BC India Show Preview

Holding the show biennially, the organisers intend for bC India to become a new focal point in the country that will bring together the great and the good of the construction machinery industry.

Covering 80,000 sq m and with 400 exhibitors already signed up, the organisers are expecting big things. The event will also feature both paid-for and free seminar programmes on subjects ranging from hybridisation of construction equipment, key safety issues, and an infrastructure conference focused on upcoming opportunities.

With many firms introducing established products into the booming Indian market for the first time, the results should be interesting.

Cranes Today looks at some of the exhibitors and their plans for the Indian market.

ACE
Ace, Action Construction Equipment, claims the title of India’s largest mobile crane manufacturing company. It is one of the leading builders of the uniquely Indian pick and carry tractor crane.

The company is leaping at the opportunity presented by the launch of BC India. It will show 14 products in all, including six cranes. At the forefront will be four new product launches, which the company describes as ‘game changers’ for the Indian market.

The company will launch two new pick and carry cranes, the 12t FX 120 and 16t SX 160. Both cranes are designed with a focus on improved safety parameters and improved operator visibility. The company has worked to lower the crane’s centre of gravity, in order to improve stability.

The company has recently started producing fixed tower cranes in India. It will be showcasing the new TC 5040, with a 50m jib, 40m freestanding height, and 6t lifting capacity.

ACE has also entered the crawler crane sector. At BC India it will show its first locally produced crawler, the ACX 750. The crane can lift 75t, and is powered by a Cummins engine.

The final products in the company’s crane range will be one of its mobile tower cranes, an MTC 3625, fitted with a 25m jib and able to lift 2.5t, and the a 23t TM 230 truck mounted crane.

Other products on display will include forklift trucks, backhoe and wheel loaders, vibratory soil compactors, tandem vibratory rollers, and a motor grader.

Electromech
Electromech had a fruitful year in a 2010. Launched in 1979, the Pune-based gantry crane company has grown to be India’s largest crane manufacturer, and at BC India this year, it will launch a new crane aimed at satisfying India’s rampant demand for bridge building equipment.

Last year, Electromech formed two key partnerships, signing a deal with Stahl Cranesystems to manufacture a range of explosion proof (EX) cranes for the oil and gas and petroleum sectors, and a deal with Abus to lead the launch of the firm’s HB Cranesystems venture, focused on developing light weight crane systems for the automotive and ancillary industries.

At the same time, the firm has worked to develop its manufacturing facilities. It now has the capacity to build 2000 cranes a year. At the end of the year, it launched Cranedge, a new service organization dedicated exclusively to providing after sales service for crane customers.

The Indian government aims to build close to 5,000km of roads over the next five years, suggesting targets as high as 20km of new roads a day and budgeting half a trillion dollars for India’s road network.

One of the core uses for Electromech’s gantry cranes is in lifting modular prefab concrete sections for bridges, a key element of the road building programme. At BC India, the company will be demonstrating a new 5t gantry crane aimed at the bridge building sector. Rather than just setting the crane up and leaving potential customers to inspect it, the company will be running a bridge building game that will allow customers to test their skills as a crane op and get a feel for the product’s radio remote control system. There will also be, the company says, a chance to win some ‘delightful surprise gifts’.

Manitowoc
No stranger to the Indian crane market, Manitowoc will be in attendance to strengthen its position in India.

Managing director of Manitowoc Cranes India, Raman Joshi, commented on this saying: “We have long seen the potential of India and have invested heavily here. We’re now seeing our vision becoming a reality as the country starts to harness its true potential.”

Manitowoc will be showing one of its mobile cranes along with two new cranes from the company’s Potain tower crane brand, the Igo 32 self-erecting crane and the MC 125 top-slewing tower crane.

The MC 125 tower crane replaces the Potain tower crane series’ existing MC 115, and will be manufactured at the firm’s factory in Pune, India, and at the Zhangjiagang plant in China.

Marketed as a cost-effective lifting tool with industry-leading performance, the new crane is available with five different boom lengths up to 60m.

It can lift a 6t load at its maximum boom length when fitted with the optional double hoist trolley, or 3t when used with a single hoist trolley.

Two versions of Potain’s 24 kW 33PC15 hoist are available with the MC 125.

The MC 125 features a single-tie jib that can be assembled on the ground and lifted to reach a freestanding height of 44m.

Pin connections between the 1.6m x 1.6m mast sections and lightweight components aid easy assembly and allow the crane’s height to be increased over 44m by telescoping and tying off on nearby structures.

Palfinger
Austrian-based loader crane specialist manufacturer Palfinger sees BC India as a valuable opportunity for a triple launch: of loader cranes as a concept, of itself as a relatively new entrant to the country, and of a new straightboom aimed specifically at the requirements of local users.

Palfinger believes that India’s infrastructure and industrial demand is at a point of peak growth. The company is eager to take the opportunity to get close to users within the country’s construction sector.

Palfinger’s roots are in the manufacture of knuckleboom cranes for primarily European customers. Over recent years, it has built its manufacturing base in Asia, and developed a new range of cranes aimed at Asian markets. At BC India it will be launching its first “Made in India” truck mounted straight boom crane. The new 8t capacity straight boom crane will be mounted on a chassis built by Indian based manufacturing giant Tata. The gross vehicle weight for the mounted crane will be just 11t.

Alongside the new straight boom truck mounted crane will be one of the company’s more traditional products, a heavy duty 38t capacity Epsilon knucklebo om recycling crane, mounted on a 25t GVW MAN truck. Finally, the company will show a truck with both a 10t knuckleboom crane and 13t hookloader, aimed at the construction sector.

HBC-Radiomatic
The inaugural bC India will allow attendees a first look at HBC-Radiomatic’s new Micron 7 transmitter.

Experienced users of the Micron series will realise the most obvious development is new remote’s integrated colour LCD.

HBC-Radiomatic’s Micron 7 also includes a the vibration alarm, which in tandem with the colour display, warns the user of critical machine conditions, such as crane overloading.

The transmitter borrows a few improvements from the re-launched Micron 5 series; most notably the inclusion of 10 two-step push buttons along with a rotary switch, an optional HBC Smart Card for controlling access to specific user-defined functions and the radiomatic iLog electronic key, which eliminates time-consuming set up processes for replacement handsets.

Also on the stand, HBC-Radiomatic will be showing its Spectrum D transmitter, which features a 3.5” colour LCD.

Dynaset
As relative newcomers to the Indian market, Dynaset is looking to source new Asian distributors for its products.

One product of note for crane users is the Dynaset HMAG hydraulic magnet, which is available for truck cranes and construction cranes with lifting capacities between two and five tonnes.

The Dynaset HMAG features a powerful hydraulic magnet generator, with the unit magnetised using the hydraulics of the crane to which it is attached.

Available in 700mm, 900mm, 1200mm and 1400mm diameters, the HMAG comes with hose attachments compatible with the hydraulic hose assemblies of most cranes, including the most common ¾ inch hoses.

Automatic control valves are used to control the oil flow and pressure through the hoses, to help quick and easy operation, attachment and detachment of the unit.

Dynaset’s HMAG is available with a traditional chain attachment, which allows the magnet to swing freely, or a mushroom attachment suitable for use with hydraulic grabs.