in India’ program and mission which is motivating the construction equipment industry to participate in it?

Personally, I welcomed this initiative, and I think it’s the most appropriate time because of the challenges posed by global uncertainties and the current global positioning of India. It makes a lot of sense to invite the prospective investors (domestic and international) to explore India as a business destination especially for infrastructure development. Along with the investment comes employment opportunities, GDP growth and in-turn a boom in the economy.

Foreseeing this government’s strong commitment and stable sentiments market, how do you value your company’s growth in the last few years?

We would say that we have grown with India’s economy. Many initiatives taken especially on the infrastructure front, have given us the edge over other countries, and now business has been growing steadily in India. Especially after GST rollout, doing business in India is more hassle free. In the last few years, government has shown strong intent towards infrastructural development and few initiatives we can quote like Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga, Bharatmala project, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) etc which have given a push to the CE industry and is an opportunity for companies like us to provide our best solutions to help deliver these projects on time. Going forward our focus is expansion of our factory to cater 3rd countries markets as well.

What are your views about ‘Make in India’ as a global manufacturing hub for construction equipment? The government has a good plan for making India as a global manufacturing hub for construction equipment.

Currently, India is the third-largest CE market after China and USA, and we are on our way to becoming the second largest in the world by 2030. With our domestic players our CE industry boast about its large presence of global OEMs. This has forced us to focus on enhancement of our R&D facilities and develop state-of-the art manufacturing technologies. Our export numbers clearly shows that our domestically manufactured equipment is being export to major markets like US and Europe. Having said that, India being a great destination to reach but parallelly the government has a lot of responsibilities and accountabilities to make the investors comfortable and making things look much easier and friendlier. It is essential to develop a strong supply chain operating ecosystem. Indian government is taking lot of initiative to fulfil this dream and we are sure very soon we will be a manufacturing and export hub for CE.

Can you tell us something about your export market and the important initiatives to cater to the requirements of the international market.

We at Kobelco, especially after the pandemic, are looking at India very seriously as a manufacturing base. In fact, we have already taken certain initiatives towards it. We have future plans to get maximum export out of our Indian factory especially to Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America. In nutshell, I can say that we are very serious about our PM’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ initiative.

What vision do you have for the next three years for your company?

I think not only Kobelco, but every single company has to realign their vision after Covid, because what was present before Covid can be different from what we are experiencing today. So, realignment of our vision, realignment of our though processes towards that vision is very important and critical for any company today. Kobelco understands that very clearly. In Kobelco the leadership is looking forward for four important things; number one is the customer satisfaction. Customer being the strongest pillar of our existence is the main focus for us. Our vision is to make our customers or a Kobelco machine owner our first priority. Second important thing is our focus on our Dealership, their growth and profitability. Third is our organizational alignment about the vision, and we would like each and every member of the organization to be aligned with that. We would like to create a flat and lean organization with transparency to improve the response time – we call it the Kobelco spirit. And the fourth is our own growth. Catering first three points automatically helps in achieving our growth. We remain positive about the India growth story. Despite the pandemic, we are continuing to invest in our Products, Technology and our Distribution network. We also look forward towards alignment of Indian CE industry regulation with Global standards whether it is safety, homologation, the environment regulations or acceptability of technology.

You are offering so many technological advancements in your machines. How do you maintain the equilibrium between technology, the advancements in machines and the cost?

Kobelco has always invested in technology during its 15 years of operations in India. Cost is something in Kobelco or in any excavator business; we call it a return on investment. One is the initial cost, second is the operational cost. If your technology can help reduce operational cost by taking an initial extra cost, you can off-set it by operational cost.  In fact, in the long run, you will be much more profitable than an ordinary technology machine. Suppose if we have a technological advance and it costs you X amount, we will try to give it back in fuel saving within a short period. Rest of the period further what you save is your further saving. So off-setting it in the operational cost what you take in the initial price, is Kobelco’s strategy. Increasing reliability, enhancing productivity and reducing operating costs maintain the equilibrium between technology, the advancements in machines and the cost.

What are the major challenges that you are facing and what are our suggestions to ease out these challenges?

Yes, there are certain challenges faced by CE Industry. One I can think of is lack of competent manpower or the quality manpower. The supply is not at par with the heavy demand for construction gear for numerous tasks. The availability of trained manpower, skilled operators and workers to operate heavy machinery is a big challenge. Another challenge is Used equipment market for construction equipment is still not developed in India. Thus, the resale of the used equipment is a growing challenge for the construction equipment sellers. Another challenge I can think of is fewer renting options. Renting equipment is a suitable option for a large number of businesses to reduce heavy investments by saving on high costs of equipment. However, renting options are limited in terms of getting right product in good condition at right place and at right time.

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