We Have Always Succeeded Through Close Collaboration With The Customers.
Nagendra H L, Global product management leader for Rest of Asia, Rubber Hydraulic Hose and Fittings Business Unit, Danfoss Power Solutions
How do you assess the growth of Indian construction equipment (CE) market? What are the demand drivers?
India is currently at a phase where the demand for everything – including the construction equipment – will be consistently healthy in the years to come. To my estimate, the growth we have seen over the last 7-8 years will remain and grow further for next decade or so, thanks to the aggressive execution of construction/infrastructure projects that is happening across the country which was much needed and overdue.
What kind of demand are you anticipating for your hoses and solutions from the CE segment?
The speed at which the infrastructure growth is happening in India today demands products and solutions that are safe, reliable and helps customer do more at a faster pace through reducing downtime. Customers are moving from buying unreliable and substandard products to products that help them keep their machines up all the time to build their reputation of providing safe and reliable machines to the end user. This is where Danfoss comes in to help the designers and machine builders with products that have been tested and qualified to meet the customer challenges comprehensively.
What are your latest products and solutions in hoses? What are the advantages and benefits for customers using these products?
The latest being our ‘Made in India’ standard range of Winner EC110 & EC210 hoses that meets and exceeds the SAE100 R1& R2 / EN853 1SN/2SN specifications with zero cool down leakage performance when assembled to our specifications with our qualified fittings. With the entire world aggressively pushing for carbon neutrality, we have made sure that customers using our products contribute to this cause well. Not just this, the total cost of ownership comes down drastically for the customers when they go with our well tested and qualified solutions that offer safe and reliable hydraulic fluid lines in the machine.
How are your technologies and solutions going to address the changing needs of the customers?
For today’s customers, the task is not about choosing either best of the technologies or the cheapest of products. They need the best of both the worlds at the same time. At Danfoss, we completely understand this challenge that our customer face. With the increasing competition, the challenge is on two fronts – the first being ensuring higher uptime of the machine and two, managing the cost well enough to remain competitive to survive. The two-tier strategy of Danfoss through offering Premium Performance and Standard Performance product lines perfectly fit in to offer a HYBRID solution for every application or machine.
Danfoss has a great legacy of being at the edge of technology through our Aeroquip range of hoses and fittings since long time which we still lead. We continue to offer multi-million impulse qualified spiral hoses in GH506 (4SH) and GH466 (SAE 100R 15), the Tripple Crown range of products that meet the toughest challenges an equipment can face, especially while working in remote locations. Another feather to our cap that got added a couple of years ago is EC881 – two wire braid construction hose made with Durapulse technology. This hose is qualified for one million impulse life at one-third bend radius with about 26% higher temperatures bearing capacity than other hoses available in the market today. Our Dura-tuff cover is a standard in all our premium range of hoses with an option of Bruiser cover with select hoses to provide abrasion protection of close to 700 times more than a normal rubber cover. Add to it is the presence of our dedicated engineering team strength right here in India for fluid conveyance which can do the in-depth application study to come up with solutions for the customer challenges – be it the technology or the cost. So, for us, it is all about discovering what challenges our customers most to offer the best fit for their machines.
What are the strategies to effectively serve your customers in future?
We have always succeeded through close collaboration with the customers, and this is an evergreen mantra to make sure the end markets are able to experience the best of the products when they invest in them. It’s not going to be anything different even moving forward for us. With the influx of information technology and the advantage it brings along, we feel even more responsible to make products and solutions that are in line with changes in technology space – be it the IOT or improvisations that are needed to compliment the technological growth that’s happening in the industry.
