“Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength,” said APJ Abdul Kalam. A number of achievements can be held as reasons why India can stand with its head held high on the global platform today. Be it the culture, be it education or business, leaders have always emerged to prove their worth in the times of need. The developing country that we live in today is the result of relentless efforts of some of the business conglomerates that have not only helped India see a better present, but also have gained appreciations on the global stage creating demands for Indian products in the market.
The material handling equipment manufacturing industry is the facilitator for the manufacturing and logistics of the business sector that is product oriented. Even in case of India, if the GDP from manufacturing and logistics grow, it would mean a direct growth for this industry as well. As the demand for consumer products are growing with rise in economy along with advanced warehousing technologies, companies in the material handling sector are constantly innovating and adopting new technologies that are enabling the transformation of the business ecosystem as a whole.
Godrej Material Handling, a part of the prestigious Godrej Group is India’s largest manufacturer of lift trucks for material handling. Their range includes electric, and diesel counterbalanced forklifts up to 25 tonne capacity, warehouse trucks and special trucks for specific applications. “We also manufacture attachments of our own design for addressing a wide range of handling applications besides offering attachments made by international specialists in the field when the application demands,” states Anil Lingayat, CEO, Godrej Material Handling.
Infrastructure State of the Art
Godrej Material Handling has a state of the art manufacturing facility at Vikhroli, Mumbai with a capacity to manufacture over 300 forklifts. Manufacturing activities are carried out in an area of 125000 square feet primarily consisting of Body shop, Axle & Transmission shop, Mast shop, Assembly shop, and centralized CNC and Paint shops. Each shop is equipped with a number of conventional machines used to manufacture their respective sub-assemblies. The CNC shop comprises of Turning and Machining centres which apply time proven manufacturing techniques like application of TQM techniques for Quality Assurance, single piece flow lines for all critical assemblies, cell concept of machining and multi-skilling.
Environment Friendly
Plastic, which is an inevitable part of our daily lives, has grown over the years and plastics have turned out to be an alternative material in industry over the years. However, the unchecked growth in the volume of plastics is now posing an environment hazard and now warrants immediate concrete steps to prevent any adverse impact on the environment, by disposing of it in an appropriate & environment friendly way.
The government has rightly banned usage of certain plastics and has assigned extended responsibility on each of the entities in the entire supply chain. This responsibility entails each user to put a mechanism in place for retrieval of the plastic used for their products supplied to customers.
Godrej Material Handling has always been a responsible organisation in protecting the environment and extends full support to the authorities in implementing the ban on plastics. The company uses plastic of the defined grade with minimum thickness to ensure that the plastic can be recycled and re-used thereby reducing its impact on the environment. It uses plastic to pack spare parts for MRP labelling, preserving while stocking & prevent in transit damage. “The distribution channel for MHD Products and Spares is either direct to customers or through branches & dealers. Spares purchased by the dealers are stocked and sold to customers who in turn will stock and use them as and when required,” says Anil.
We export our equipment to over 40 countries throughout Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Godrej Material Handling holds ISO 9001-2008, ISO 14001-2004 and OHSAS 18001-2007 quality assurance certificates awarded by TUV Nord.
First in the Country
Considering the material handling sector, Godrej has been the pioneer company that popularised the usage of it. The portfolio of material handling of Godrej is more than 50 years old and the company always believes in making India self reliant. It was the first to introduce automatic transmission technology into the Indian material handling industry along with AC motor technology and many others. It was also the first company in the country to have a full range of warehouse equipment on display for the usage of the customer.
It is not new for Godrej to bring upon a revolution in the industry as it has done it with other product portfolios before. Ardeshir Godrej, after a few failed businesses invested in manufacturing locks that awarded him great fortune and now Godrej with its line of products have established its roots in the international market as well. It has successfully executed some of the significant infrastructure projects in the country like Pirojshanagar and Planet Godrej among many others.
Business Goals Achieved
Godrej Material Handling partners Crown, Hubtex, Tennant, Merlo, and IMER complement their range to create a full basket of offerings for their customers. Besides new equipment, it also offers. The client will have a choice of outright purchase or of taking the equipment on hire. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that it was the first company to put material handling equipment on Rent.
Various maintenance programs are offered through the company’s network of 16 branches and over 45 dealers across India that provide solid service back-up. “We export our equipment to over 40 countries throughout Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Godrej Material Handling holds ISO 9001-2008, ISO 14001-2004 and OHSAS 18001-2007 quality assurance certificates awarded by TUV Nord,” says Anil.
Plans for Growth
According to the CEO of the company, the material handling sector in India hasn’t experienced exponential growth but with the evolving market and integration of new technologies, it will in very short period of time.
Currently, the company produces 15,500 units of material handling equipment every year. But recently there has been a mass shift consuming patterns. A demand trail is gradually driving towards the eastern countries which are directly increasing the demand in the material handling industry. Godrej Material Handling wants to cater to the demand of all the eastern countries in order to expand internationally.
The company wants to become more customer oriented as various kinds of product portfolios are emerging in the market which require customized material handling equipment. As far as readymade equipment is concerned, the company has products in every possible segment of the industry. Being one of the old companies in India, Godrej Material handling has its roots to the grass root levels of the ecosystem which makes them understand the business better and come up with best possible solutions for the future. Talking about the immediate plans of the company, the CEO concludes, “Bringing about major transformations in this domain, we want to produce 30,000-40,000 units every year.”
