Led by present focus on Infrastructure development in the country and the need for advanced CE products and services; what would be the new technical features in concrete equipment solutions dictating the demand and how SSIPL is gearing up?
The Indian construction industry has been on a high growth trajectory for more than a decade, led by buoyancy in sectors such as real estate and infrastructure. The industry has witnessed continuous modernization and adoption of new technologies in recent years. The union budget 2010–11 has allocated $36.16 billion to the infrastructure sector, reflecting the government of India's strong focus on the development of country's infrastructure.
As the world’s leading Systems Company for concrete construction machines, Schwing Stetter has come out with numerous new and further development in all product areas of ready-mix concrete technology: concrete mixing equipment, truck mixers and concrete pumps as well as placing booms.
The new Schwing stationary concrete pump is specially designed for large European-type construction sites. Based on the forward-looking design of the modern plastic casing, it is entirely in line with the Go-green initiative since the significant weight savings lead to substantially lower fuel consumption during transport. This product comes dovetailed with a noise abatement system and a display, which provides all current operating data like engine speed, hydraulic pressure and stroke, is impressive. The control system can be enhanced with a Bluetooth remote control.
In addition to the modern products line of Schwing, separate placing booms, the company now presents the new separate SPB 32 placing boom. This flexible four-section placing boom is a genuine wonder in tight spaces due to its roll-and-fold capability. The simple assembly and many other details make this productline especially attractive for users and site managers.
What is the current size and growth rate of concrete equipment market? Will it remain stable for next 2 - 3 years? What market share does SSIPL enjoy today and its projection for next 3 - 4 years?
It is one of the fastest growing segments driven by huge infrastructure development to meet country’s increasing demands.
The industry has experienced sudden slowdown due to the global economic recession. Though the infra-projects under the public sector were on move, the projects being implemented by private players felt the heat.
However, the worst is over and the industry is gradually picking-up. Backed by the huge emphasis in public and private sector infrastructure developments in India, the construction equipment segment is determined to grow at a much rapid pace. The government has increased investments in urban infrastructure development, national highways, railways expansion, airports and ports. Encouraging PPP model together with all these initiatives is a big boost to the industry.
As one of the earliest players in the Indian construction equipment sector, we enjoy a majority market share of 75% in this segment. We are also associated with a few key projects, recently. We have been recognized internationally for the world record set by us in pumping concrete vertically up to a record height of 715 meters for the Parbati Hydro-electric project in Suind village, Himachal Pradesh. The project is being implemented by the National Hydro-electric Corporation.
Awarded to Jaypee Infrastructure, the Yamuna Expressway Project is a six-lane highway with a total length of about 166 kms, between Greater Noida and Agra. C&C Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and M/S Oriental Structural Engineering are the respective sub-contractors. Three H6N plants from SSIPL are stationed at Dankaur and Jewar, while 2 H6N plants are placed in Agra and Mathura.
What is the market response of SSIPL’s new mobile plant and new trailer mounted stationary pump and their successful application areas?
SSIPL has launched its new SP2880 and SP8800 trailer mounted stationery concrete pumps for the Indian construction sector. The newly launched high capacity concrete pumps are capable of pumping concrete to 200–500 meters in highrise construction projects and much suitable for dam projects. The pumps have proven our worth in construction of the Petronas towers in Malaysia and other highrise constructions globally. With the introduction of these high capacity pumps, we are now in such a position where we can provide solutions to any highrise construction in India. SP8800 has a maximum theoretical output of 94/63 cu m/hr whereas SP 2800 comes with a maximum theoretical output of 101/58 cu m/hr.
Concrete equipment rental trend is picking up fast in the country. In the days to come; how would SSIPL like to play in this emerging business area?
Today, with the booming economy, the industries are in buoyant shape and many epic construction projects being undertaken by marquee players are driving the demand for high quality construction equipment, as the world’s pioneers in the manufacturing of construction concreting equipment, we offer a comprehensive package of concreting equipment from ground up. With ambitious players commissioning mammoth scale projects in the IT sector, Real Estate and construction generate a lion’s share of demand for our ready mix concreting equipment. Our hi-tech concreting products are completely digitized and are the most sought after to complete time constrained projects. These players come to us to deliver the projects on time. In India, we are the only player to offer a composite package of concreting equipment from manufac- turing to customer services and training.
A word about SSIPL’s dedicated training Centre and its achievements in the recent past.
SSIPL has a dedicated training centre to impart primary and advanced training. The challenge of skilled manpower is something that the entire sector is facing, as a whole. As in other sectors, it is imperative for us to identify the right talent and also retain them. Having realized this earlier, we set up an exclusive training centre in 2004 with lecture halls that have the capacity to train upto 125 persons at a time. The facility can also provide computer-based training programs with audio visual aids, and is equipped with a full-fledged technical library, a cut model display area, a cafeteria and locker facilities for the trainees. The training centre imparts primary and advanced courses on Operation and Maintenance, courses on safety and machine-owner courses on SSI products. These help the owners derive the best benefits from our equipment, the operators, maintenance personnel, supervisors and managers of the customers.
We conduct regular short-term training courses for customer’s operators and also for our own service engineers by inviting faculties from our major component suppliers. SSI, along with CII, also offers operator training courses for operation of Batching Plants and Concrete Pumps. Most of the candidates enrolling for these courses get employment offers even before completion of the courses.
We have been awarded for ‘The best customer training’ by Frost and Sulivan.
For CE sector, the year started with good demand indications but in the last three four months, the scenario seems to be changing. Given the macro and micro headwinds, do you think that situation is likely to improve in the near future or the companies would be forced to change their business models and options?
The construction industry is the major backbone for the economic growth of the country and is a huge revenue generator for the country and the health of the construction industry is highly contingent on the upbeat market climate of the IT industry. We were one of the major victims of the global recession but survived it with great flair and fortitude.
What are 'Schwing Stetter' plans to participate in the forthcoming mega event of Excon2011 and expected new products and services to be showcased?
Excon is an excellent opportunity to meet existing and new customers to showcase our new products & strengths and most importantly, we get excellent first-hand feedback about our products and industry. At Excon 2011, we will launch several new products targeting everyone from small customers to large corporate across various segments. One can expect us to demonstrate the next level of mechanization of concreting.
Durng the show, we will display our two new products i.e., S20 boom pump and CP30 batching plant.
The Schwing special banana outriggers give it a very small working footprint which is another advantage in construction sites. The generous storage space allows the users to store various accessories and the light-weight structure helps save fuel. The higher capacity oil-cooler, optional large water tank and high capacity splitter-gearbox makes mounting of large and powerful hydraulic pumps possible. As with all Schwing pumps, the S20 operates in a proved open circuit which saves costs in the long run. The rock valve can pump the harshest concrete and leads to higher pumping capacities with lesser fuel consumption.
Pre-casting is still in a nascent stage in India and will increase in the coming years, so Schwing Stetter has launched the CP30 with a planetary mixer to cater to this segment.The CP30 is one of India’s favourite batching plants and has been tested in the most rugged conditions. The addition of the planetary pan mixture will increase the value of this plant. Now optional galvanizing is also available, the galvanized structure reduces corrosion and wear and tear of the plant increasing its life.
