- VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India Mini equipment finds application in various types of infrastructure segments like roads, railways, metro-rail construction, airports, ports, irrigation, bridges, tunnels, industrial projects, irrigation, mega projects like refinery and power (hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, thermal,gas based, wind), residential and commercial building construction, RMCs, water conservation, drainage, retaining walls, etc. VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India; Member of Governing Council, ICEMA; and Chairman of Mechanisation Committee, Builders Association of India, shares more on the market for mini equipment and the company’s offerings in the segment... How do you view the current market for mini equipment in India? The customers want to de-risk when it comes to capital investment and they are looking for alternative solutions on rental, leasing, etc. If they are forced to buy, they would like to keep their investments minimum and buy machines which can be versatile and can be used in many projects. Therefore, we expect that all entry level equipment to have a bigger requirement during this current economic scenario. Introduce us to your recent launches in this segment. IIn the mini equipment segment, Schwing Stetter India has launched the machines of Schwing stationary concrete pumps like BP350DXT, SP1015HD, SP1420D, Schwing truck mounted concrete boom pump S17, S20, Stetter compact concrete batching plant CP18, Stetter mobile batching plants M21Z, M25Z, M30Z, Stetter concrete transit mixer – Nimo, Stetter self-loading mixers of SLM2200, SLM4000, Stetter self-propelled mixers of SPM2200, SPM4000 and Stetter concrete recycling plant RA6. Which mini equipment categories have seen continuous growth in the past couple of years? For which categories do you foresee demand in the near future? All our mini equipment like Schwing stationary concrete pumps, Schwing truck mounted concrete boom pump, Stetter compact concrete batching plant, Stetter mobile batching plants, Stetter concrete transit mixer, Stetter self-loading mixers, Stetter self-propelled mixers and Stetter concrete recycling plant has seen a considerable demand in various infrastructure projects and are in a constant growth pattern. The demand for this category is bound to increase multi-fold in the near future. The growth of the mini construction equipment market is limited as they are niche products with specific applications. What are the strategies applied by the company to overcome these challenges? The strategies applied are to fulfil the feedback received from customers, operators and from project sites. The niche product applications gave us the opportunity to create such unique products. To explain further, Schwing truck mounted concrete boom pump S20 is a revolution in the urban class of machines, Schwing S20 has a 20-m boom with a combined – RZ fold. The advantage of this design of the boom is that the unfolding height is only 3.85 m. So, this can be utilised in extremely cramped spaces like tunnels, low-roofed areas, etc. The pump can be mounted on two axle chassis of all leading manufacturers. Its outriggers enable it to be placed and operated in the most cramped locations. The high capacity oil cooler and optional 800 litre water tank increase its operating time and the higher capacity splitter gearbox enables mounting of bigger hydraulic pumps. This leads to high output with lower heat generation, and hence, lower wear and tear.