Thermo King is a global market leader in transport refrigeration solutions with manufacturing facilities in the US, Europe & China. Thermo King in India offers a wide range of products & solutions imported from these factories, for applications in frozen & chill, hi-lift applications in airport, multi-temp applications, etc. Mr. Sanjeev Seth, Country Leader – Climate Solutions, Trane & Thermo King, India Territory & Saarc Markets, API SBU at Ingersoll Rand, discusses his views regarding the progress in the segment.
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Brief us your manufacturing program, salient product features & the recent developments.
Thermo King has recently started offering Telematics Solution to its customers in India, with which the customers can manage their fleet more efficiently. The Thermo King Telematics system enables the customer to monitor as well control the Thermo King Reefer units installed on their trucks from remote location.
Thermo King products are well known for its high reliability and durability standards. Thermo King Reefer units provide best in class performance with faster temperature pull down, better air flow, and option for tighter temperature control. These further supported with strong service network, the trucks fitted with Thermo King reefer units have very high up time and high utilization. The operating and maintenance cost for the customer are also very low with Thermo King Reefer units.
With Complete range of products for all kinds of transport refrigeration applications and with innovative solutions such as Telematics System, Multi-Temp units & ColdCube, supported with enhanced service support, Thermo King will continue its leadership position in the market.
Inform us the input drive power modes (electric/diesel/PTO) for the unit & the popular models.
Thermo King offers various types of Reefer units which includes Self Powered Reefer Units (T-Series Models), Vehicle Powered Reefer Units (V-Series & Ce Series Models) and Electric Reefer Units (B-Series Models).
The self-powered units have its own prime mover and are not dependent on the Truck Engine. These self-powered units are normally used for long haulage, primary distribution & transportation of large consignments of perishable goods.
The vehicle powered units take drive for compressor from the Truck Engine and are commonly used in last mile distribution or for secondary distribution.
Thermo King offers Electric Standby option as well in both these units, so that customers can operate these units by connecting to external power supply. These are very useful for customers to pre-cool the container before loading of cargo and to run the unit when the truck is waiting for unloading at warehouses, to save fuel consumed by diesel engine.
Thermo King also offers Complete Electric Operated Units for small trucks used in last mile distribution for fresh load application. The Model B-100 Electric Reefer unit, is driven by vehicle battery power and gives superior performance. It also helps customer to save on fuel and operating cost.
Depending on the applications, customers choose either Self Powered or Vehicle Powered or Electric operated unit. Thermo King Application team in India, works very closely with the Sales team and customers in providing guidance for selection of the right product based on customer requirement and applications.
Highlight product USPs, after sales service & technical support to body builders/end customers.
To maintain the quality of perishable goods it’s very important to maintain the temperature consistently during storage and transport of the good – must ensure uninterrupted cold chain.
Thermo King Reefer units are designed for high reliability and durability and provides very high uptime with lowest maintenance and operating cost to the customers. They also provide quick pull down – thanks to the efficient refrigeration system provided on Thermo King Reefer products.
On Self Power Unit of Thermo King, customer gets multiple advantages like longer intervals between schedule maintenance, lower fuel consumption with High efficient GreenTech engine, high performance air flow with faster pull down, etc. These provides high up time with lower operating and maintenance cost to the customer. Service diagnostic and troubleshooting codes built in to the Thermo King units, helps in quick and easy diagnostics and there by doing quick restoration of the units.
Thermo King is now also providing the option for temperature band to select during installation, with which the customer can either have precision control for high sensitive products or choose wider temperature band for less sensitive product. These options helps customer to further optimize & reduce on their operating cost.
With the new solution of Telematics system from Thermo King, customers could see the real time unit parameters, service alarm codes and also have 2Way communication to enable control of the unit from remote location. With Thermo King Telematics customer can also get customised reports which will enhance monitoring of cargo and improve the productivity.
What are the growth drivers for cold chain transport and more specifically the reefer vehicles?
According to a study done by IIM Kolkata, only 10% of the food is stored in cold storage. While India spent about INR 2400 crores for creating 7000 cold stores between 2007-2014, it is clearly not enough. Moreover, in a spread out country like India, a lot of food gets wasted during transportation due to inadequate cold chain infrastructure. According to reports at least 40 per cent of all fruit and vegetable is lost in India due to lack of refrigerated transport, poor roads and inclement weather. Wastage tends to move up the distribution chain due to broken cold chain. These factors are going to drive the demand for Cold Chain ware house and Refrigerated Trucks.
The major segments driving the demand for Reefer units like Dairy, Pharma, Poultry, etc., are expanding their market and geography driving the demand for Refrigerated trucks. We also see more number of OEM truck manufacturers are looking at offering complete build reefer trucks to the customers.
The market conditions have improved now after the initial slowdown with BS-IV and GST transition & the demands for Refrigerated units have been growing both for primary and secondary distribution.
Comment on technology impact on the reefer vehicle & the refrigeration unit.
Customers are looking for solutions to transport more quantity of goods in single truck and also are looking at solutions for transporting multiple types of product in single truck with different temperatures to be maintained. These requirements are driving the need for Longer containers in primary distribution and multi-temp refrigeration units.
Also to enhance fleet management and cargo protection, customers are looking for Telematics kind of solution, which are integrated with the units. There is need for having remote control feature of the reefer unit as a solution to any driver involved behavioural issues.
The demand for these solutions are going to increase in the future & Thermo King is catering to these needs through its solutions of Thermo King Telematics system and Multi Temp Reefer units. Thermo King also provides reefer units for Trailers which helps carrying large payloads.
Thermo King offers solutions for controlling temperature in multiple compartments in a container for both primary and secondary application. This T Series Spectrum models are available with a choice of remote evaporators that can be used in a number of different configurations. With the ability to support up to three zones in both compartment and lane applications, there is a solution to match every application. The higher size model T-1200R Spectrum has a class-leading refrigeration capacity, which even exceeds the performance of some trailer units. It does so by using advanced technology including an Electronic Throttling Valve. This ensures that product temperature is always maintained, even in the most severe ambient temperatures and with frequent door openings.