Identifying the need for trusted maintenance products to support its growing machine population, SDLG has launched a range of oils and lubricants at bC India. In an exclusive interview with Subhajit Roy, B Sridhar talks about this new dimension.

What was your purpose of launching lubricants in India?
The purpose of launching lubricants in India basically is to support the aftermarket and the customers. This launch will offer them a complete range of engine, hydraulic and transmission oils that are designed especially for SDLG machines.

Today customers are buying different brands of oil and most of the time it does not match to our machines’ requirement. Therefore we have developed our own brand of lubricants, gear oil and engine oil that meets our specifications. The product is locally developed and refined in Mumbai.

How different it is going to be from the existing range of lubricants of other brands?
The existing lubrication specifications are based on general equipment. So what is needed for the tier 3 engines like VDS 3 and other specifications have been incorporated in this oil to meet our equipment standards. It will benefit the customers as the wear and tear of the internal components will be less and it will meet the internal chemical component which meets our machines’ specifications. It also enhances the life span of the components and the equipment. We will market it through our existing chain of dealers.

What kind of marketing strategy do you have to promote this range of lubricants?
Marketing strategy is simple as we advise our customers to use our lubricants to enhance the life of their equipment. Today some components come with 6,000 to 8,000 hours of life span and by using a genuine lubricant one can enhance the life span to 9,000 to 12,000 hours, thus it is a value addition for the customers. Our marketing aim will deliver genuine oil to our customers and derive the full output from the product. We had launched the oil earlier in China and it is well accepted over there. However, in the global market we have launched it for the first time.

What kind of volume you are looking at?
We have our technicians and services employed wherever our machines are working. So the only gap was the lubricants which we have fulfilled by launching it now. We are not just launching the oil we will also be testing the oil at our labs. Hence in case of any failure, we will come to know if any component is running unevenly. It will help us come to a conclusion whether to stop an engine and do some repair. The pricing will also be at competitive market prices only.

Volume is based on operation and the usage of the machine. Today, we feel that if we combine all India volume it is 12-14 kl. Stocks are already available with all our dealers.

Where do you develop this lubricant?
We have developed the product in Mumbai with our co partner GS Caltex. There are no investments made yet. Despite the proprietorship with it, the brand will be with us. There is no third party involved as the lubricants will be sold by our chain of dealers only.