Kelley Material Handling Equipment India Pvt. Ltd., Completing A Successful Decade of Excellence in India

"To be successful, a company should design and develop its products considering the requirements of the customers and providing the richest customer experience. Open-mindedness and enthusiasm in all our employees are the key driving forces to success,"

Piush Goyal, Managing Director, Kelley India.

Completing a decade of its supremely transitional journey, Kelley Material Handling Equipment India Pvt. Ltd. is the Indian arm of Kelley® which along with Serco® is a global leader in Loading Dock Equipment and HVLS Fans. World's first counter balanced dock leveler was invented by Kelley in 1953 in USA and now Kelley and Serco have become generic names in this industry.

Manufacturing world-class products after intense research and development at their headquarters at Dallas, Texas, USA, Kelley's core competencies are born out of a rich history of innovation, quality, superior engineering and several industry firsts.

In its lifetime, Kelley has strived to manufacture dock equipment that makes the workplace safer, more productive and more energy-efficient which results in an unmatched customer experience. Their continued focus towards health & safety and ethical & social responsibility, makes Kelley and Serco even stronger brand offerings extending beyond loading dock equipment including energy-saving HVLS (High Volume and Low Speed) Fans for warehousing and manufacturing facilities.

Kelley® India is wholly owned subsidiary of 4Front Engineered Solutions, Dallas, Texas, USA (part of USD 10.0 billion ASSA ABLOY group, which owns globally leading brands Kelley, Serco, Dynaco, Amarr, TKO and Ditec etc.) providing one of the world's most comprehensive range of entrance automation products and warehouse solutions, supported by dedicated specialists with nearly 200 years of cumulative expertise.

The Best-in-Class Big HVLS Fans, Dock Levelers and Edge of Docks "EODs" manufactured under names of the globally leading brands Kelley® and Serco® have proved to be the game-changer in factories, warehouses / 3PL, large educational institutes, sports complexes, airports, automobile dealerships, civil/industrial contractors and retail chains etc. due to their energy-saving technology and noiseless operation. This also results in the fact that of hundreds of thousands of equipment supplied globally, over 4,000 Kelley equipment are already operating satisfactorily in India.

Man Behind Brand of the Year

Piush Goyal is a 1984-88 Mechanical Engineering graduate and he is currently the Managing Director (India and SAARC Countries) of Kelley India.

Prior to his current role, Piush had the opportunity to work with many global brands viz., JCB, Aquarius-Putzmeister, Escorts Ltd and Blue Star in different capacities during all these years. As a Turn-Around and Startup specialist, his core strength lies with the long term and mid-term strategic approach with seamless execution. He strongly believes in Participative Management while leading from the front, a member of Steering Committee of CII "Confederation of Indian Industry" for EXCON  and a Golf player on weekends to stay fit. To discover more insights about the Brand Of The Year from the horse's mouth, The CEO Magazine got a chance to have a conversation with Piush Goyal for our readers:

TCM: When and how did the idea coin to set up your brand? What is your role in the company today?

Piush Goyal: As we know, Kelley and Serco have been heading this industry for many decades in the USA and Canada markets. The brand incepted from the need as we discovered that many clients from India had to import world-class machines from the USA and there was no world-class manufacturer available in India who had that technology to offer such Advanced and Quality machines.

Filling this gap, Kelley established its office in NCR in November 2010. Since then, there has been no looking back while we continue to grow and have become a brand of the first choice in this field. My role is that of a chief strategist for successfully establishing the brands Kelley and Serco in India and SAARC Countries. Our next milestone is soon to set up the manufacturing facility in India to cater to the industries in the Indian subcontinent.

TCM: In this competitive business ecosystem, how do you build a successful customer base?

Piush Goyal: At Kelley India, we are robust believers of one-to-one interaction with the customers to ensure that we may better understand the customer's requirement and provide the best possible solution accordingly. We believe in giving a personal touch to our customers through the finest services by even going an extra mile if required, to show them that "We Care That's Why We Are Everywhere". We also follow the dealership models to expand our reach and train their teams to deliver the same quality of service to the customers.

