The ongoing Pandemic has badly battered the economy. Does infrastructure hold the key to revive the Indian economy? Your views
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the economy, however we are recovering with V shaped economic recovery since Q4 2020. There has been a disruption in demand and supply that has resulted in interruptions, delays due to labour unavailability and supply chain disruption during the Covid-19 second wave. Also, the pandemic has pushed the priority towards safety and development of safer environments through contact less management systems. However, as the Covid-19 outbreak continues, additional funding and resource shortages are surely likely to arise. In those situations, it is critical to invest in influx of funds through schemes which would benefit industries or small enterprises. Infrastructure accounts for almost ~9%-10% of Indian GDP and it is the significant source for employment generation for the labour workforce. In turn, it shall also drive equipment industry including construction and material handling.
KON Group AG invested in ~Rs. 300 crores in infrastructure development of material handling equipment. We have set up the advanced Factory at Pune, the largest and modern material handling equipment manufacturing factory in India. The investment on the factory has paid off in the times of the pandemic. And, it helped us in the safe workplace environment which was a pre-requisite to work during the pandemic. With multi-brand strategy in India, industrial truck products of OM brand, Linde and automation solutions from Dematic, KION India is ready to offer value to Indian MHE requirement.
What are your views on the need to adapt and remould the infra activities as per the New Normal to spur the economy and the MHE sector?
Infrastructure is one of the key drivers of the economy and Infrastructure activities should continue to revive the Indian economy with adherence to Covid-19 protocols. Hence, it requires efficient & contact-less systems for operation. Any logistic system’s efficacy is determined by palletization which brings in high logistics efficiency, safe transport, minimize transport losses, better inventory management and optimization of space. During the pandemic, e-commerce and retail industries surged higher and this resulted in the MHE requirement for big, medium and small storage facilities and warehouses. Green and clean energy requirement of electric forklift and battery operated WHE are also seen to be increasing, as more organizations are driving clean energy adoption. The pandemic has brought in the necessity of safer working environment and contactless operation. Also, the online product & service delivery start-ups are in demand during the lockdown periods. Contact less and safe material handling equipment and solutions shall in turn boost the efficiency. The government’s investment influx and promoting start-ups through financial schemes will additionally give a push to the last mile delivery and e-retail outlets. Thus, in turn the demand of MHE has increased and subsequently the sector demand has improved. Lithium-Ion technology based MHE are also gaining momentum across industries with better awareness.
With changing market dynamics, KION India is fully geared to cover varied customer requirements contact less products which are capable to take care of the safety of the workplace through multi-brand solutions from our brand OM, Linde, Baoli & Dematic. OM is indigenous brand of KION India & equipment are manufactured under Make-In India initiative specifically design to cater Indian customer requirements covering all the segments. Linde & Dematic are premium brand & offering high end technological & automation solutions to the Indian customers.
How can the government handhold the MHE sector in this Pandemic time?
Government has introduced several structures and capex aid system as a part of Covid-19 relief package to boost Capex investment in infrastructure resulting in positives trend of MHE industry. As in automotive segment, Government has introduced incentives for electric vehicles, similarly, if there is an introduction of similar incentives for MHE, the market shall see benefits in market size and there will be subsequent push in environment friendly equipment. As we are moving towards Industry 4.0, digital initiatives and automation would play a significant role in future operations, and investments shall support the pace towards smart factories and warehouses. This will increase the competitiveness of Indian industries. KION India is gearing up for Industry 4.0 & offering high end technological automation solutions for smart factory & warehouses through its premium brand Dematic.
How are you adapting to the ‘New Normal’?
The New Normal is the way of life at KION India. Mandatory mask use, social distancing, single seating guideline during travel and periodic temperature and oxygen scans, full sanitization before entry are being followed. Face to face meetings has been restricted and all meetings are being conducted on online mode. Human to human interactions have been kept minimum at the offices & factory production floor as well. Sanitization stations have been installed at every section for easy use. Our Sales & Service personnel are operating digitally and resolving most of the customer concerns remotely. The office and production area are sanitized frequently and adhere to all the health and safety guideline.
Covid-19 protocol such as ‘minimum contact’ has further expedited Digital initiatives to be in contact with the manufacturing facility, dealers and end users. What are the digital initiatives you have taken in this regard?
All the investment made in 2019 for modern facility has paid off during the pandemic times as it helped us to manage the operations in contact less environment. We managed the entire operations with same efficiency by less than 50% employees in a shift through contact-less initiatives during the second wave of Covid-19 with complete adherence to the local administration guidelines. The roles of sales & service professionals were critical in maintaining contact less and safe operation during the pandemic for customers. They were digitally active & working remotely for resolution of customer requests and concerns. Our service team remains focused on customer’s productivity, performance and availability of MHE equipment & are managing the entire fleet digitally. Our products of forklifts and warehousing equipment are contactless equipment and easy to install and use.
What are the finance schemes you offer to suit varying requirements of the prospective customers?
We have tie-ups with most of the major banks for providing financial support to customer to purchase equipment. We offer rental solutions through our brand Linde to support the customers who does not have access to adequate capex. We also have tailored solutions as per need of the customerto fulfil their material handling requirement with minimum investment.
The Pandemic has further expedited technological advancement such as minimum human intervention by integrating IoT, AI. Towards this, what are the R&Ds going on at your end?
At KION Group, investment in technologies with robotics, software and mobility is being approached and the integration of these shall make the data for smart warehouses. Software advances that have enabled robotic applications are machine learning & artificial intelligence, and as these tool sets and software become more available to be interfaced directly with robotic systems, it allows the robots to be more dynamic and finally can learn how to do things better. Dematic, is the world leader in innovative warehouse automation solutions. KION India offers high end technological solutions through its premium brand Linde and Dematic. We offer solutions such as storage and retrieval systems, sorting systems, conveying, AGVs & AMRs to create future smart factories & warehouses.
How do you see the economy, opportunities and challenges in this pandemic situation and please give us a brief idea about the strategies outlined to tap in the future potentials?
Economy has seen a dip in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is now witnessing a V shaped recovery since Q4 2020. There are short term challenges due to local restrictions and sudden spike in number of cases, however, long term outlook stays optimistic and is creating lot of new opportunities. The challenges faced today health and safety of employees, labour shortages, safe working environment with minimum contact. With the focus on contact-free material handling and last mile delivery, the material handling industry is gaining through the opportunity offering safety features which enables contact-less operation. There has been a phenomenal growth in all the product segments primarily driven by growth in e-commerce, pharma, food & beverages industry. Our OM and Linde brand forklifts were engaged in handling key supplies and Oxygen at the times of shortages.
It is crucial to have contactless MHE which are flexible, with longer operational working hour, minimum maintenance and can be installed easily on sites. Our product portfolio encompasses a wide product offering – Diesel, electric and warehousing equipment including Hand pallet truck, Battery Operated pallet truck, electric stacker, reach truck, and tow trucks. We have India’s most modern MHE factory with dedicated assembly lines for IC, Electric and WHE products, modern paint-shop, advanced quality testing facility and in-house R&D which can cater to future demand comfortably.
The recent MHE market demand is on the uptrend. We have witnessed the highest ever MHE market in March 2021 and in Q1 2021. This trend is likely to be continued and we are optimistic to witness new peaks in coming months as well. We are fully geared to cater to this upcoming growth with our new Plus Series+++ products of OM brand which are upgraded in terms of Performance, Safety and Life factors. We offer sustainable lithium-ion battery high performance products through our Linde brand.
