Excon 2009 generated serious business interest and opportunities making it a successful endeavour for the earth moving and construction industries once again
The 5th edition of South Asia's larg-est Construction Equipment and Construction Technology Trade Fair got underway in Bangalore recently. Held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, the fair was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and co-sponsored by the Indian Earthmoving & Construction Industry Association. Managing to generate business enquiries worth Rs 10,000 crore over five days, according to a survey conducted by IMRB International, the value of business deals is estimated at Rs 2000 crore. Inaugurated by Kamal Nath, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, on 25th November 2009, Excon 2009 saw the participation of 435 exhibitors, including 135 players from abroad. With close to 400 new product launches, the fair attracted over 30,000 business visitors. Reiterating the target to construct 7000 km of road per annum, Kamal Nath, in his inaugural address, said there was a need for huge capacity building across the entire spectrum of the infrastructure industry. "Focus on India-specific products, India-specific R&D and skill development will drive growth for the Indian earth moving and construction equipment industry," he added. Roughly divided into indoor and outdoor exhibition areas, Excon 2009 was spread over an area of 1,60,000 sq.m with the two (exhibition) halls covering 40,000 sq.m. In 2007, the fair had occupied 1,20,000 sq.m. Bigger than the earlier event, the highlight of the indoor section was country pavilions of China, Germany, Italy and UK, besides stand-alone stalls by manufacturers from Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan among others. Many foreign companies, participating for the first time, expressed an intention to gauge the response and establish contacts. The Italian pavilion saw a group of mechanical companies participate under the project name 'Hi-Mech India'. From Modena, these companies came to Excon to seek business in India under the guidance of Confidustria Modena, according to Davide Ansaloni, Area Internazionalizzazione. Apart from the country pavilions, spread across the two halls were Indian companies ElectroMech, BKT, Teksons Cooling Systems, Shantilal C. Mehta, Jayvee Sales & Service, Hydrolines, Standard Radiators, Imperial Auto Industries, Wipro Infrastructure Engineering and others. Sharing space with Indian participants were international players like Mann+Hummel India, Oerlikon Graziano Transmissioni India, Allison Transmission India, Graco and others. Having expanded its facility at Greater Noida, near Delhi, to manufacture sync-hronisers, gears, axles and transaxle assembly for construction equipments, agricultural tractors and commercial vehicles, Oerlikon exhibited its range of solutions. While Allison Transmission exhibited cut-away of its commercial auto transmission, Electro-Mech chose to launch a new service initiative called Cranedge. BKT displayed a new off-highway tyre along with its existing range of off-highway tyres including the steel-belted radial variety. While commercial institutions like Bauma were part of the indoor exhibitors space, a good number of Chinese companies, big and small could be seen. Also participating were financial institutions like HDFC Bank and Srei BNP Paribas. To woo the visitors, Srei BNP Paribas displayed two gaming schemes at its stall - Ladder of Success and Putt your Discount. Some of the interesting (indoor) participants were Palfinger India, a subsidiary of Palfinger AG, which specialises in lifting solutions like truck-mounted boom knuckle cranes. Palfinger India, according to Spenta Bhote Menezes, the marketing manager, is targeting defence and private sectors, and is capable of offering customised solutions. Jupiter Rock Drills introduced CD110 crawler drill at the fair while tracking equipment companies like Moba Mobile Automation AG, Lotus Wireless Technologies, which represents NBB Controls+Components GmbH, and Virtual Tracking made their presence felt. Out in the open, and a battery of big players exerted their strength with the display of equipment and solutions that consisted of mighty cranes rising towards the sky! Others put out their machines and curious other bits. Among the top players who exerted their strength were JCB, Volvo, BEML, Tata Motors, Telcon, Sany Heavy Industry India, Putzmeister Concrete Machines, Schwing Stetter India, Hyundai India, LiuGong, Gamzen, Kobelco, L&T Case, L&T Komatsu, Mait, Unipave, Wirtgen India, Multiquip, Ace, Aquarius, Ajax Fiori, Escorts, Zoomlion, Spartan and more. Located outdoor, and on the other side of the road that divided the outdoor exhibition area into two, were participants like AMW, Force Motors, Elgi and Tractors India. The biggest outdoor exhibit was that of JCB. With the fastest Diesel Engine Car Dieselmax on display, the most interesting feature of JCB, in addition to the largest ever display of machines, was the "Dancing JCB" show. Held at regular intervals, the JCB machines performed in the hands of skilled operators! Speaking to Automotive Products Finder, Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director and CEO of JCB India, said, "Our equipment rides on the back of infrastructure development. Having 365 outlets, our thrust would be on reaching rural India." Speaking at Excon 2009, K K Ajaykumar, Manager - Human Resources, Wirtgen India said his company would be introducing the Kleeman brand in India in the near future.At present, Wirtgen markets products under the Wirtgen, Vogele