An interview with V G Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India
What are the milestones achieved by your company under your leadership?
It is 10 months since I assumed office. Schwing Stetter has grown over the last 21 years to a Rs 2,000 crore company. It is a continuing growth. It is not only in turnover but also in our product range, customer reach and so on. During the 10-month period, we have launched many new products of Stetter concrete truck mixers “Super® 7” and XCMG excavators. Partnership with Rubble Master HMH GmbH, Austria was signed to become a complete concreting and non-concreting solution provider.
‘Made in India’ Schwing Stetter India products of Schwing stationary concrete pump – SP 1420, SP 1807 and Stetter self-loading mixer – SLM 4000 were displayed for the very first time at bauma 2019 in Munich. Two new branches were opened within India. We started exporting to Europe and Middle East and have opened two overseas offices this year. We have appointed new dealers in five countries and we will be announcing the dealers for excavator business shortly for Southern India. In the process of improvement, initiatives like digitalization for operations are in the final stages of completion.
Tell us about the recently launched products and their winning technological features that will suit the Indian construction scenario.
Schwing Stetter India (SSI), announced the launch of its new generation of XCMG crawler hydraulic excavators – XE80C, XE140I and XE215C in July 2019. The significant features of the excavator range are as below.
- Excellent performance.
- Intelligent control.
- High-performance slewing bearing.
- Energy saving.
- Reliable and durable X-frame.
- Comfortable and safe operation.
- Convenient maintenance.
Schwing Stetter India made an announcement in October 2019 to further strengthen the partnership with Mahindra Powerol to launch its new premium variant of concrete truck mixers ‘Super® 7’. The successful partnership formed for Stetter Super SIX concrete transit mixer on July 26th, 2018 in Pune has seen more than 1000 machines. Stetter Super® 7 concrete truck mixers were conceptualized based on the current customer need in this segment and will be powered by the Mahindra Powerol 625 DI engine. Stetter Super® 7 concrete truck mixers have undergone several extensive trials to meet the industry requirements of smart, premium and intelligent products. The variants are listed below.
- Stetter Super® 7 concrete truck mixers with IoT in / IoT ready.
- Stetter Super® 7 concrete truck mixers with Schwing Smartrack / standard.
Significant features of Stetter Super® 7 concrete truck mixers are listed below.
- Large loading volume.
- Optimum drive characteristics.
- Best-in-class spiral geometry.
- Stetter T-protect wear protection.
- Large clearance for concrete discharge.
- Easy to clean and service.
- Highest resale value.
- Best in class fuel efficiency resulting in lowest lifecycle cost which helps the customer save “7 Lakhs in 7 years”.
- Future ready engines.
Quality and pricing – how will you balance this equation to cater to a price-sensitive market?
Customers recognise the need for reliable equipment as their business is dependent on trouble free operations. They choose machines with long service life, low fuel and parts consumption. Schwing Stetter products meet all their expectations. Schwing Stetter’s assets are categorised as high quality equipment in the industry and therefore finance companies offer highest percentage of financing for Schwing Stetter equipment.
Your viewpoint on the market demand dynamics. How do you foresee the future for the equipment manufacturers?
The long-term potential for the construction equipment industry is very bright. Therefore, revival is a key factor. India has got a lot to do on rural road connectivity and improvement of road quality in the rural area. So across India, various states have different level of road development and if India has to have similar type of road connectivity across, it gives us a great opportunity for rural roads and national highways through various projects announced like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, coastal roads, horizontal and vertical national highway corridors crisscrossing the country. Same is true for railways, ports and other infrastructure projects, etc. So, India’s potential for infrastructure business is unquestionable.
What are the problems that are proving as stumbling blocks for the growth of this sector? What should be done to give a boost to this sector?
The positive sentiment has to return for growth to follow. To bring the positive sentiments, the customer should gain the confidence on stability of their business. The risk perception should be low. All this will happen automatically when the Government starts awarding contracts and releases payment for all completed work in time.
Land acquisition and handing over happens seamlessly. Customer will start believing in the sustainability in investing in the machine.
Skilling the operators is another key differentiator that can help promote the industry.
As far as your company is concerned, how well equipped are you to make deeper inroads into the market? Are you planning to scale up the manufacturing capacity?
Schwing Stetter India will be setting up a new manufacturing facility in Sipcot Industrial Area, Cheyyar, Thiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu which is 60 kms away from their existing facilities. The new unit spread over 53 acres is a step towards strengthening our commitment to the Indian market and focus on to meet the emerging infrastructure boom in India and export potential in Asia and Africa markets. Schwing Stetter India has made the payment towards the cost of the land to Sipcot last year. Schwing Stetter will be investing about 230 crores in two phases towards installing this technology enabled and environmentally sustainable manufacturing facility. The new site aims to focus on new product launches and support the progression of engineered products from the prototype stage to serial production.
For excavator business in Southern India, we are in the process of announcing new dealers to enhance our reach in the market.