We are currently associated with logistics, manufacturing, e-commerce and retail industries as we deliver to our clientele inclusive of Walmart, Flipkart, Reliance, Tetra Pak, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Daimler, Hero MotoCorp, ZF, ABB, Indo Space, Decathlon, Blue Star, Jungheinrich, Kobelco, Tata Hitachi, Alstom, Siemens, Danfoss, Infosys, Whirlpool, Panasonic, Hitachi, Eicher, AO Smith, Mahindra and Kalyani Group etc. in India.

TCM: How has the firm technologically adopted to the latest needs of the market?

Piush Goyal: With the strong foundation of our USA headquarters full-fledged research and development centre, we keep on innovating technologies based on VOC (Voice of the Customer). We have around 150 patents and 125 trademarks which makes us world leaders in our product. One of the many positive results of our VOC based innovation is the invention of Air-Powered Dock Leveler in 1994, which continues to be the most selling Dock Leveler in the world.

As our global President and Managing Director, Mr Michael Eastabrook mentions "Kelley and Serco have a unique value proposition that is truly focused on Voice of the Customer (VOC) and total lifetime cost of ownership. Customers are always first in our design considerations and in our effort to innovate".

TCM: How are you strategizing your company's business model shortly?

Piush Goyal: IoT is the next disruption which will be a strong customer attraction factor in 2021. Kelley India would keep focussing on offering its best-in-class products and service to our customers. We will keep treating all our stakeholders as our family which forms the base of our core values, i.e., Empowerment, Innovation and Integrity.

TCM: What is the nature of hurdles you faced in your journey, has it prepared you for better? 

Piush Goyal: The major challenge was to change the customer's perception which existed in the past. It was also challenging to educate customers about latest technologies such as Lambda beam design, robotically welded chassis, single push button operation, easy clean pit, lug style hinges and high-density steel chequered platforms with no joints in our dock leveler.

When Kelley introduced the HVLS Fan concept in the Indian market, customers used to compare the age-old wall mounted fans with the costlier HVLS Fans. A single 24 feet diameter Kelley HVLS Fan can cover an area of up to 30,000 sq. feet depending upon different applications almost noiselessly resulting in a huge amount of energy saving due to its world-class technology designed at our US HQ. We have successfully been able to educate the customers well and come so far that now people know the difference and the value addition due to a facility in terms of these disruptive technological requirements.

During the process of introducing air-powered dock leveler, which is the world's most selling platform, it also faced issues in acceptance by Indian customers as they had been using old technologies and the competition till date continues manufacturing this old technology due to easy acceptance and resistance to change against the disruptive Kelley technology. Thanks to my very knowledgeable team, those challenges have become our strengths in India today. Customers ask for Kelley or a Serco Dock Leveler or an HVLS Fan due to our safety, quality, reliability, productivity, operational ease and above all world-class product support.

TCM: 2020 has created hostile situations for many brands, what are the challenges you were facing and how do you aim to overcome them?

Piush Goyal: Kelley, being a global brand and multi-billion-dollar company, has not witnessed or felt any severe impact on its revenues amid cash flow implications led by the crisis across the extended supply chain. Our global supply chain management treats the entire value chain as an integrated whole and works to integrate processes efficiently. This also helps us keep costs to a minimum and ensure we meet the challenges associated with global trade and its changing scenario.

To ensure greater customer service during the crisis, we provided management and employees with all the necessary knowledge. Both management and front-line employees must be involved in awareness, prevention, and business continuity protocols. An SOP of prepared crisis management responses also ensured that our front-line team members and service engineers confidently answered and responded to all customer queries in a realistic, helpful and consistent way.

Considering the current scenario we are witnessing that many companies are shifting their manufacturing base from China to India. And we look forward to the strong growth of Kelley and Serco as the demand for the quality and durable products will rise in coming months. We also expect growth in the E-Commerce and warehousing industry. We are regularly interacting with all our stakeholders and all our employees have been trained to support customers in all possible ways.

What's the most important thing you're working on right now and how are you making it happen?

