JCB Telehandlers Catering to the Requirements of Diverse Industries
What is the current market for Telehandlers in India?
As the Indian market matures, global best practices are making their way into the Indian Material Handling Industry. There is an increased focus on Safety and Productivity at work sites, which presents us with the opportunity to introduce products with the latest state-of-the-art technology in India.
Telehandlers have been gaining popularity in Construction and Infrastructure projects and are also being used for hopper loading in industries like Agro Logistics, RMC plants, and Ceramics, etc. A major demand driver of these versatile machines is for vertical stacking with the increased thrust on palletisation. Additionally, due to their safe design, they are being used in Tunnel applications as well, besides which, they can handle a variety of tasks at the worksite.
What are the features and USP of JCB Telehandlers?
JCB has been manufacturing Telehandlers globally since 1977 and is today the world’s leading manufacturer of these machines. In India, JCB offers a range from 7 meters to 20 meters lift height. The machines come with numerous attachments, customised for specific applications across various industries. Their all-new global side engine design enhances visibility, reliability, safety and comfort for delivering higher productivity.
JCB India currently offers three variants: the Made in India 530-70 and 530-110, and a made in UK 17m machine (540-170) for high lift and reach applications.
Some notable features of JCB Telehandlers include:
- Stacking and dumping capability of up to 7 meters, 11 meters, and 17 meters on 530-70, 530-110, and 540-170, respectively.
- Forward reach of 3.83 meters, 7.52 meter, and 12.75 meters on 530-70, 530-110, and 540-170, respectively.
- 4-wheel drive for operations over uneven terrains.
Every machine incorporates the traditional JCB strengths of ruggedness, reliability, structural integrity, performance, visibility, and safety. Our Telehandlers have a global Side Engine Design with Hi-Viz low boom mounting that ensures high visibility all around for enhanced safety at site, and a robust chassis and structure. The Single Lifting Ram provides uniform lifting force on the boom. Along with quality and durability, another key factor in maximising machine uptime is easy serviceability. With the side engine design, all checks are quick, simple, and safe to carry out from the ground level, including boom lubrication.
The cabin is fitted with an air-conditioner as a standard feature for operator comfort, which reduces fatigue and increases productivity. The cabin is also fitted with a Rolling Over Protection System and Falling Over Protection System for enhanced operator safety. An Integral Lateral Load Moment Indicator warns the operator in case the load exceeds the limit and a stabiliser cut-off for safe working operation. Smooth and ergonomically installed control levers enable low effort and they are responsive for total control and precise load placement at the required reach or height.
The machine comes with the legendary ‘U’ shaped boom; a single closing plate welds to reduce joints and stress points. It has boom overlapping for structural rigidity of the boom. Hydraulic extension rams with no chains are suited for heavy-duty buckets and for arduous bucket applications. All these world-class aggregates help deliver total reliability of JCB Telehandlers.
What kind of attachments do JCB telehandlers come with?
The lifting capacity (3000kg-6000kg), long reach, and impressive lift height (7 metres to 20 metres) in JCB Telehandlers are complemented by over 40 attachments. These include Shovels, Heavy Duty Forks, Grabs, Unloading Rakes, Crane Hooks - Fork Mounted, Jib Cranes, Grain Buckets, Cotton Buckets, Power Grabs, Man Platforms, Drum Handlers, etc.
JCB’s purpose-designed attachment range further enhances the machine’s versatility and applications in a variety of jobs, besides increasing their productivity and reliability for all material handling applications.
How is JCB’s Livelink digital technology helping customers?
Technology has been transforming the way Machine-to-Machine and Machine-to-Customer business is being done. All vital information about JCB machines is available to customers on their mobile devices through a web browser and also through the ‘LiveLink’ mobile application. Additionally, the system sends out alert SMSs to registered mobile numbers.
LiveLink benefits customers in better fleet and fuel management by enabling remote monitoring and management of their machines. It incorporates GPS, Telecommunications, Machine Electronics and IoT, enabling the equipment to remain in contact with the owner, dealer and JCB.
LiveLink now helps over 1,80,000 JCB machines to communicate in real-time on machine location, operations, performance, downtime, service alerts and security. It enables better site management and equipment utilisation, thereby improving operational efficiency and cost-saving. Geofencing and time-fencing have enhanced the security of the machines. They help keep machines safe and improve control over machine misuse. Alerts can be set up for when a machine is moved out of or into a predetermined zone, plus, geofencing is customisable to the space required.
