KION India designs, manufactures, distributes, services and supports palletised material handling equipment (MHE) under the Voltas brand for the Indian market. It has comprehensive range of equipment, ranging from 1.5-tonne to 16-tonne diesel forklift, 1.5-tonne to 3.5-tonne electric forklift, a range of warehousing equipment and a strong service network with over 17 branches and 60 customer touch points across India. In an interview with B2B Purchase, Johnson MRV, Chief Sales Officer, KION India Pvt Ltd talks about the MHE market and the factors driving the procurement decision making.

Current trends
Talking about the current market scenario for MHE, Johnson MRV says, “During the current year MHE market is growing at a brisk pace of 15 per cent over year-on-year (YoY) and this is expected only to increase in the coming quarters. More and more customers are looking at the option of procuring battery-based MHE like forklifts, pallet trucks, stackers and reach trucks. Already, the battery-based MHE do dominate with a 60 per cent share out of the total MHE market, which is expected to stabilise as the total market grows.”

Major buying factors
Speaking on the major factors a buyer should consider before making a decision of buying MHE, he says, “Brand, experience and total cost of ownership are the major factors that a buyer should consider before buying MHE in today’s market conditions.”

Factors drive procurement decision making
Apart from pricing, productivity and durability, according to Johnson MRV, “Cost of maintenance and operation and basic technology are the other driving factors which govern the decision making, which avoids complexity and higher costs.”

Buy for long-term, rent for short-term
Stressing on the factors a buyer should consider while determining whether to rent or buy MHE, Johnson MRV says, “Buying option of MHE is most appropriate for long haul customers who would like to avail the benefits of taxation and depreciation, whereas rental option is useful for short haul customers who have specific usage of MHE. In any case, organised rental market is very small in size due to its lower attractiveness, as compared to the other developed markets.”

Success factors
Highlighting the success factors for KION in India, Johnson MRV said, “Key success factors for our consistent sales growth is due to two factors – market penetration and value for money products which is affordable for an average customer backed by lower life cycle cost.”    

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Brand, experience and total cost of ownership are the major factors that a buyer should consider before buying MHEs in today’s market conditions.

Johnson MRV, Chief Sales Officer, KION India Pvt Ltd