Jungheinrich: Customizing Solutions for India

The Indian market is becoming more competitive and more players are coming in; it’s a challenge and also an opportunity for the industry to grow and upgrade, avers Manojit Acharya, MD, Jungheinrich India, during an interview with Maria R.

What are your views on the Indian warehousing, logistic and material handling industry?

With the warehousing and logistics sector picking up in India, the use of basic equipment is being gradually replaced by the next level of more advanced equipment. Warehouses are growing vertically now, so more racking systems are being introduced, and these need equipment like stackers and forklifts.

Going forward, customers will go for equipment such as reach trucks and double deep reach trucks. And those who already have these, are now looking towards automation and autonomous solutions. So, the entire value chain is moving up.

One of the key challenges we see is technology vis-à-vis its high cost. At our factory in China we are working on developing models specifically for the Indian market and are the most apt for the application requirements, rather than loading them with new features, which are anyways not of much use for customers in India.

What solutions does Jungheinrich offer to the Indian market?

Jungheinrich offers total integrated solutions starting from the loading/unloading bay till the storage area and vice versa. Our product portfolio offers quality and reliability. Our comprehensive solutions can address all logistical challenges faced by companies in various industries. We offer the most cost-effective products, systems and services for our customers, irrespective of their industry or business size.

In fact, Jungheinrich offers the entire range of products and solutions required for any kind of warehousing set-up, starting from manual hand pallet trucks to complete automation of warehouses up to maximum height of 44meters, including racks, ASRS system, AGVs, warehouse automation software, etc.


What is the company’s core strength/USP that differentiates it from the competitors?

We are the technology leaders in the global material handling equipment market. We offer technologies that are particularly suited for the market. Safety, reliability and productivity are the basic attributes of our products. More importantly, features such as residual capacities at certain heights and battery technology are our core strengths. We are pioneers in Li-ion battery technology which we introduced in 2011. In India, we introduced our Li-ion battery operated lift trucks last year, and have sold more than 100 such trucks in the country, so far.

What are your expansion plans for India?

We have seen consistent growth during the past few years with increasing acceptance of our technology and products. We have invested in bringing global products and practices in the MHE market and have launched products customized for the Indian market. Today, we are selling new material handling equipment, renting them out, and are also dealing in used equipment, which we refurbish to the highest standards of safety and sustainability.

We are traditionally a direct selling company, but this does not stop us from choosing channel partners at certain locations or regions in India, if needed. However, we prefer to retain the service part with us as we want to ensure quality service to our customers.

We will expand by setting up more warehouses. We have started a warehouse in Bengaluru to cater to the southern part of the country, and by the year-end, we will set up another in the northern region. These warehouses will majorly focus on making spare parts accessible to customers faster so that they do not have to face downtimes of their machines.