CASE India Despite Slowdown Maintains A Strong Market Share and Performance
It’s now 25 years since Case introduced its products in the Indian market. How do you correlate this long journey with CE sector’s growth in terms of technological advancement as well as mechanization? Do you feel that India still has to go a long way to utilize equipment potential to its fullest?
CE sector in India is still growing and maturing along the way. Over the past three decades, the nature of work execution has moved increasingly from manual labour towards greater mechanization in India. CASE Construction has been a major contributor in this drive towards greater efficiency and productivity of resources in India.
Over the last 25 years, CASE India has maintained a leadership position in the Indian subcontinent riding on extraordinary customer connect and support. With worldwide investment in Research & Development to the tune of $1100 M in 2014, CASE has been showing a similar intent in its India operations as well. As a part of our product portfolio enhancement and technological advancement, we introduce machines with high fuel efficiency, performance, comfort and reliability.
Our new Range of CASE EX Series of Loader Backhoe in 76/86/96 HP with Fiat Powertrain Technologies, engines are highly fuel efficient and reliable. We have also increased the cabin space for the operator by approximately 36% enabling better operator comfort and higher productivity. The ergonomics of components have also been improved making them more accessible and the machine easily serviceable.
As India is increasing her economic might to get a larger imprint on the world map, the major impact will come from the Infrastructure sector. This shall have a direct impact on the Construction Equipment Industry. Today, India contributes nearly 5% of the global CE industry which has a huge potential to grow over the next couple of decades.
Calendar year is about to be wrapped up; what are the important emerging business performance trends of CASE India? Based on its strong technical and economic fundamentals, what would define company’s growth in the near or distant future in the difficult and comfortable times?
In a tough CE industry environment where the market has shrunk almost 40% over the last 4 years, CASE Construction has been able to maintain a strong market share and performance. The leadership in the Road Equipment sector continues where almost one third of all Vibratory Compactors sold in India are from the CASE stable. On the Loader Backhoe segment also we have further strengthened our market share to remain a top tier player in India. The contributing factor for the growth in this segment was continuous upgrade & technological advancement provided by CASE Construction to its customers.
CASE Construction views India with great hope and promise. Despite a shrinking industry in past few years, CASE Construction has not shied away from increasing the investment in R&D, Manufacturing Processes and Distribution Channel to prepare itself for the imminent growth wave. For an organization which has sustained itself for over 173 years globally, the growth in India is a natural extension of our pervasive leadership.
Road & Highways sector looks promising in the coming years and developers are looking for productive and reliable machines; how is CASE positioning its equipment to serve this sector?
With the focus of new government on swift execution of infrastructure development primarily led by road projects, builders and contractors are under pressure to expedite the construction activities. To fulfill this demand, the project owners will have to focus on technologically superior products which offer a higher productivity while still maintaining higher operator comfort, easy serviceability, and low operating cost. CASE continues to address this ever evolving need by offering the most advanced road construction equipment lineup in India.
Quite naturally CASE has maintained the leadership position in the Vibratory Compactor segment which forms the lifeline of any road construction activity. We have recently repowered the market leading 752 tandem vibratory compactor with a water cooled engine and have launched the upgraded version of the Soil Vibratory compactor, the 1107DX, in three variants – standard, drum drive, and pad foot. This has resulted in further strengthening of our position in this segment.
Another critical equipment needed in road projects is a motor grader, of which so far the technology available in India was not upto the international standards. CASE Construction realized this need gap and to address this, we have recently launched the globally renowned CASE Motor Graders in India. The initial response has been fantastic and the product features have been extremely appreciated by our discerning clientele in India.
Case Graders are the best available machinery in their class and are engineered to give a very long product life. Equipment uptime is one of the major factors that customers consider while deciding on the machine. Time bound projects need reliable machines and considering that CASE’s graders feature an FPT Industrial 6.7-liter engine with triple horsepower ranges on the 865B model and dual horsepower on the 845B to match the power requirements of various applications and deliver optimum fuel efficiency.
What are the technical attributes of your Motor graders that offer better working experience?
Maximum productivity – Unique moldboard design that provides mixing effect that does not push the material on ground but rolls it, along with VHP (150-173 HP) gives a unique mix of power and fuel efficiency.
Optimise fuel efficiency - The grader is equipped with variable horse power FPT engine renowned for its fuel efficiency worldwide. The grader is offered with an Automatic ZF Transmission. The machine has a multi Curvature Mouldboard which reduces the resistance coming on the Engine and hence reduces the fuel consumption.
Operators comfort - visibility & safety aspects- For better control, the graders are equipped with a forward-mounted articulation joint and rear-mounted cab, giving operators a Clear sense of direction and excellent moldboard visibility from the operator’s cabin.
