- SA Mohan,
CEO, Maini Materials Movement

What are the trends in material handling & logistics?

The realm of intra logistics is always growing and about to change the material handling business industry as you know it. On top of the mind comes the increasing size of the e-commerce marketplace, leading to greater push in real-time package tracking while the need to optimise operations indicating improved supply chain analytics. The end users like Amazon and Google have publicly claimed that the future needs would be ways to make material handling more automated, whether that means robotic order-picking systems or high-speed, economical automation for loading and unloading trucks. Also the 3D printing technology will be a must have for a smart warehouse while low cost sensor devices indispensable.

What are the new products?

Last year, we have expanded our product portfolio with the introduction of Yale Maini Reach truck, which is now being manufactured locally and launch of Yale Maini diesel forklift trucks under 2-tonne and 3-tonne capacity. This is an outcome of the strategic alliance with NMHG, USA, designed to meet the specific requirements of the Indian market. The Yale-Maini range

of forklifts and reach trucks manufactured by Maini Materials in their Bangalore facility meets the needs of Indian industry by using the best manufacturing processes of global manufacturer Yale.

Has there been an increase in demand?

The present market size of MHE industry in India is estimated to be around Rs 23 billion (approx), growing annually at 10 %. This reflects in the phenomena of embracing the concept of smart warehousing through - implementation of automation, verticalisation and lean design supported by the MHE industry.

Are imports hurting domestic manufacturing?

In terms of high end material handling equipment like reach trucks, order pickers and very narrow aisle trucks imported brands are preferred by most of the industries, while for the rest including pallet trucks, dock-levellers, lift tables, stackers, fork-lifts trucks, tow trucks, over 80% of the market is captured by domestic MHE manufacturers. Local manufacturing of co-branded Yale Maini RCF forklift and reach truck enables Indian customers to avail European design trucks at competitive price points.