|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Perished goods will keep reducing, resulting in growth”
|
|
Monday, 25 May, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d  Ingersoll Rand’s two leading brands Trane and Thermo King have been instrumental in bringing about a transformation in temperature-controlled systems for food and beverage. The company holds a preferred supplier position with its customers in India market while giving innovation and product performance prime importance. Among other things, the company is known for its commitment to environment in terms of usage of green gases and efficient products to get a better share in the market against competition. Sudarshan Ananth, territory VP and business head, HVAC & Transport, India Climate Business Unit, Ingersoll Rand, in an email interaction with Nandita Vijay shares details. Excerpts:
Give us a peek into the offerings by Ingersoll Rand in the food and beverage sector.
Our organisation is over 100 years old that has held market leading position with a strong technology focus through the decades that defined HVAC standards. Trane, the world's largest independent HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) company, understands the issues associated with critical conditions of the food and beverage industry. From simple warehousing to complex food processing plants, Trane develops appropriate integrated low temperature systems meeting the air distribution, temperature, and humidity and filtration requirements and complying with good engineering practices and local codes. Our focus on energy efficiency and safety in products started way before others in market began to recognise the need for it.
Food and beverage processors are the third largest industrial users of energy, behind petroleum refining and manufacturing of computer and electronic products.
Today, energy conservation has become critical aspect for a vast majority of India Inc. and most of these organisations are willing to go the extra mile to achieve optimum levels of efficiency. As suppliers, we are therefore ready to deliver to this customer need in a comprehensive manner.
Ingersoll Rand’s Trane has some unique product offerings which cater to large, medium and small industries, food & beverage, warehouse, hotels, offices, healthcare, retail, data centre & telecom, residential and transportation. The investment impetus and focus from government and private sectors has provided us with the opportunity to offer our widest range of HVAC products catering to all customer needs. In the present market scenario, we foresee the demand for HVAC products to rise pushing our organic growth.
Which are the products most in demand?
In F&B industry the cooling requirement is diverse and complex. Trane products are used in relatively simple warehousing to very complex food processing requirements.
Trane focusses on four broad parameters. These cover low cost of ownership (high energy efficiency), very high reliability, compliance to regulations and safety codes besides, best in class control systems.
Trane has a complete range of products that are used in the F&B industry which includes air cooled and water cooled chillers, air handlers, control systems and products for comfort applications.
Our new introductions include Trane water-cooled screw chiller with AFD (RTHD). This best in class Chiller offers part-load energy efficiency and reduces annual operating and lifecycle costs. Compared with fixed speed chiller designs, the RTHD with AFD offers a part-load efficiency improvement of 20-35% while maintaining the same COP efficiency level. This will typically result in an annualised energy saving of 10-15% in chiller energy consumption.
The industrial-grade design of the helical rotary chiller and its versatile operation capability make it an ideal choice for application for a wide spectrum of building such as industrial plants, commercial/office buildings, hospitals, hotel and schools.
The Trane air-cooled screw chiller Sintesis was created out of the commitment towards energy efficiency. This air-cooled screw chiller comes with three different types of efficiency level chillers with the highest EER up to 3.4 and ESEER up to 4.8. Trane has focussed on providing sound levels at the lowest level with an extra low noise. Trane AFD fitted on this chiller provides an excellent part load efficiency resulting on a low total cost of ownership. The chiller comes with superior energy efficiency at a low noise level and it is smart and versatile with the highest reliability in the industry.
Cold Cube containers under the Thermo King products, which is also an Ingersoll brand, are used for transport refrigeration in self-powered and vehicle-powered mode. Thermo King has recently introduced a portable cooling solution called Cold Cube. This is a container which is portable and has the capability to cool or freeze. This product can be run through both AC/DC applications. This cold cube container comes in capacities of 140/330/915 litre.
How is the company faring in the wake of stiff competition?
We are privileged to hold a preferred supplier position with our customers in India market and our status in India is aligned with our global vision to be a vendor of choice for our users and end-customers. Our innovation and product performance give us an edge. Our new efficient series of chillers and controls applications are the best in the industry. Our commitment to environment in terms of usage of green gases and efficient products help us to get a better share in the market against competition.
What are the plans of the company to grab a fair share of the market?
Our solution-centric approach is helping us to grab a good share in the market. We are one of the top HVAC company in the industry to have products for all the needs and also to integrate it. The product bundling initiatives to sell HVAC solution rather than just selling a chiller or controller is a unique strength we have as an organisation. All our customers whom we have partnered are happy with this approach and we expect we will continue this approach to have a fair share of the market.
Would the company look at investing for plant expansion here? What are the products designed and manufactured in India?
We are constantly looking out for manufacturing products locally; currently most of our Thermo King products and unitary products are manufactured in our state-of-the-art green plant at Chennai. In the coming years we will be looking at more products to be manufactured from our Chennai facility that would cater to the needs of the Indian market.
With the Union government’s programme of Make in India and Innovate in India, how does Ingersoll intend to take this forward?
We welcome the Make in India initiative by the government as it can be instrumental in spurring a good growth in both manufacturing and processing sectors.
Our product portfolio covers the entire requirement of the manufacturing and process industry. Our innovative products will help these industries in having a low total cost of ownership of their HVAC needs.
How would you describe the food and beverage Indian scene for chillers and air temperature- controlled systems?
Food and beverage is one of the fastest growing industries and we are witnessing equal amount of interest from both the government and the industry towards its growth.
The visible trends are that today 1/3 of the perishable goods that are produced are perished due to non-availability of cold chains and reefer solutions. This will get changed in the coming years and the amount of goods that will get perished will keep reducing and this may result in expansion of food processing industry.
Due to bigger spending in infrastructure, the average truck speed will increase and the reefer movement cost will sharply go down.
Food processing standards will become more stringent and this may need to have top class control applications.
The government is planning to set up 30 food parks with huge investments.
Increased urbanisation and change in lifestyles may spur the growth for more processed food.
Beverage market is growing rapidly in the alcohol segment as well as carbonated category due to change in demographics.
What we see from Trane perspective is food and beverage industry capacities are set to expand and there will be a need for more equipments and sophisticated controls systems. Our current offering in the chillers, air handlers and wireless controllers will be ready to meet the customer requirements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|