Accurate monitoring of machine hours and service alerts improve maintenance. Technical alerts and maintenance history data helps customers manage the machine health to keep their machines running with maximum uptime, giving better returns on investment. Early warnings with detailed machine history enable users to plan work effectively.
This cutting-edge technology can help lower servicing and running costs by ensuring machines are operated to their optimum performance, reducing fuel consumption and unnecessary machine wear. By monitoring idle-time and real-time fuel consumption, LiveLink helps manage the whole life cost of ownership, driving down costs, and driving up productivity.
How do you look at the future market for telehandlers in India?
Two key sectors are set to emerge in the coming years: Infrastructure development in Rural India and the creation of world-class Healthcare Infrastructure across the country. We need to revolutionise this sector with world-class on ground healthcare facilities. Hospitals, Institutes, research facilities etc. will need to be scaled up. Schools, colleges, industries will need to be created, while segments like municipal waste, village roads, rural infra are set to grow.
A significant capital allocation, of up to Rs. 5.54 lakh crore in roads and highways, railways, ports, airports, waterways, rural and urban infrastructure, and (most importantly) in healthcare infrastructure has been announced. These projects not only demand the best quality output but will also require work to be done on tight timelines, thus creating a need for specialised, intelligent, and technologically advanced construction equipment. Products such as Telehandlers are best suited for these projects due to their versatility and safety features. They also deliver a combination of value, new digital technology, and world-class quality.
At a national level, an impetus to Roads & Highways, Railways, Irrigation, PMGSY and rural roads, besides large projects like Sagarmala and Bharatmala would drive demand for Construction Equipment. The focus on creating 100 new Airports, Smart Cities, and Metro Rail projects will certainly bring newer opportunities and increased demand for construction equipment.
What is JCB’s commitment to Make-In-India and an Aatmanirbhar Bharat?
The ‘Make in India’ programme was launched six years ago with a focus on making India a manufacturing hub for the world. Today, it has dovetailed into ‘Vocal for Local’ and the ambition to become ‘Atma Nirbhar’ (self-reliant). India will need to be competitive and strong-willed to be able to compete with global players in all aspects of the value chain, including demand and supply. The CE industry has realised the criticality of investing in building world-class infrastructure in the country.
JCB machines have been contributing to the building of world-class infrastructure in the country for over 40 years. The company is focusing on greater adoption of technologies like Telematics, IoT, Big data, and Data Analytics along with Machine Learning. We have five state-of-the-art factories in Delhi-NCR, Pune, and Jaipur – all of which operate on the principle of ‘One Global Quality’. Our Jaipur factory is also a gender diverse facility, with over 30% of the workforce on the shopfloor being women. Our upcoming sixth factory at Vadodara will focus on exports.
Innovation has been the cornerstone of JCB’s operations around the world. Our Design and Innovation centre in Pune is JCB’s largest outside of the UK. Here, we develop exciting and new technologies of the future for both global and domestic projects. Thus, we Innovate, Design, Manufacture, Sell, and Export from India. JCB India has exported our ‘Made in India’ products to over 110 countries.
How strong is JCB’s After-Sales Support?
After-Sales Support is an important deciding factor in the overall buying cycle of a product. The big-ticket infrastructure development projects demand specialised, intelligent and technologically advanced construction equipment, supported by consistent, quick and effective after-sales services in order to achieve the best quality output on tight timelines.
JCB India has a wide distribution network of over 60 dealers and over 700 outlets across India. Since our machines work in far-flung areas, it is imperative that well-connected product support minimises our customers’ machine downtime and maximises their productivity.
Our dealers employ about 8,000 professionally trained personnel across India to provide product support to customers. Furthermore, SmartServe, an internal application for service requirements, service engineers and service jobs, enables our dealers to locate and map the service engineers.
Five strategically set up parts warehouses at Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Guwahati and Bhaproda (Near New Delhi) support the dealers and outlets for parts supplies. Our recently inaugurated 160,000 sq.ft warehouse at Bhaproda is the industry’s largest. The JCB genuine parts application enables customers to order parts of JCB machines on their mobile. As we go ahead, we will continue to invest in smart technologies and bring more innovations for the benefit of our customers and end-users.
Lifting & Specialized Transport July - September 2021
