Tata Hitachi

Sandeep Singh, Managing Director

“The star attraction for Tata Hitachi at bauma CONEXPO INDIA 2018, was the launch of the all-new backhoe loader ‘Tata Hitachi Shinrai’. Also demonstrated advanced technology with our new Super+ series of hydraulic excavators, the ZAXIS GI series of excavators, mini hydraulic excavators and hydrostatic wheel loaders.”

There will be continuous increase in investment in infra development over the next few years, hence, demand for construction equipment will be sustained in the near term.

The government has laid down a road map of activity in roads under the umbrella of Bharatmala and for port led development under Sagarmala with clear timelines and investment required. Daily execution of road construction has moved up from around 23km/day in 2016-17 to 27km/day in 2017-18. There is a focus on increasing track capacity under railways and expansion under DFC, inland waterways, industrial area development under DMIC, rural connectivity, low cost housing and Smart Cities.

The government has been allocating adequate funds in the budgets for faster execution of projects. This has been further boosted by the recent success of the ToT bid for national highways developed under EPC. All these have been driving demand for construction equipment.

Having said this, there is new emission regulation for wheeled equipment kicking in, in Oct 2020. This will increase the price of machines by a significant amount, and hence, there could be some impact on the growth of the industry, before we recommence the growth trajectory.

2018 has been very good for Tata Hitachi and we continue to grow along with the market.

Our new backhoe loader Shinrai has been received very well by the market and we are seeing good traction in the areas where it has been introduced. Our fuel-efficient hydrostatic wheel loader TL340H is seeing faster sales than the market growth. We continue to add incremental capacities at our Dharwad and Kharagpur facilities to cater to the growing market requirements.

We continue to monitor and evaluate our sales network of our dealers and have covered most of the territories in the country. Depending on evolving customer demands, we will continue to add to the network to come closer to the customer to ensure availability of our machines, service and spares support.

We have developed experience zones at our dealers for customers to get a complete experience of our machines.

We launched the new backhoe loader in July 2018 and will introduce it in other regions in a phased manner, and will ramp up production accordingly. We are first making sure that the support system at our dealers is in place before we launch the machine in their areas.

We have developed experience zones at our dealers, especially for Shinrai, so that the customer can get a complete experience of what the machine can offer in a single place in a digital environment. Our sales & marketing teams are ensuring a seamless launch and introduction in all these markets.

Our products, value-added services and support have built customers’ confidence in Tata Hitachi machines - be it in new condition or as a used equipment - over its lifetime.

Tata Hitachi brought in the ZAXIS GI series of excavators, capable of delivering high performance, comfort / aesthetics to operator with cutting edge technologies of a fuel-efficient Isuzu engine, HIOS hydraulics and CONSITE platform with telematics from Hitachi, and adapted to tough Indian operating conditions. We have upgraded the 20T EX Super to Super+ series of excavators; it offers low-cost operation for retail customers, hirers and first-time buyers, with its fuel saving features and ease and lower cost of maintenance with long service intervals.

Special focus is laid on adequate stocking of spare parts and for fast availability of spares. Telematics is offered under Insite to relay all the important machine related information to the customer. Tata Hitachi is running operator training schools in Dharwad and Kharagpur, accredited by IESC.

The company has been a leader in customized machines and attachments and was one of the first to offer shovel version on its 10T and 20T excavators, specifically for tunneling application. It offers a range of rock breakers, quick couplers, grabs, magnet attachment, elevated cab, long reach attachment and drills.

Familiarization of IoT features by users/operators is an emerging subject and the skill sets to adopt them is a challenge.

With the world going increasingly digital, customers want to have information access about the machine that includes utilization, servicing status, location, and health. Therefore, digital integration through various brand names have been introduced by manufacturers that gives the machine’s status to the customer.

Tata Hitachi’s ZAXIS GI series of machines come with inbuilt features like CONSITE – based on the IoT platform – to enhance the efficiency of the equipment and make real-time data available to the customer to improve performance of the equipment.

