 Godrej's Mumbai plant. |
This week, Forkliftaction.com News speaks to Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd's marketing manager, V G Kulkarni, about his company.Q. What are your company's products and services?Godrej, a 106-year-old engineering colossus, is a highly respected household name in India. Located on 3,500 acres (12 sq km) of company-owned land in Mumbai, the main facility manufactures diverse products ranging from consumer products to home appliances, furniture, security equipment, industrial equipment and chemical process columns. The USD1 billion Godrej group has five other factories in India and manufacturing facilities in Oman, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
The Materials Handling Equipment Division offers:
Godrej forklifts- Diesel forklifts: 1.5 tonne to 20 tonne capacity
- LPG/petrol forklifts: 1.5 tonne to 3 tonne capacity
- Electric forklifts: 1 tonne to 3 tonne capacity
Godrej warehousing equipment - Pallet trucks
- Manual stackers
- Semi-electric stackers
- Electric stackers (fork-over, straddle and side-stabiliser versions)
Godrej after market offerings- Spare parts
- Maintenance contracts
- Product reconditioning and upgrades
- Exchange schemes
- Wide range of attachments
- Customised training programs
Q. Give a brief history of your company's involvement in the materials handling industry?Forty-two years ago, Godrej joined with Clark Material Handling, of the USA, to pioneer materials handling in India. The first machines produced had automatic torque converter transmission, in line with Godrej's ideology of offering contemporary technology to the market. Today, the modern, 12,000 m2 forklift manufacturing facility in Mumbai can deliver 125 forklifts every month.
 A Godrej electric stacker. |
With a mission to provide complete solutions to "lift, shift & move", Godrej added an indigenously manufactured range of warehousing products, such as pallet trucks and stackers.
An undisputed market leader in India, Godrej is certified ISO: 9001 and ISO: 14001, by RW-TUV, of Germany. per cent
Q. What is your company's current position in the regional market? How about globally?Godrej is the market leader in India, with more than 50per cent of the market. Almost 25per cent of production is exported every year and the company has established dealers in most Middle East countries and is rapidly establishing a presence in South Asia, South-East Asia, Africa and Europe.
Q. What makes your company outstanding in your market?- Extensive market presence and coverage with 14 company branches
- Sales & service engineers and technicians in every branch and an established dealer network.
- A strong in-house design team capable of providing customised handling solutions, product modifications, indigenous attachments and accessories to customers.
- Large, dedicated manufacturing infrastructure with state-of-the-art machinery and highly skilled technical manpower.
Q. Tell us about your company's future plans?Godrej is growing at a rapid pace and aims to double turnover every three years. While the company consolidates leadership in India it expects to corner
 A Godrej diesel forklift. |
a five per cent market share in chosen markets by 2008.
The company will introduce a host of new products, three wheel counterbalanced electric trucks, diesel forklifts with hydrostatic transmissions, and electric forklift trucks with AC motor technology in India shortly.
With its aggressive push into the warehousing equipment business, Godrej expects to come into the league of the top 20 manufacturers in the world.