Briefly share with us your outlook on the elevator and escalator market in India – in terms of total market size, your share in the market, total market value, etc?
India is the second-largest elevator market in the world after China, with more than 50,000 elevators being sold every year. The elevator & escalator market growth is mainly driven by the residential segment and by the activity and initiatives in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. In the near future, it is likely to get even stronger, with the focus on initiatives like ‘Housing for all’, development of smart cities & new infrastructure projects. This creates a need for taller buildings with even more efficient and innovative mobility solutions. Schindler is responding to this opportunity with targeted investments & strategic expansion of our business in India. Our new state-of-art manufacturing facility, located at Chakan near Pune, is fully functional from beginning of 2014. This sprawling, world-class campus houses the elevator factory, a 71-meter tall elevator test tower, the global R&D Centre and an escalator plant. All this is a testimony to Schindler Group’s commitment to the Indian Market and our endeavor to be closer to our customers and offer them innovative mobility solutions.
Where do you see India with regards to opportunities for Smart Elevators/Smart Escalators?
We have a track record of introducing innovative products. Our machine-room-less and gearless elevators – Schindler 3100IN and Schindler 3300IN - have been widely accepted by our customers. These elevators offer them greater flexibility to design buildings and saves cost, time, and most importantly, the space that would be needed to build machine rooms. Schindler 5500, which we have launched recently, takes configurability to a new level. It uniquely combines performance, flexibility and design, which makes it easy to be compatible with the requirements of commercial, mid and high-end residential buildings. Schindler’s Miconic-10 hall call destination system optimizes people mobility within buildings & thus leads to reduction in energy consumption. Our third generation revolutionary PORT transit management system – now interconnects the entire building & provides architects with new possibilities in vertical mobility management and security planning. We continuously improve the energy efficiency of our escalators also. With ECOLINE power management, our customers can define whether the escalator should run at full speed during peak times & automatically slow down or even stop when there are no passengers. Schindler is pioneer in developing and applying sustainable technologies for clean urban mobility solutions. To improve energy efficiency, Schindler uses materials that have lower environmental impact and can be disposed in ecologically sound manner. The development of much lighter components has resulted in further energy savings.
Could you elaborate us on the technology trends driving the sector? What aesthetic measures/strategies have been adapted to make your products more competitive as against its counterparts?
Elevator is literally the lifeline of a building and the breakthroughs in elevator technology have made it possible for the buildings to grow tall. The important part here is to plan for the correct number and specifications of elevators, considering the type of building, it’s tenancy, population, etc. The reason why this is so crucial is because once the elevators are installed, it is extremely difficult to change, or add more elevators without making substantial changes to the building structure. With Schindler’s advanced traffic analysis tool based on real-time simulation, Schindler adds a lot of value on this front, by helping our customers to plan for the optimum elevator configuration while designing their buildings. Planning plays a crucial role because once the elevators are installed, it is extremely difficult to change, or add more elevators without making substantial changes to the building structure. Schindler’s advanced Digital Planning tool adds key value on this front, by helping architects and customers alike to plan for the optimum elevator configuration while designing their buildings. It helps not only in planning, but this dynamic tool also enables architects to create elevator layouts, elevator traffic study and tender documents in customized manner for their projects. Moreover, the tool will help architects and designers in all kinds of facilities planning based on its type and usage, be it residential, commercial, hotel, hospitals, etc. Schindler Digital Plan uses the latest visualization technology and data analytics to give designers and customers comprehensive product specifications and detailed layout drawings which are invaluable. Architects using Schindler Digital Plan will be provided with two options, ie, Guided Planning where the designers will navigate through the portal and enter building, design details and the second option will be Fast Track that allows the architect to filter the Schindler product catalogue to find the desired planning data which includes determining the minimum elevator requirements through a simple Traffic Study and Schindler product recommendations.
Briefly share with us about your few recent projects and major achievements, with regards to installations (executed/streamlined for future).
Today, Schindler India is a trusted name in the elevator industry and is the preferred vendor to several leading builders & developers across the country. Schindler has been a partner in several prestigious infrastructure projects in India, like the new Mumbai International Airport, Terminal -2, the Chennai International Airport, the Delhi Metro, the Delhi Airport Metro, the Mumbai Monorail, the Kolkata International Airport, as well as the Mumbai, Bengaluru and Greater Noidametros. Schindler has also been a preferred partner for landmark projects like Lodha World One, Omkar Worli 1973, Antilia and Imperial Towers
How has the Indian real estate industry responded to new age technologies as against its global counterparts?
Huge urbanization potential, relatively young population and increasing educational opportunities should continue the India growth story for years to come. Large metro cities would continue to rise higher, while rapid growth in smaller towns would transform them into new large cities of tomorrow. We are very optimistic about the long-term growth of the elevator and escalator market in India.Schindler is currently the only company to have both elevator and escalator factory in India.
Tell us about your plans to strengthen future business opportunities and any new product additions or expansion activities focused particularly for India?
Schindler Group is set to invest Rs. 170 crores to expand its manufacturing facilities by setting up India’s first Escalator manufacturing line and towards improving its research and development facilities at its plant near Chakan in Pune. These investments will give Schindler India a unique edge and propel them to become the market leader in the elevators and escalators category in the country. Schindler India is committed to growing the elevators business in India and plans to expand its elevator line to produce a capacity of around 17,500 units and its escalator line to 1,200 units per annum by 2019. Under the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, Schindler has already made an investment of Rs. 430 crores towards setting up a factory, an R&D centre that boasts a 71mt tall tower with 8 shafts where every component of the elevator undergoes strenuous testing. Schindler India’s Rs. 170 crores investment is part of the total Rs. 600 crore outlay over a period of six years which employs more than 1000 people at any point of time in Maharashtra.
@EPC World Media