However, OEMs are facing challenges in making the system useful to customers. These IoT systems use telematics to communicate to the company server for centrally aggregating of the data for the customer. While India has a wide mobile network, there are some areas that are not covered by the network or have patchy coverage. This leads to delay / bunching of data for communication from the machine. Therefore, the customer sees a dated data of the machine or will not have the current status of the machines.

In view of the volatility in Indian currency, we are taking several steps, including indigenization to control costs.

To minimize the impact of currency volatility, we are improving the quality of our machines, components and enhancing production efficiency to reduce the overall cost of operations. We are also doing long-term planning and procurement of imported aggregates, and we continue to explore further indigenization to control costs.

We ensure equipment availability so that customers can maximize use of their machines and contribute to the bottom-line of their business.

The first step is understanding the requirements of customers, forecasting the machine requirement, and advance planning for production of the right machines at the right time. To ensure the up-time availability of the equipment working at site, we have a comprehensive range of support solutions such as Annual Service Contracts, Annual Maintenance Contracts, and Extended Warranty, etc., to maximize the customer’s ROI by optimizing equipment utilization. For our Mining customers, we have Full Maintenance contracts through which our customers can avail complete onsite management of machinery. Our service engineers are placed onsite; we store spare parts on-site; and have a fully equipped workshop to address all customer requirements.

We prioritize our outreach to customers through a strong distribution network that aids in the servicing and selling of products. Our vast network includes a marketing head office, regional offices, branch offices and dealerships across the length and breadth of the country.

Our newly launched CONSITE is a next-generation service solution that utilizes Information Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver monthly and summary reports to customers that give an overview of the operation of all the fleet owner’s machines, and detailed information on individual machines. Customer education programs are conducted to help them infer the data and take necessary measures to improve site efficiency, and, thereby, profitability.

Our consistent growth is due to our ability to understand customer needs and provide them the necessary equipment and support solutions to increase their profitability and competitiveness.

It is a well-known tenet that success in branding is not just a matter of standing for something different, but ensuring that this difference is in tune with what consumers really want or need. As we all know, difference without relevance does not work well for brands. Therefore, our aim at Tata Hitachi is to create a differentiated brand in the marketplace – one in which all products are, more or less, at par – by delighting customers through a positive experience that goes way beyond a transactional one.

The three guiding principles at Tata Hitachi are: i) right machine at right time: improve the sales forecast and achieve level production to combat lengthy waiting periods; ii) Fix it right, first time: Improve response to customer complaints; and iii) build an organization that has quality at the core of everything. We believe with a strict adherence to these principles we can create customer delight and prevent brand substitution in the marketplace.

Our customer-centric approach and commitment to continuous innovation in partnership with Hitachi, ensures that we are up to speed with the latest technology in the machines and services we launch.

We have a full range of Construction and Mining equipment. Most of our models are manufactured in India, while some are imported from the Hitachi network. We offer 2 to 40-ton Hydraulic Excavators for the Infrastructure sector, 45 to 120 tons for the Mining sector, and the ultra large 190 to 800-ton excavators for specialized heavy-duty mining.

Today, customers are also looking for either customized machines or with various attachments for specific applications. We have introduced machines that can have attachments such as Rock breakers of various capacities, long reach attachments, amphibious undercarriage, drills etc. We are also now in the Used Equipment market with our Value+ range of certified used equipment so that customers have access to good quality equipment that adds value to their business.

Among SAARC markets, Nepal and Bangladesh look promising for exports, at present.

Tata Hitachi is exporting in two ways: in SAARC countries and through the Hitachi network. We have been strengthening our dealers in SAARC, and we have a dedicated export vertical. Our wide range of products in India is available for our SAARC customers, which gives us a competitive edge. Our dealers are also expanding and adding more touchpoints in the form of 2S & 3S centers.