Any wrong choice of an unreliable product just on basis of cheaper price can result in unwanted danger and fatality.

Souma Ray,
Director, Haulotte India Pvt. Ltd.

Being a global player in manufacturing man and material lifting equipment, how do you see the opportunities in India?
India being one of the most promising and fastest emerging economies opportunities in growth for any business is endless. When it comes to aerial access equipment and telehandlers, we are still at a nascent stage. However with the increase in awareness on the multifarious use of AWPs (Aerial Work Platforms) the demand of such machines has been steadily on the rise. The growth till now hasn’t been very encouraging in terms of number of new machines coming in the country, nevertheless we expect that the volumes would certainly increase substantially in the coming years.

What differentiates your equipment from the rests available in the market?
Haulotte is one of the few full range manufacturers of AWPs in the world. We at Haulotte always listen to the voice of our customers and constantly innovate our products to make them more user-friendly and in line with the latest technology. That is the reason that instead of continuing to manufacturing machines with old technology which is common amongst competition, to be different and more proactive to the needs of our customers, we have been engaged in incorporating newer, state-of-the-art technology in our machines to make them more dependable and user-friendly. These new generation of machines are technically and operationally much ahead in comparison to our closest renowned competitors.

What kind of suggestions would you like to provide to the potential buyers in case of investing in AWPs fleet as at times they are too expensive in the market?
I beg to differ that investing in AWPs fleet is too expensive in the market. Safety cannot be compromised and be equated to cost. Certainly price is a very crucial factor for any buyer. However a customer needs to decide whether he wants a quality renowned product at an acceptable price point or simply because of lower price he shall consider cheaper, less reliable makes. After all we cannot assign monetary value when it comes to safety while working at heights. Any wrong choice of an unreliable product just on basis of cheaper price can result in unwanted danger and fatality.

We are in the business of making machines that help people to work safely and productively at heights. Being a world-class manufacturer we don’t cut ends in sacrificing quality of our machines in order to reduce cost. We price our equipment very competitively and in line with the other renowned manufacturers from the US and we together believe in the quality of the equipment is very essential to harness safety.

According to you, what would be beneficial for purchasing access equipment – finance lease, hire purchase or operating lease?
When we speak of financial convenience, it is important for any customer to allocate resources either vide CAPEX from in-house sources, bank loans etc for procuring a machine. To aid this process, Haulotte has globally embarked in providing in-house finance option under the banner of Haulotte Financial Services at very attractive terms. It can be by means of finance lease, hire purchase or operating lease. This has been widely welcomed by our customers especially in the rental sector and we envisage this to be a service that would certainly set us apart from our competitors.

Did you introduce this finance service in India?
Yes, the Haulotte Financial Services are also available to our customers in India. Few of our rental customers have already taken our services in this front.

Operations and maintenance of the access equipment plays an important part. What precautions one should take while using it?
The life of any equipment depends upon the way the same is operated and most importantly maintained properly in line with the manufacturers’ recommendation. We at Haulotte always provide operator and maintenance training to our customers buying our product and always check back at regular intervals if daily and periodical checks are be being done on the machines.

Could you suggest few measures which can help buyers and rental companies while going for telehandlers?
Telehandlers are fast becoming popular in India as more people across sectors are becoming aware on the versatility of such an equipment. The nomenclature of telehandlers varies from country to country and names like telescopic handler, telescopic forklift are also used. Be it end user buyers or rental companies, while selection of a telehandler application study is very important. Based on the application the suitable model, size of telehandler is chosen and also the necessary attachment selected. A standard telehandler comes with loading forks and optional attachments like material handling bucket, crane jib, winch, side shifting fork, man platform also available. So it is obvious with the same machine you can do functions such as loading/unloading, lifting, shifting of load/material, and even using as an access platform.