VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India Private Limited talks about the steps taken by his company for the welfare of their workers amidst the lockdown and how technology will play a massive role in fine-tuning of skills and working environment in the future.

In the view of current market dynamics, what kind of forecast you have for the year 2020?
The turnover for the month of March was not as per the plan due to the sudden lockdown of factories and construction activities in India. April was a complete standstill and the extended lockdown is likely to hit the May turnover also. The economic hardship has affected the daily wage workers, corporate companies, small businesses, MSMEs and practically every commercial establishment. As such the construction equipment (CE) sector was experiencing a slowdown since 2019 due to issues like reduced demand, NBFC problem, dip in automotive sales (BS4-BS6 issues), etc. and now this sudden lockdown has further added to our woes.

The emergency necessitates social spending, keeping that in view what measures need to be taken to ensure promised infrastructure and road projects are delivered on time too?
We expect more packages from the government; the government was not anticipating the lockdown to last so long. Considering further revenue loss and anticipated reduced demand for upcoming months, we expect support from the central government in the following ways:

• Financial package to support workforce salary, payments and for contract workforce.
• Extended moratorium for MSME and rental companies.
• Opening up of more infrastructure sites so that more people are employed and money can be made available in their hands.
• Interest subsidy for capital expenditure (CAPEX) projects that are under progress.

What measures have you taken to ensure worker safety and timely deliveries of the machines?
Workers at our project site are being continuously provided with basic amenities like food, accommodation and medical treatment. This workforce also includes the truck drivers who visited the facility in the backdrop of the lockdown. Schwing Stetter India is continuing its on ground effort to ensure that these workers remain medically monitored, nourished, and morally motivated to fight the unprecedented challenges brought by the global pandemic.

The company is currently laying focus across three broad areas of support that are as follows:

• Continuous medical monitoring of the workers by expert doctors every few hours. The workers are checked consistently for Covid-19 symptoms and are provided with testing kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like masks and other protective gear.
• They are ensured regular access to food and nutrition during the course of the lockdown so they don’t bear the adverse economic impact of the crisis.
• Accommodation facility has been set up at Cheyyar, Tamil Nadu with 625 beds to help prevent cross contamination and to control infection.
• Social distancing and sanitization measures are followed in all six – under construction and existing manufacturing facilities.

Schwing Stetter India will prioritise the requirement of those sites which are planning to restart and ensure those machines are manufactured first and delivered.

How will this current market scenario increase the role of AI and automation among OEMs? Likewise, do you feel the role of indigenously technology too will increase?
Yes, the role of indigenous technology, AI and automation has increased among OEMs. In the current situation, one area that has seen more changes is training programs. Now, we have more webinars to train the customers first and we find this to be a good option keeping in mind the need for social distancing. It is being accepted and encouraged by the customers too. Going forward, we will formalize this form of training as social distancing is going to be the new normal. 

In line with this development, Schwing Stetter India showcased Internet of Things (IoT) solutions of Schwing IoTIn, Schwing IoT Ready, Schwing IoT abled, Schwing dashboard for batching plants, Schwing Stetter India gateway device, hitech weighing system, Schwing smartrack and Stetter concrete transit mixer with the mobile app at Excon 2019. Since we have done IoT and remote connectivity, our need for physically visiting the sites has reduced since the past and we will help the customer understand this new way of working so that the sites do not suffer for want of service engineers physically.

From your product stable, which products are you banking on the most right now?
There is no change in customer preference with respect to Covid-19 lockdown for the choice of equipment like the concrete pumps, concrete batching plants, concrete transit mixers, other concreting equipment and construction equipment as they are waiting for the projects to take off.