Sany India's Blueprint for Success
It's been around 15 years since Sany introduced its products in Indian market; how do you see its growth in the emerging market like India where initial investment has been the most important deciding factor besides advance technology and reliability?
Sany group has always been bullish on the Indian market since late 90s. Sany believed that the Indian market offers the perfect synergy in terms of how the group functions in China and the growth opportunities. As a result of the same, Sany decided to start its operations in India in 2002 which is one of the first overseas market it sets its foot.
From 2002 to 2007 Sany's presence in India grew rapidly through its concrete, motor grader and crane business. It was in 2007 that Sany envisioned the dream of the current prime minister of Make in India and set up a plant in Pune with an investment of $100 Million USD which also happens to be Sany 1st overseas plant. This emphasizes Sany believe in the Indian growth story.
The above trust and investment in India has paid off and today Sany India is having a phenomenal journey in India wherein we are offering our world-class products in Crawler Cranes, Truck Mounted Cranes, Excavators, Transit Mixers, Batching plants & ports handling solutions. We are extremely positive of the outlook in the mid to long-term and are committed to stay invested going forward.
What is the impact of present slowdown spell on the company? Has it provided the company an opportunity to fine tune its operations, improve after sale to improve its performance besides equipping itself to face new challenges when the situation improved?
Sany India's sales of construction equipment have fluctuated in the last five years in line with changes in its strategy and fluctuations in the market. Currently, the company is focusing on crawler cranes, truck cranes, excavators, concrete machinery, motor graders, port & wind machinery, whose sales have grown since past few years.
Sany has undertaken adequate changes to its short-term strategies in view of the market dynamics. However, the organization is bullish on the mid and long-term prospects of the Indian economy and its own growth and thus continues to remain invested in new products, dealer development, supplier development & most importantly in creating a highly talented employee based. Sany India today is being positioned as the hub of manufacturing, sourcing, training & development for entire South & South East Asia, Africa & Middle East.
Sany considers quality as one of its top priorities and believes that to stay ahead in the industry it continuously needs to upgrade its products. Therefore, the company invests around 5-7 per cent of its sales revenue every year in research and development activities for achieving this goal.
Sany India has swiftly expanded its marketing and product support network across the country. In addition to its dealer network, it currently employs over 260 persons in marketing, research and development, production, distribution and service.
The Indian Excavator market is quite competitive, how are you performing in this segment being a new entrant?
Sany India started local production of crawler excavators in the beginning of 2012. Since the beginning, we have gradually expanded our excavator product range from 2ton to 75ton. In 2014 & 2015, we launched/introduced two mini excavator models, SY20 and SY40 for sale in the domestic market. We also introduced new models in 24T the SY240, 38T the SY380, 48T the SY480 and 75T the SY750.
The manufacturing plant is fully equipped with the latest machine tools and assembly lines to produce crawler excavators, and truck-mounted and crawler cranes. Along with the fabrication unit, paint shop and assembly lines, the plant also includes an office building, a research and development centre, a training centre and product support facilities.
The company plans to invest an additional Rs 3 billion into the plant and is also developing a network of component suppliers to support increased future levels of production. Once fully operational, this plant may well be used as a regional hub for exports.
What is the strategy behind your growing crawler cranes sales in India in the recent years, even when subdued demand prevails in the sector?
At Sany India, we closely study emerging requirements of the captive users, belonging to the refinery sectors, cement and power plants. Simultaneously, we also study the emerging application needs of the crane rental companies going for long- as well as short-term contracts. Based on this, we offer detailed customization of the products, to suit the needs of the buyers resulting towards growing sales of our units both from end users and rental companies.
Which are the new demand areas where you offer customized solutions? Whatis the approach adapted behind delivering such solutions?
