MHE Will Become One of The Biggest Industries in The Coming Years

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MHE Will Become One of The Biggest Industries in The Coming Years

MHE Will Become One of The Biggest Industries in The Coming Years

Interviews
Jun 21,24

Although the average unit load has decreased in size, the process time for handling each unit has been reduced by at least 100 times compared to 10 years ago.

MHE Will Become One of The Biggest Industries in The Coming Years

Avcon Systems has extensive product offerings, and significant developments and challenges in the Material Handling Equipment (MHE) industry. Aniket Sawarkar, CEO, Avcon Systems shares his insights on the evolving material handling processes in India. He highlights Avcon's journey over four decades, the increasing demand for their solutions, and their plans for future growth.

How has the material handling process undergone changes in recent years in India?

With the rise in process volumes, material handling is increasingly moving towards bulk handling. Although the average unit load has decreased in size, the process time for handling each unit has been reduced by at least 100 times compared to 10 years ago.

What types of products are you offering in the material handling space?

AVCON is a 40-year-old material handling solutions provider. We offer a wide range of products to enhance safety and productivity across diverse industries. Our offerings include stackers, floor cranes, scissor lifts, hydraulic lifts, and truck loading solutions, providing end-to-end handling solutions for various industrial processes.

How do you see the journey of your company in the material handling equipment (MHE) space over the years?

AVCON has been a part of the Material Handling Equipment (MHE) space for over four decades. It has witnessed significant changes in industry patterns and the introduction of global products in the Indian market. We began our journey as a modest service provider, offering repairs and AMC services for multi-brand MHEs. Recognising customer pain points, we expanded into manufacturing stackers and scissor lifts. Today, our products are operational across almost every state in India and in various industry verticals.

Could you please share with us some of the new developments in your company in the last two years?

AVCON now offers a complete range of electric and semi-electric stackers. We have also newly added a range of shop floor cranes that are highly preferred by our customers for handling critical components. Our continuous R&D efforts focus on developing new solutions and moving towards automation to enhance customer satisfaction. We have adopted advanced AC motor technology for our drives, developed locally to reduce import dependency and improve serviceability.

How is the demand for your MHE products & solutions from various end-user industries?

The demand for our MHE products is rapidly increasing across multiple industry verticals. To meet this growing demand, we are opening a new manufacturing unit in Bhiwandi, which is five times the size of our current facility. This expansion will enable us to meet customer needs more effectively and offer our new product range with significantly shorter delivery times.

How is the MHE market in India? What factors are driving the industry?

There is a huge scope in Indian industry for the MHE market to meet ever growing consumption of products by the domestic market itself. MHE will become one of the biggest industries in the coming years to meet global requirements of manufacturing and storage for raw material as well as finished goods. With India to become a global manufacturing hub MHE will become the backbone for achieving the vision.

What are emerging trends in the material handling equipment industry?

To become a leading source for engineering goods, we must embrace automation and technology upgrades. With tight manufacturing timelines, it is important to transition from manual to digital and automated processes. This shift ensures standardization and accurate record-keeping for future process replication. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are emerging as key technologies in the material handling space.

What is the effect of automation and digitalisation on material handling processes?

Unmanned manufacturing operations, once a theoretical concept, are now a well-executed reality. Safety has become the highest priority in every organisation, with a noticeable reduction in human effort and deskilling for process standardization across the manufacturing sector.

What are the key challenges faced by SMEs like you? What are your expectations from the new Union Government?

Subsidies for capital expenditures are currently one of the biggest challenges for most SMEs. With rising real estate costs, investments in technology and machinery are becoming increasingly volatile for these businesses.

What are your growth plans?

Our new factory, which is five times larger than our existing unit, will become operational in July, increasing our capacity by sevenfold. We are continuously upgrading our product offerings and will soon introduce a customised solution software to enhance the customer experience in selecting equipment.