What are Volvo Penta's important business areas for power systems?
Volvo Penta is one of the worlds leading producers of industrial and marine engines. The company has over a million units operating in more than 180 markets worldwide. Volvo Penta has a significant presence in India and is operating in India for more than a decade based out of Bangalore, Supplying engines for Genset, Versatile and Marine applications. Some of the applications where Volvo Penta engines have been used in great numbers are for power generation, material handling equipments like cranes, forklift, terminal tractors, container handling and other port equipments, concrete pumps, dewatering pumps, leisure boats, work boats, RIBS, patrol boats, offshore supply vessels, barges and much more.
A word about Volvo Penta's manufacturing facilities and product range. Also tell us in brief about the important resource efficient products and services introduced during the last two years.
Volvo Penta together with Volvo group is continuously striving to develop high performance products that meet or exceed global emissions standards. At present company has introduced two technology engines that will be equipped EGR – DPF (Exhaust Gas Recirculation – Diesel Particulate Filter) and the other SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) to meet Stage IIIA/Tier 3 to Stage IIIB/Tier 4i emission norms. These technologies are cleaner, cost competitive, lower fuel consumption, Ease of installation, After treatment with no need of regeneration and No added heat rejection.
Volvo Penta's focus on safety and environment is well known–what are the important pro-active measures placed in the company to ensure safety, energy and material conservation and controlling emission limits?
The company's commitment is to develop high performance products that meet or exceed global emissions standards, while combining the Volvo core values of environmental care, quality and safety with reliability, durability and lowest cost of operation.
All Volvo Penta manufacturing facilities are certified in accordance with ISO 14001. All major suppliers are also ISO 14001 certified and 96% of employees at our manufacturing facilities work in accordance with ISO 14001. All our products irrespective of the market demands, we have always produced environment certified products, and have been always ahead of the legislative requirements.
Our factory in Belgium is the first CO2 neutral automotive factory in the world. We are reducing energy consumption by 50% per unit produced by doubling the utilization of carbon- neutral energy and by phasing out all oil and coal used to heat facilities.
Already we are in the process of developing new technology engines to meet Euro VI emission norms. We will meet the standards ahead before the new legislation takes place.
Your company's novel YDO & TCO has been an interesting concept–what are its salient features and how it is proving an important business tool for securing orders?
TCO (Total cost of ownership) is the concept widely used in the industry for making decisions at the time of capital equipment purchase. TCO is the total cost of acquisition of an engine or equipment and the operating cost from the time of purchase till the time it leaves the possession.
However, the purchase price is only a small portion 8 – 10 percent of the total cost of owning whereas the operating cost is nearly 85 - 90 percent of the cost of equipment.
With raising fuel prices and other costs, both operating costs as well as fixed costs play an important role in the evaluation process.
As you can see the cost of fuel is increasing drastically. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to educate/suggest our customers to select the right technology which is highly fuel efficient with low operating economy.
With strong technical and economic fundamental at your disposal–how would you like to look at the future business of the company in the coming two-three years?
We are working intensely to achieve a profitable growth in double digits.
What are company's after sales and customer care services available to serve their requirements throughout the lifespan of products offered?
Volvo Penta Parts and service support is available throughout the life of an engine. No matter where the equipment is, the end-user will always have access to local Volvo Penta support. Service from qualified trained technicians is available all over India, through a well established 57 service outlets operated by dedicated dealer network.
We are not just selling an engine, we strive for establishing a long-term relationship with our customers in their business and add value to their business. Volvo Penta have made it easy for customer to select the right service agreement for their business from a program of regular engine inspections to a comprehensive repair and maintenance program that removes the need for an on-site engineering workshop. Volvo Penta dealers offer customers different levels of service, all with the same level of renowned Volvo Penta care.
What would be the focus of your company's participation in the forthcoming bC India international trade fair and how would this participation pep up the promotion of your company's marketing objectives and impart a new dimension to your companies business areas?
It's a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to the industry and the society by offering emission certified engines meeting global and Indian emission norms Stage IIIA/Tier 3 to Stage IIIB/Tier 4i for construction, material handling and all other application segments.
