Manitowoc celebrates innovation and customer value at bC India

At bC India 2014 Manitowoc introduced two new Potain topless tower cranes, displayed one of the most successful Grove cranes of all time, and presented an innovative Potain self-erecting crane. The company’s outdoor booth (Stand 722) also staged a number of customer handovers, presentations, product launches and media events.

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Raman Joshi, managing director of Manitowoc Cranes India, said bC India was firmly established as India’s leading construction equipment trade show, and the company’s participation at the event was designed to outline its commitment to its customers and the industry.

“At bC India we clearly demonstrated to the Indian crane industry how committed we are to innovation and customer value,” he said. “We also emphasized how those two principles are connected. At Manitowoc, we produce innovative cranes that are more productive and profitable for our customers, meaning we can improve return on investment and overall value for our customers. Innovation and customer value are what drives Manitowoc, and the products on show at bC India demonstrate that perfectly.”

Potain MCT 205

Towering over the Manitowoc Cranes booth at bC India were two new Potain tower cranes. Both cranes are topless MCT models built at the company’s factory in Pune. Larger of the two is the MCT 205 which has a 10 t maximum capacity and can lift 1.75 t at its maximum jib end of 65 m. With a focus on fast erection, the complete upperworks for the MCT 205 can be assembled in four lifts. The heaviest group of components is just 7.9 t and the full 65 m jib can be placed in a single lift. Attention has been paid to transportation too, with three jib sections able to fit inside a standard container.

The unit on the stand at bC India 2014 was sold to Talib & Shamsi Constructions Pvt. Ltd., a Mumbai-based contractor. The company’s two owners, Zafar Shamsi and Amjad Shamsi, traveled to the show to inspect their latest purchase and Amjad Shamsi said the company was looking forward to putting the new unit to work.

“This newest generation of Potain tower cranes are strong, easy to assemble and offer great control, which will enable us to keep pace with the growing time pressures of job sites in India.”

“Topless cranes are still relatively uncommon in India,” added Zafar Shamsi. “But our company is known for being a market leader, so it’s important for us to use high-quality and modern equipment to help us complete jobs faster.”

Potain MCT 85

The second topless model from Potain making its debut in India was the MCT 85. Smaller than the MCT 205, it has a 5 t maximum capacity and an ability to lift 1.1 t at its jib end of 52 m. This practical unit is efficiently easy to transport, needing just two trucks for the entire top portion of the crane.

Again, on-site assembly is simplified thanks to the pre-assembly work done at the Potain factory in Pune. And, like the MCT 205, the MCT 85 can be operated as an internal climbing crane, positioned within the building it is constructing. Mounted on 1.2 m mast sections, the crane offers a maximum free-standing height of 33.2 m when operating internally.

The MCT 85 at bC India 2014 was sold to SJ Contracts Pvt. Ltd., a construction company based in Pune. The company’s owner, Sarubh Jangle, was among the dozens of Manitowoc customers at the show and he was delighted to formally receive his latest Potain purchase.

“We really like the abilities the new MCT 85 offers,” he said. “For instance, it can be erected at free-standing heights of up to 47 m, which means we can go higher than other cranes in this class without needing to tie the crane to the building. This saves us time and money.”

Grove GMK6300L

Aside from presenting its latest innovations, Manitowoc also showed one great example of the company’s commitment to bringing value to its customers. The Grove GMK6300L is one of the most successful all-terrain cranes of all time, with hundreds of these units now working across the globe. This 300 t capacity unit has a class-leading main boom of 80 m, meaning it has a powerful combination of reach and capacity, and most crucially that reach is available for many jobs without requiring the time or the expense of rigging a fly jib.

The machine shown on the Manitowoc booth at bC India was in the colors of Shri Dinesh Cranes, one of two GMK6300L units the Thane-based rental company owns. Sumit Joshi, director of Shri Dinesh Cranes, said the GMK6300L allows his company to do more.

“We keep our GMK6300L cranes busy and our customers like them because they’re compact, easy to get on to site, great lifters and fast workers,” he said. “We’ve built our business by delivering reliable service to our customers. The GMK6300L can get more work done in a shorter timeframe, which is better for us and better for our customers.”

Potain Igo 26

Rounding out the product offering on the Manitowoc Cranes booth was a Potain Igo 26 self-erecting crane. While hugely popular in Europe for work on smaller job sites, self-erecting cranes remain relatively uncommon in India. However, as the country’s construction output levels continue to rise, the industry is looking for technology that offers greater efficiency for building operations, and self-erecting cranes are the perfect answer.

The Igo 26 from Potain has a 3.2 t maximum capacity and a working hook height of 20 m. With its 26 m jib and an ability to lift up to 1.1 t at the end of the jib, the Potain Igo 26 can handle almost all of the lifting work required on a smaller construction project from a single position. Because self-erecting cranes remain relatively new to so many customers in India, Manitowoc ran live demonstrations of the crane’s capabilities during bC India for those who were interested.

The unit at bC India 2014 was ordered by Global Buildestate Projects Pvt., Ltd., a civil contractor based in Jaipur. Rajiv Kumar Vijay, one of the directors at the company, said that Potain self-erecting cranes compare favorably with more traditional alternatives because they can be used from the first day of a project – moving materials or pouring concrete – and they are also easy to move around site.

“Once you compare a self-erecting crane with alternative material-handling options – like forklifts, material hoists or old fashioned manual labor, then it’s easy to see the advantages,” he said.

“We can drive our crane on to site, set it up – even in a really right space – and cover a job site that reaches over 50 m from end-to-end picking and placing everything that’s needed,” added fellow director Vikas Garg.

Looking ahead

After a successful bC India 2014 and with an overall positive outlook for the India market, Raman Joshi said Manitowoc was well-placed to enjoy a strong 2015 in the country.

“We’re looking forward to reinforcing our position in India in 2015,” he said. “Our factory at Pune is continuing to develop and our long-standing dealer partners give us excellent support. On top of that, our cranes are recognized by customers for their innovation and productivity. By focusing on our customers above everything else, we’ve been able to build a market-leading position in India and it’s our goal to maintain and grow that position in 2015.”