One of the key areas, we're working for customized solutions, is wind mill projects. With government's thrust for developing renewal source of power, major windmill companies like Gamesa, Suzlon, and Vestas are setting up wind farms in a big way. The new wind mills are of 2.5 megawatt (mw) as compared to earlier 1.5 mw and 2.1 mw. To get increased power generation, there are requirements to increase tower heights from 120 meters to 130 meters. Weights of nacelles are also of 80-90 tons. The new generation wind mills are creating demand of 600+ tons crawler cranes which can lift higher loads at greater heights.
To suit the application needs, we have developed SCC 6000 WE, 600 tons crawler crane for the Indian market. The crane is capable of erecting towers height from 120 to 150 meters. It has the capacity to lift 90 tons with fully extended boom. SCC 6000 WE was manufactured following extensive consultation with wind mill manufacturers. Inputs were also collected from major crane rental companies in India like Sethia Erectors, Steel Carriers, Amrik Singh and others on tower heights and loads lifted for the new generation wind mills. Following extensive user interface, the crane is created making it economical and user-friendly. I am proud to say that the first unit will be delivered to rental heavy weight, Amrik Singh this year itself. The product has developed tremendous confidence among other rental companies in India who are in the business of developing wind mill projects and we hope to sell atleast six units by this yearend.
Could you please mention about the technical attributes of SCC 6000 WE?
The crane is suitable to work for 2.1-2.5 mw wind mill projects and 150 meters tower heights. It comes with 126 meters main boom and 12 meters fixed jib movable at 15 degrees. Powered by imported Cummins Engines, SCC 6000 WE has 40 tons rear counter weight and 250 tons super lift counterweight. One of the competitive attributes of the crane is its compactness and ease of assembling and disassembling. The other competitive feature of the crane is that it can work at 17 degrees gradient. Based on the usually weak ground conditions prevailing at windmill sites, the gross weight of the crane is only 450 tons. The other advantages are its ease of transportation. The crane can be transported in total twenty two open trailers, with only one low bed trailer, as compared to 26 trailers cutting down cost of transportation.
With rising requirements of other higher capacity crawler cranes, how are you positioned to take on the same?
With delivery schedules between 4-6 months post placement of orders, Sany India is completely well positioned to take on the demand of higher capacity crawler cranes based on our wide product range in the category above 600 tons as well. This comprises SCC 7500(750 tons), SCC 10,000 (1000 tons), and SCC 1600(3,600 tons). The demand of 750 tons class crawler units is growing in the Indian market. We are closely studying the demand trend and usage pattern, following which we will have interface with captive customers and rental companies for product customization.
How do you see the market of truck mounted cranes?
From this segment, we're getting very good response. Our locally manufactured STC 250, 25 tons truck cranes has gained much popularity ever since its launch and we're expecting to sell total 50 units by the end of this year. Besides, our SPC 300, 30 tons truck mounted fixed telescopic boom crane and STC- 800, 80 tons truck crane are also finding growing acceptance from hiring companies. Strengthening our portfolio, we're in process of developing 45 tons truck cranes which is likely to be launched soon.
What is your focus on the customer support services?
We're focusing on arranging finance for the new cranes, which is currently a big issue, by convincing financiers and arranging their meeting with project developers. That apart, our focus is also on imparting training to the customer's operators and ensuring appropriate maintenance and timely parts support.
How is the company strengthening its pan India product distribution channels? What are the systems placed in the company to ensure fast track supply of products, their spares and related technical services? What about vendor base?
Sany India, with its head office in Chakan near Pune, is supported by 7 regional offices, which are located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Apart from these, the company has 8 branch offices at Bhopal, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune, Raipur and Guwahati.
Sany India has a main warehouse for spare parts in Pune which feeds the other regional warehouses located at Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi, which in turn supply spare parts to dealers and customers. In addition, it has also established a warehouse at Jamnagar, Gujarat to cater to the significant demand expected from the upcoming Reliance refinery project.
The company currently has a distribution network of 21 dealers, which is expected to increase to 25 in the near future. These dealers have more than 50 sales and service outlets located across the country.
NBM&CW October 2015
