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CARGO HANDLING
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SOM others do have them!
Much of the growth in the lift truck market
over the last few years has been driven
by the Asian market and it is not expected
to slow down significantly in the next two
years.The Asian Development Bank has
just released its forecasts for developing
Asian economies and forecasts that the
region will achieve overall expansion of
7.2% in 2006 and 7% in 2007. However,
growth is not evenly spread as China, India
and Korea make up 66% of demand
in developing Asia.
China production
Both Kalmar and SMV Konecranes have
begun assembling ECH mast trucks in
Shanghai in recent months, joining
Fantuzzi that has been turning out reach
stackers and heavy FLTs from the Noell
China plant for some time. Kalmar built
its first ECH machines at its new facility
in Lin Gan, Shanghai, near the foot of
the Donghai bridge to Yangshan Island.
Lift truck and ECH product line manager
Dan Petterson did not want to discuss
the customer but stated that “serial
production has started and there will be a
constant flow of deliveries from the new
plant.”To begin with the plant is assembling
DCE80 45E 7- and 8-high versions
with a standard specification for “various
Asian markets, not just China,” said
Petterson.“We are continuously evaluating
how to use our existing assembly
plants in an optimal way and the Chinese
plant is no exception.”
Kalmar’s Ottawa facility in the US is
currently assembling some medium FLTs
(9-18t range,) but there are no plans to
extend this to include the new DCF laden
container handling mast truck in the immediate
future.
Two more manufacturers are assembling
big lift trucks in China, while in India a
major customer is asking for supply,
operate and maintain (SOM) contracts
China the ‘local’ content of machines can
logically be expected to rise.
Kalmar’s CEO Christer Granskog has
said that one of Kalmar’s focuses in product
supply is to increase supplies from
“new cost competitive suppliers” including
China. As other industries develop
Chinese facilities more components will
be able to be sourced locally.
Indian file
In a straw poll of lift truck agents at the
TOC Asia exhibition in Busan last month
India was tipped for strong growth in the
next two years. Container Corporation
of India (Concor) is about to embark on
a major equipment replacement programme
and has issued a request for expressions
of interest to supply 25 reach
stackers with 5-high capacity with a 45t
load.This is believed to be the largest single
order for reach stackers in India.
The tender invites expressions of interest
for “manufacture, supply, operation
and maintenance” (SOM) of 25 reach
stackers for 11 inland container depots
across India. The operation and maintenance
period is for five years from the date
of commissioning “extendable by another
3-5 years on mutually agreed terms.”The
machines have to be delivered over a one
year period from June 2006.
While service contracts are becoming
more and more common, requiring
the manufacturer to provide drivers is still
relatively rare in most markets. In India,
however, Concor has been entering into
this type of agreement since 2002 with
Indital Construction Machinery.
Indital ’s director Ravi Kumar explains
that Concor has long used contractors to
own and operate equipment at its terminals,
but in 2002 decided to try a new
scheme where Concor would purchase the
equipment and the manufacturer or supplier
would operate and maintain it.
SMV as well
SMV Konecranes has also begun assembling
machines in China and the first
ECH unit was assembled late last year. In
2002 Konecranes opened a factory at
Futurity Industrial Park in Putou District
for EOT cranes and other industrial
equipment and this was expanded last year
to start production of heavy trucks.
SMV Konecranes’ sales director
Mikael Andersson says production for this
year will be on a smaller scale but in 2007
volume should increase to around 100
units/year and include both EC and laden
container handlers. To begin with production
is just for Chinese customers but
the facility is intended to serve a wider
geographical area eventually. The company
has no plans to scale back its production
in Markaryd and with sales
growth of over 40% for the last two years
needs the extra capacity to meet demand.
Assembling machines in China is always
a difficult strategic decision as manufacturers
have to negotiate a difficult import
environment that can mean it is actually
more expensive to bring in all the
components and assemble them than to
just import a machine made in Europe.
They also have to decide how to manage
Chinese expectations that a domestic
machine will cost less than one built overseas.
In other industries, automotive manufacturing
for example, manufacturers
sometimes use other specifications and
locally sourced components to produce a
cheaper ‘Chinese standard’ unit.
Andersson says that SMV Konecranes
decided early on against trying to develop
a low price specification just for the local
market. Although there are still important
differences between regional markets,
the company is aiming for a global specification
where possible. Furthermore,
many customers within China and the
surrounding markets are global operators
that want a global standard anyway.
There and back again
This approach does not necessarily preclude
using “Chinese” components.When
Kalmar began assembling terminal tractors
in Shanghai it found some of the
components shipped from the US in the
first knocked down kits actually came
from China in the first place.As more and
more industries begin production in
April 2006 23