The name Hyva has become synonymous with high quality tippers in the Indian market. Hyva, a prominent global player in tipper hydraulics, is India’s leading manufacturer of front-end hydraulics and tippers. It has in many ways been the leading provider of new generation transportation solution to the Indian market. The person who has been responsible for Hyva’s success in the Indian market and who in many ways has been the face of Hyva in India is Mr. Sudhir Prabhu, Managing Director of Hyva India (Private) Ltd. After spending close 12 years establishing the Indian business, he is now moving back to the Netherlands and the mantle of taking Hyva India ahead is given to Mr. Jagadish Bhat (formerly with Schwing Stetter).
In a recent interview to MOTORINDIA, Mr. Sudhir Prabhu traced back the history of Hyva in India and on how the company has come a long way from being a manufacturer of tipper hydraulics to becoming a complete transportation solution provider.
“In the 1990s when I visited India to explore business opportunities for Hyva, the tipper manufacturing industry in India was in its infancy. There was shortage of 6×4 vehicles, and the existing tipper manufacturers were not having much experience in designing and manufacturing tippers for this segment. The fully built vehicle (FBV) concept was not popular as it was not adopted by the OEMs. Globally, Hyva had the expertise of designing and fabricating tippers and hydraulics in largescale and therefore it started manufacturing tippers apart from the hydraulics and offered it as a package. During 1997-99 there was no market for front-end cylinders at that point and our imported tipper hydraulics were 40 per cent costlier than the products available in the market”, says Mr. Sudhir Prabhu.
The success story replicated for the country’s largest truck manufacturer Tata Motors and Hyva Tippers made its strong presence in the multi-axle tipper segment for construction and road development projects. Thanks to the Golden Quadrilateral Project, Hyva tippers soon became highly visible on Indian roads. Apart from Volvo and Tata Motors, today Hyva builds tippers for all leading truck manufacturing companies, namely, Ashok Leyland, Mercedes India, Eicher Motors, AsiaMotor Works, MAN Force and Scania.
Hyva tippers have been deployed on tough terrains in mining areas and also for fast developing road construction and irrigation projects. In keeping with the varying needs, Hyva India has developed almost 30 different types of tippers from LCV Range (4 t – 7 t GVW Trucks), MCV Range (for 16 T GVW Trucks) and HCV & Super HCV Range (25 Ton and above).
Apart from the standard tippers, Hyva has supplied side tippers (2-way or 3-way) which are suitable for hilly terrains, narrow roads as well as rural roads. It has also introduced ribless body for its widely popular 14 cu.m. and 20 cu.m. box. These new generation tipper bodies ensure less body weight, resulting in higher payload and easy flow of materials.
Mr. Sudhir Prabhu said: “Our target is to be a complete transport efficiency solutions provider and cater to growing and varying demands of our existing and future customers. We have provided European quality products at Indian price”.
The company also has hydraulically operated load covering system called MULTIKAP for its tipper range. Considering growing need of environment friendly tippers, this products has got a wide application possibility in India.
Hyva has three manufacturing facilities for tippers. The first unit is at Navi Mumbai, the second in Jamshedpur, and the third in Bangalore. The proposed fourth unit is coming up at Pithampur. All the four units are strategically located in close proximity to the OEM customers.
Hyva India has an aggregate installed capacity to manufacture 2,200 tipper units a month with an annual capacity of 26,000+ units. In the tipper segment, the company has been traditionally focusing on the 6X4 and 8X4 heavy-duty tippers. But now with persistent demand from OEMs, it is planning to manufacture 6/8/10 cu.m. tippers on 4X2 chassis. So far tippers on these 4×2 chassis were built only for Tata Motors’ export vehicles.
In fact, another interesting aspect about Hyva’s business in India has been in bringing global technologies into India by partnering with the best in the world. Hyva is representing many leading brands in India, to name a few Hydraulic Tail Lift (Dhollandia, Belgium), Bulk Compressor (Jin Heung, Korea) and Power Pack (OMFB, Italy).
In 2006, Hyva (India) signed transfer of technology agreement with the UK-based Dennis-Eagle for producing Phoenix 2, garbage compactor for Indian and export market. Hyva India is also manufacturing fifth wheel coupler in technical collaboration with George Fischer of Germany. Incidentally George Fischer brand has been acquired by SAF Holland. Hyva has established robotic welding facility for manufacturing fifth wheel couplers. After gaining the experience as well as the know-how in the robotic welding, the company plans to introduce elaborate robotic welding systems for tippers as well.
The company will market the garbage compactors locally as well as supply it to other countries through Dennis Eagle. “We are already executing an order from Dennis Eagle compactors for 60+ units for the Bahrain market, which will be executed by the end of the year. We have decided to use India as a manufacturing base to cater to the other global markets of Hyva. We have identified components like components of the Hyd. tail doors, truck mounted cranes, fabricated items of truck mounted cranes, etc. We will also start manufacturing double acting single stage cylinders in India”. Recently Hyva has acquired Technomet Company in Italy, a leading manufacturer of double acting single stage cylinders, added Mr. Pradhu.
As per the study by Hyva a few years back, it is estimated that the Indian market would need 90,000 tippers by 2010. Hyva has the capacity to manufacture 25,000 tippers, and hence there is enough room for all tipper manufacturers.
In 2007, Hyva’s turnover was Rs. 345 crores and for 2008 the target is Rs. 520 crores. Globally out of the total Hyva Group business, Indian business contributes close to 20 pe
r cent.
