Kelley's Core Competencies lies in Innovation, Quality and Superior Engineering
What are your plans for the forthcoming edition of Excon? Could you please tell us about the products along with their technical features that Kelley is going to display at the show?
This is the first time Kelley India will be participating in EXCON at Bengaluru. Kelley® will also be the Associate Sponsor of EXCON-2015 and we shall be displaying our latest product offerings in indoor Hall No.1. The visitors will get an opportunity to see the live demonstration of technologically most advanced Kelley Dock Levelers and big HVLS Fans. These machines are manufactured in our US factories and will be the same what is being offered to rest of the world including USA, presently.
The dock leveler works as a bridge between trucks of various sizes and the facility (both factories and warehouses).The forklift or hand pallet truck can comfortably move over it to stuff or de-stuff a container or a truck at inbound and outbound logistics' area. We shall also display our huge HVLS (High Volume Low Speed) Fan. This single fan can cover an area of up to 30,000 square feet and still almost noiseless. These products have been designed to cater to 5 most critical aspects, i.e. Productivity/Comfort to Workmen, Safety, Reliability, Operational Ease, and Cost of Ownership.
A few words about Kelley's global presence. What is its core competency and strengths?
As the creator of the world's first dock leveler in the 1950s in USA, Kelley has spent the last 60 years, pioneering the material handling industry and providing companies with a variety of products to meet their individual facility needs. Kelley® is the brand owned by 4Front Engineered Solutions headquartered at Dallas, Texas, USA and offers a wide range of loading dock equipment and warehouse products to companies worldwide. Kelley has the broadest line of pit style and specialty dock levelers as well as dock seals and shelters to fit all size door openings and applications. Kelley's core competencies are born out of a rich history of innovation, quality, and superior engineering and a number of industry firsts. All these years, Kelley has strived to manufacture dock equipment that makes the workplace safer, more productive, and more energy-efficient. Today, Kelley's product offering extends beyond loading dock equipment including energy saving big HVLS Fans (High Volume and Low Speed Fans) for warehousing and manufacturing facilities.
Today, hundreds of thousands of Kelley products are working globally in almost all continents served by our local subsidiary companies or distributors.
What all comprises your complete products range available in the Indian market? What about the inbuilt features of your products for energy efficiency?
Kelley India offers a full line of dock equipment and warehouse products to companies in India. This line-up of products includes HVLS fans, dock levelers, vehicle restraints, dock seals, dock shelters and impact resistant overhead doors products – all aimed at providing customers the highest quality dependable products and the lowest cost of ownership available in the industry. Hundreds of Kelley products are already installed at customer locations in nearly most Indian states.
Kelley HVLS fans are available in the size range of 8' to 24' diameter fitted with up to 2hp motor and fan mounted Variable Frequency Drive (VFD), which allows them to operate at one of the lowest noise and energy consumption levels. The 2-3 mph breeze breaks the moisture saturated boundary layer on the skin equivalent of 4oF to 7oF reduction in the perceived temperature to keep employees comfortable. The single Kelley HVLS big fan can cover a facility area of up to 30,000 square feet depending upon various site conditions –no need to maintain large number of wall-mounted noisy fans consuming more electricity.
Energy Guard™ is an innovative design that closes off the gaps between the dock leveler and concrete pit walls at the inbound/out-bound logistics on the loading docks. Energy Guard™ prevents the mass flow of air, minimizing the transfer of heat and energy into and out of the facility. Energy Guard™ can be factory installed on new Kelley levelers or outfitted on most of the existing pit-style dock levelers. Kelley's dock shelters and seals provide complete protection from dust, insects and energy wastage. The fully impactable TKO dock doors mount the seals to the door panels rather than on the door jamb, keeping it safe from damage during loading and ensuring a consistent, compression seal around the door. The industrial and warehousing customer in India understands the need of the technology, which is energy-efficient and still gives more productivity. The hot Indian weather and increased sizes of the manufacturing / warehousing facilities now adds to the challenges and puts the pressure back on energy requirements. The Kelley HVLS fans and air-powered dock levelers are so very popular in US and Europe over the last two decades due to these very advantages. We are very excited to see its growing popularity in Indian market also over last few years.
How do you see Indian market for your products and their growth prospects? What are the driving factors, according to you, that will lead the market to new heights?
Kelley supplies warehouse products and dock equipment to the largest warehousing and manufacturing companies in the world. Kelley has established a positive reputation with these companies as a result of consistent technological advancements, impeccable Quality and a commitment to the customer service. The list of customers (both manufacturing and warehousing sectors) in India also includes: Tetrapak, ZF, Kobelco, Indo Space Rohan, Reliance, Walmart, AO Smith, MJ Logistics, Semco, Eicher, Daimler, Alstom etc.
Our worldwide customers include Coca-Cola, Costco, Pepsico, Mercedes, Honda, Walmart, UPS, Dell, Target, Toyota, General Motors, Costco, and hundreds of 3PL providers, developers, architects, and construction firms.
How is Kelley looking to strengthen its presence in India? Are your products and services in sync with the present demand requirement?
The key objective of a smart warehouse and lean manufacturing facility is the smooth and trouble free movement of materials and vehicles. The working environment equally plays an important role to increase the productivity of such facilities. By virtue of its most advanced product features, reliability and the lowest cost of ownership, Kelley has been very strong in manufacturing and warehousing sector. We are very excited to see the growing popularity of Kelley brand in the single and multi-brand retail outlets in India too. With great amount of confidence, I can mention that our industry might like to benchmark with Kelley's product support. Our products are throwing a great amount of opportunity to our served industries to bridge the gap between inadequate practices to best practices, which is equally applicable to our customers for dock levelers and HVLS fans too. Hence, it is very important that our potential new clients are engaged with Kelley team at the inception stage to ensure "RFT"– the right first time.
Indian market is highly price sensitive. How Kelley ensures price compatibility for higher adaptability of its products? Is there any plan for localization?
Traditionally, Indian warehouses were considered as cost centers, which are increasingly being seen as growth centers now. The way land prices are going high and docking areas contribute to around 30% space of a warehousing or manufacturing facilities, the primary objective of any business house continues to create wealth, and create in a manner that is sustainable, innovative, ethical, and inclusive. This gives companies like Kelley an opportunity to grow manifolds in even short to medium term. While competition is always a factor to consider, 4FrontES and Kelley recognize the importance of the India market and how distribution within the country has, and will continue to experience significant growth. As logistics and distribution expands, so will be the need for the diversified and value-added products offered by Kelley Material Handling India. For over 60 years, Kelley products have set the global standard for quality, safety, and the lowest lifetime cost of ownership. So our strategy is to support that reputation within India with the highest levels of product application, installation, and post-sale support. People who know us prefer to remain with us.
Kelley operates seven production facilities in USA, Mexico and Canada with acumulative square footage of nearly 600,000 sq. ft. Kelley Material Handling Equipment India is currently investigating the prospect of producing products in India.
What about the after sales services?
Kelley's major focus is the total customer satisfaction and I personally monitor each customer, in terms of their service needs and action taken from our end. We have central warehouse in Mumbai where we stock all equipment and spare parts to ensure that all such requirements are catered to in the fastest way. Our target of response time and turnaround time to customer call is one day. Our team of branch offices in NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai, supported by dealer network in various other states are geared up to achieve this ambitious target. Kelley enjoys a very healthy repeat business from its existing customers, which also serves as good reference…
NBM&CW November 2015