Structural Stability and Ease of Maintenance - The motor graders feature a flip-up hood for easy engine compartment access. The machine design also incorporates the Case hallmark ground-level access to daily service checkpoints for quick and efficient maintenance.
Tracking and monitoring tech - The unique trip meter on the operator dashboard continuously monitors the fuel consumption, hours operated & operating temperatures. The dashboard has electronic indicators for any safety related or operation related parameters. Based on customer requirement a customized GPS solution, “Eagle Eye” can also be installed on the machine as an additional feature.
Productivity, fuel efficiency, operators’ safety, and comfort are few selection criteria now a days when one chooses a compactor, but still initial investment plays a big role. How does Case India manage both ends to maintain its leadership in road compactor segment?
CASE India has consistently remained a market leader in the Vibratory Compactor segment and the only company to have sold over 7,500 units in India. The 1107DX is the result of research and development carried out together with customers, operators, and civil engineers’ feedbacks which got good acceptance from the market. CASE Construction Equipment takes pride in providing the most robust, reliable, and innovative machines to meet its customers’ mechanization needs. Initial investment does play a critical role but nowadays customers are also seeking for value in the product.
Productivity & Fuel efficiency
- Advanced engine and hydraulics - The Case compactors are equipped with engines that deliver excellent fuel efficiency and add to the machine’s durability. In Case, currently the engines used in Vibratory Compactors comply with BS III emission norms.
- Design of air filters / fuel filters - The engine used in Vibratory compactors are also equipped with turbocharger waste gate control mechanisms. Engines are equipped with Internal Exhaust Gas Recirculation System (IEGRS) to minimise the Emissions (like Nitrogen Oxides and Hydro Carbons) to protect the environment.
The 90 degree clockwise rotating seat and the operator platform isolated from vibration has been made for smooth and comfortable operation. The wrap-around railing contributes to better operator safety.
Operator comfort - The productivity is not only achieved by machine alone but also by the operator skills. In CASE, we strongly believe that if the operator is relaxed while operating the machine, he will deliver better output. In CASE, we have lowered the sound level in our equipment which enhances operator comfort and indirectly increases productivity.
Intelligent compaction is talk of the day but we still find it not very much in use. Is the initial cost deterrent or its benefits are not fully understood by the end users? Is Case offering these systems in its compactors?
The equipment used in small scale projects are selected by contractors. Hence the recommendation and acceptance of intelligent compaction systems has to come from the contractor fraternity, who has to educate themselves and get to understand the advantages this technology offers.
IC is technological innovation with several advantages over conventional compaction technologies. However, it being still at a nascent stage, suffers from lack of adequate knowledge among engineers and is costlier than conventional compactors.
In IC, the system automatically generates reports on temperature of the strata and the number of passes. In CASE, we also provide this system along with our machines as an optional attachment.
With government’s current focus on strengthening infra development in the NE state; what would be company’s strategy to expand, upgrade its product range to serve the infra needs of NE states?
North East India holds tremendous potential for the construction equipment industry with planned investments in excess of `60,000crore ($10 bn) towards infrastructure development.
The people of North East India have always been extremely appreciative of the products and technology offered by CASE India. We also reciprocate this trust by remaining extremely responsive to the needs of our discerning customers there. As a step in this direction, we launched 851EX Loader Backhoe in the 96 HP categories with our own market leading Fiat Powertrain engine intended to suit the requirements of our customers in the mountainous terrain with the first sale in the state of Assam. On our 25th year in India, we during ConMac, Guwahati, introduced our own branded Rockbreaker and trenching bucket, which have been a growing demand from our customers in this part of the country.
To prepare ourselves for the increasing rural demand, we have further extended our dedicated and strong Dealer Network including branches with trained service engineers. This shall facilitate a much superior sales and after sales support experience to our valued customers. With a mission to increase customer’s profitability through lowest machine downtime, resulting from service, spares, workshop and personal attention support of our customers; the entire product range has been suitably upgraded with relevant features.
What are Case India’s plans to participate in the 8th edition of Excon to be held at Bangalore during November this year? What would be the focus of company projection in this mega CE show?
Excon continues to remain the most anticipated and sought after event in the CE industry of entire South Asia. This edition could prove to be even more special as the industry anticipates this to mark the revival of the Indian CE industry fortunes after a hiatus of past 4 years of continued decline.
With an objective to bring quality infrastructure, the government has taken several initiatives like Smart Cities, Make in India, Swachh Bharat, National Highway Projects, and Rural road flagship schemes. All these collectively bring a positive outlook to infrastructure industry in general and construction equipment industry in particular. Participation in Excon 2015 will reaffirm the confidence of all the major CE players and the associated companies in the Indian infrastructure space towards the long-term growth story of India.
In celebrating its successful run in India for the 25th year, CASE will showcase its entire gamut of products being currently offered in India.
NBM&CW November 2015