Piush Goyal: Kelley India is in an advanced stage to establish its manufacturing facility which includes many cross-functional activities along with establishing/expanding many departments. With the support of our US headquarter, we are expanding our team of highly qualified engineers and also interacting with our vendors for the development of our set standard of high-quality equipment. Employee motivation and enthusiasm plays an important role in such activities. Moving forward, we would keep focussing on our employees, the places where they conduct business and our vendors to ensure that everyone is treated fairly—and not just on the bottom-line profit. This starts with compensating them fairly and providing important benefits. It also includes supporting them through training and education that help develop new skills for a rapidly changing world.

TCM: What are the key considerations while developing a successful product?

Piush Goyal: We believe that a product qualifies on 5 critical parameters and such products will surely make a right impact on target customers:

Safety: Safety should be the utmost priority while developing a product. We are proud of the fact that our products are considered as the safest products in the industry.

Productivity: A Customer using a product should be sure that his productivity will improve due to superior design and world-class ingredients. Kelley and Serco products have proven to be the key contributors to productivity at customer sites.

Reliability: All the customers should be able to rely on every product while using it. All our products are known for their reliability globally.

Operational Ease: Mostly the operators are not so qualified professionals and hence the machine operation should not be complicated that he find difficult to operate. Kelley and Serco machines are fun to operate which leads to increased productivity and safety.

Low Maintenance: A high-quality product with least maintenance is what manufacturers should look for while designing. This is the key parameter Kelley and Serco are known for.

TCM: What is the corporate ethos of your successful brand?

Piush Goyal: It is the people who make the company a successful brand. We believe that the following Corporate Ethos is important in building a successful brand.

Engaged – Our team is proactive and curious, inspired by new technologies & ideas and passionate about sharing their expertise with the customers.

Open-minded – Being open-minded and listening to customers is the basis for creating innovative and future-proof solutions enhancing their unique business goals and processes; they always strive to find new and better ways of doing what they do.

Professional – Being professional and responsible is about seeing things from the customers' perspective and developing long-term, rewarding business relationships that help them achieve even better performance, access and convenience.

TCM: What are the core values you ensure are followed by the team?

Piush Goyal: With a successful history of rapid development, we, as part of ASSA ABLOY, are striving to ensure that the success of the group continues in the future. However, such growth shall always be achieved by complying with applicable rules and regulations.

Empowerment – We have trust in people. ASSA ABLOY and Kelley believe that their 49,500 worldwide employees can achieve great things; hence we generously give the responsibility and authority to act and provide opportunities. We value hard work and understand that failing means learning. We work together and grow as diverse perspectives meet and try to listen closely to the customers.

Innovation – We dare to change and dare to innovate products and industry. We use technology to fuel change and are not scared of uncertainty or of making tough decisions. We drive towards ambitions and goals with tomorrow in mind.

Integrity – We stand up for what's right. We are straightforward and tell it like it is. We are trustworthy, reliable and always keep our word. We strive to be responsible in every situation. We value results, not titles or backgrounds. We provide a safe and respectful work environment.

TCM: What does the future hold for the company?

Piush Goyal: Kelley India has its business plan ready for the next 10 years (for both our key brands Kelley and Serco), which includes some major decisions related to our world-class quality products. We are very sure that the company's growth and brand value will keep growing multi-fold.

TCM: What do you believe are the most important things to progress in a leadership position?

Piush Goyal: A leadership position brings a great amount of responsibility in any organization and it plays a key role in shaping its future. Every leader needs to have the ability to steer the people in the organization towards the achievement of the business goals, inspire them, drive the change and drive results.

To progress in a leadership position, I believe, one should be able to translate the company's vision into reality by believing in their team, understand them, recognize their achievements and most importantly be able to create unity in the workplace.

TCM: Kindly share a piece of advice would you like to offer to young entrepreneurs?

Piush Goyal: The only advice I would like to share would be that irrespective of the industry, the customer is the king who eventually pays our salary bill. Keeping customers on our forefront is the key to success. This is not accomplished completely if sustainability is not taken as a top priority.