and Hamm brands. Setting up a plant at Pune, which is expected to be commissioned by mid-2010, Wirtgen India would be initially manufacturing Hamm rollers and other fast selling machines. Yet another company with a manufacturing facility at Chakan near Pune - Sany - displayed its range of equipment that included concrete pumps and mobile pumps. BEML displayed its range of excavators and other equipment whereas L&T Case and L&T Komatsu showcased its range of equipment. Of special interest at the L&T exhibit was the 380 HP Scania tipper. L&T is the distributor for Scania in India. Priced around Rs 65 lakh according to industry sources, the Scania 4x8 tipper was fitted with a Hyva (tipper) superstructure. Bangalore-based Ajax Fiori launched mortar spraying equipment, self loading mobile concrete mixer, bin type concrete batching plant with pan mixer, site dumper, self loading mobile concrete mixer, articulated site dumper and planetary pan mixer at the fair. Blessed by 'serious' visitors, Excon 2009 turned into an interactive media, complemented by the live demonstration of equipment for earthmoving and construction, lifting, material handling, concrete making, hydraulics and pneumatics, drills, power tools and piling equipment, electronics, controls and instrumentation, asphalt, compactors, compressors and generators by the participants. May it be machines, components, accessories and consumables, both the participants and visitors could be seen interacting and closely examining the range of equipment on display at each stall. If this translated into mighty good response, the Excon 2009 merits description as a highly successful event. An event, which saw a two times increase in foot falls when compared with that of Excon 2007. Expectations are already high for the next Excon fair scheduled for 2011.
Mann+Hummel India targets greater share of off-highway equipment
Displaying the automotive and off-highway range of filtration equipment, Mann+Hummel Filter India took the opportunity to gauge the response for a new range of filters for off-highway vehicles it plans to introduce in the future. Speaking to APF, Sunil Kumar HP, Manager - Marketing, said Mann+Hummel has been present in the off-highway equipment market from 2003. "In 2005, we entered India and our aim is to be at the top." Explaining that the new products would add to the existing range, Sunil averred that his company was looking at setting up a new facility in North India to cater to that region. To be located most likely in Haryana, according to Sunil, the plant is expected to manufacture plastic components like plastic intake manifolds in addition to filtration products. He summed up: "We will make high quality plastic components for auto and off-highway industry."
ElectroMech's Cranedge initiative
Pune-based crane manufacturer, ElectroMech took the opportunity to launch its new service initiate, Cranedge at Excon 2009. The initiative, according to CEO, Raj Shrivastav, is to offer service to crane users irrespective of the make. "Manufacturers often sell cranes and do not focus as much on service. The user is left to fend for himself. Looking at this as an opportunity, we took the opportunity to launch Cranedge," he added. Employing 35 people, Cranedge offers an entire gamut of spares, service, health checks, etc. Selling knowledge, Cranedge, according to Shrivastav, has in excess of 50 annual maintenance contracts; nearly 300 cranes under AMC, and including some big names. Speaking about ElectroMech, CEO AVR Murthy said that his company is looking at generating business from new markets like the steel industry. Expressing an opinion that the capital markets are shifting, at times contributing to delay of projects, Murthy added that his company involves itself from the very early stage of a project to ensure an optimal solution. With the construction of Chennai plant on track and expected to be commissioned by mid-next year, ElectroMech is looking at a larger share of the ship building market.
Wipro eyes heavy tipper business
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering is looking at penetrating the heavy commercial vehicle tipper hydrualics market, which sees the presence of players like Hyva. Speaking to APF, Vinay Kumar Ragi, Sales Manager - Truck Hydraulics, said Wipro supplies underbody hydraulics and telescopic cylinders to commercial vehicle manufacturers like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eicher, etc., and from 5-tonne (for Tata Ace tipper) and upwards. Pointing at the new range of telescopic cylinders displayed, Ragi added that Wipro supplies to almost all the big manufacturers in Europe through its facilities at Finland and Sweden. In India, the company is now targeting the heavy commercial market with telescopic cylinder designs up to 70 tonnes. These are specifically used for tip trailers. The truck hydraulics components are made in India at Wipro's facility at Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh.
Allision Transmission reinforces its commitment for India
Displaying a cut-away of commercial automatic transmission for application in heavy vehicles in an effort to help the visitors understand better, Allison Transmission is setting up a plant to manufacture transmission systems at Chennai. One of the only three manufacturers across the globe to manufacture auto transmission for heavy duty commercial vehicle applications, according to Salil Gupta, Head - Market Development & Sales Promotion, more than 8000 BEML trucks are fitted with Allison auto transmission. Allsion auto transmission could be found on more than 1000 city buses, he added.