We Are Gearing Up To Launch New Products And Showcase Our Solutions To Customers.

BKR Prasad

General Manager – Marketing, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company

How do you view the current scenario of Indian construction equipment industry and how is the company prepared for the future?

The domestic construction equipment (CE) industry has crossed the milestone of 100,000-unit sales in 2022-23. The positive performance has been consistent across key segments, particularly in excavators, backhoe loaders, and wheel loaders within the earthmoving
category, which aligns closely with Tata Hitachi’s product range.

Similarly, in the first half of the current financial year, domestic CE sales have increased by more than 20% YoY. The positive trends in the CE industry underscore the significant potential for growth and development in the infrastructure and construction sectors in the coming years, leading to an increased demand for CE.

Tata Hitachi is a market leader in excavators, with the widest range of products to cater to almost every customer need across diverse applications. In this context, we can interpret that the future offers immense opportunities for Tata Hitachi to grow and leverage the opportunities offered by the growth in the economy of the country. On the same basis, Tata Hitachi will continue to leverage its strengths to take advantage of these opportunities through investments in products and services, as well as by extending and investing in dealer partners. Tata Hitachi will also be introducing newer products across the excavator range, keeping in mind both customer and emerging industry requirements tailored to their needs.

This has significantly contributed to the growth of Tata Hitachi’s range of equipment and will continue to grow in the coming quarters.

How is Excon providing a platform for presenting technologies and services? What are your plans for this year to attract customers?

Excon is a premier construction equipment and technology trade fair that has both a national and international participation. The exhibition provides an exceptional platform for participants to leverage the opportunities in the construction equipment industry in India.

Excon has emerged as a mega business event, attracting stakeholders with its sheer size and the range of products showcased.

We at Tata Hitachi are gearing up to launch new products and showcase our solutions to customers. We look forward to Excon as an opportunity to provide customers, policymakers, and other attendees a first-hand touch and feel of our machines, which is important in an industry like ours. The forum also provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate our technologically advanced and future-ready solutions, including our green range of equipment that comes with the promise of building a sustainable tomorrow.

The key priority is to communicate to our customers and stakeholders about our long-standing engagement with building the infrastructure of the country with our wide range of products, as well as introduce cutting-edge innovative solutions that are designed to improve our customer’s profitability.

In this direction, the underlying theme of our participation at Excon this year will continue to be our motto, ‘Chalo Desh Banaye.’ Under this larger theme of nation-building, we will also commemorate 60+ years of our operations by showcasing our range of machines and attachments to signify our avowed mission to boost localisation while introducing state-of-the-art international technology. With this, we continue to invest in building and strengthening the Tata Hitachi brand as a one-stop shop for reliable solutions for our customers.

Can you elaborate on the range of products to be showcase at Excon 2023?

During this Excon, we will exhibit our range of compact, infra, and mining equipment, including our CEV-IV-compliant SHINRAI backhoe loaders and TL340H PRIME Series hydrostatic wheel loaders. We will also be introducing new additions to our product portfolio, which include the ZW225, our all-new 5-tonne wheel loader, and our new cutting-edge indigenously developed mini excavator. Also, our support solutions on display will include a range of attachments, genuine spare parts, and our array of service offerings, along with a few technologically advanced futuristic models in-line with a sustainable future.

We will also be showcasing ZAXIS 490H ULTRA and EX235 LC-VR machines, designed with precision to meet diverse customer needs. These advanced technological marvels offer unparalleled efficiency, ensuring optimal performance across industries. Their features and intelligent design promise enhanced productivity and versatility, making them invaluable tools for tackling specialized tasks.

How is sustainability playing a major role in your range of equipment?

Sustainability is at the core of everything what we do at Tata Hitachi. We are deeply invested and committed to reducing our carbon footprint using eco-friendly technology and practices.

Tata Hitachi promotes the eco-friendly design of our products and services. Apart from ensuring that our wheeled equipment adheres to the regulatory requirements of CEV-4 emission norms, we are also working to ensure that our excavators are compatible with futuristic emission norms. In addition, we also maintain the target of reducing fuel consumption for all our products and models through engineering innovations. With our TL340H PRIME, we are also the first and only manufacturer in India of hydrostatic wheel loaders that assure fuel savings to the tune of 20% over conventional wheel loaders. Also, Tata Hitachi excavators are very well-known in the market for their fuel efficiency, and we continue to enhance their productivity. Our machines also come with lead- and chrome-free paints.

The Government of India has committed to achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2070 in COP26 last year. In this direction, as a path in that journey of using alternate fuels, we displayed the CNG-powered backhoe loader SHINRAI at the last EXCON held in May 2022. If demand increases, we are ready to introduce and scale up production to meet it.

We have also identified various projects to be taken up for the electrification of our different categories of models in our portfolio. Hitachi Construction Machinery, Japan, our parent company, has electric drive technology in their mini excavator products and in large mining machinery.

For our customers who use this equipment for construction activities, our imperative is to enhance machine performance and fuel savings. Backed with cutting-edge technology from Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM), our range of equipment comes with a host of performance enhancement features like work modes and power modes, coupled with fuel-saving features like auto-idle and auto-deceleration, to name a few.

Our cutting-edge equipment, incorporating IoT, telematics, and mobility solutions, sets a standard at Tata Hitachi. Proprietary technologies like ConSite and InSite enable remote monitoring of our machines, providing real-time data on operations, maintenance, location, and health. Detailed reports on performance, fuel consumption, and productivity empower customers to optimize machine efficiency, manage maintenance, and collaborate with us for timely interventions, reducing environmental impact. We encourage customers to leverage these insights for enhanced machine efficiency and usage.

Also, for effective use of resources, we promote ‘circular economy’ through our used equipment business and remanufacturing of parts. Tata Hitachi’s full-fledged Reman Centre provides refurbished machine components like engines, hydraulic aggregates, structural components, etc. The Reman facility is a vital support arm, as it provides aggregates at a fraction of the cost of a new part. Through the facility, we can easily exchange old hydraulic aggregates with a Reman component to get almost zero downtime in the case of aged aggregate replacement, as well as enhance the recyclability of aggregates with significant residual life still left in them.