Mithra Kyokuto SPV Co. Pvt. Ltd. manufactures varied models of tippers at their factory built on a total land area of 60,000 M2, at Krishnavaram Dt., A.P. Their parent company in Japan – Kyokuto Kaihatsu Kogyo Co. Pvt. Ltd. is a pioneer in Japan for tipper and truck mixer technology. Mr. M.V. Srinivas, Deputy Managing Director, Mithra Kyokuto, shares the company’s plans for the Indian market.
Please brief us your tippers & tip trailers production program and the application segments to which the above are being supplied.
We manufacture tippers capacity ranging from 14 to 27M3 both rock as well as sand and gravel type. Tippers of 14 and 16M3 capacity are suitable for trucks of GVW 25T and tyre configuration 6X4. Tippers capacity 18 to 20M3 are suitable for trucks with GVW 31T & tyre configuration 8X4. Tippers capacity 24 to 27M3 are meant for higher end versions of mining trucks of tyre configuration 10X4. Our tippers are used in application such as mining and infrastructure. Rock body type tippers are meant for mining application, sand & gravel type are used in infra and construction segments.
Do you undertake the body fabrication and integration of hydraulic systems or focus only on fabrication? Comment also on the front end and underbody tipping systems, trends & customer preferences.
We undertake the complete manufacturing of tippers, i.e., fabrication, assembly, integration of hydraulics, finishing and mounting on the truck chassis. We supply tippers suitable for both front-end and under body tipping. Front-end cylinders are preferred in mining application due to its sturdier design. Underbody tipping is more suitable in other segments like infra, etc., due to the faster cycle time and compact design.
Highlight your production facilities, quality control norms, hydraulics / other testing facilities, product USPs and service support.
Our factory has a built-up area of 13,000 M2. We are following 3 processes, metal forming, fabrication-cum-assembly and finishing. Each process is designed based on experience and achievements of our parent company in Japan – Kyokuto Kaihatsu Kogyo Co. Pvt. Ltd. Here each and every process is in sequence.
Metal forming process has CNC plasma cutting, shearing, bending machine and press brakes, etc. So most of the fabrication parts, we produce in-house of our factory. In the fabrication process, we have installed special jigs. And we have more than 50 units of welding machine that Japan made full digital welding machine, and welding quality is managed by Japan standards. Finishing process consist of 1 No. of shot blasting machine, 1 No. of paint line (Primer booth, topcoat booth and oven), and 1 No. of parts paint booth. Currently we have 100 manpower and we are manufacturing 1,200 units of tippers in a year. We have enough space in our factory to increase facility line and production capacity of 2,400 units per year.
We have an aftersales network to undertake warranty and beyond service of the products sold by us. We can manufacture our super structures to suit the model/variant of the chassis and we work out the marriage (truck chassis with tipper body) in consultation with the truck manufacturer. We manufacture various types of tipper bodies such as rock type, sand & gravel, exhaust heat body, etc.
Mining tippers, tip trailers, special tippers – are these in your supply scope? What are the special technical features and quality norms to be met in attending to such work orders?
Mining tipper is one of our Products in focus. We manufacture tipper bodies cap. 16 M3 to 27M3 suitable for mining trucks. Our tipper design ensures the tipper body is torsionally rigid, high bending stress and higher structural strength. Our superior quality welding ensures higher life of mining tippers even under extreme conditions. At present we are not manufacturing tip trailers. As regards special tippers like side tipper, 3 way tipper, roll-on roll-off type, etc., our parent company in Japan is having a variety of superstructures which are exported to majority of countries across the world. We are planning to introduce more products in the Indian market in the near future.
Do you undertake work for OEMs / direct customers or both? Tell us about the pros and cons for carrying out the work for the above customer segments.
We supply our products to both OEM and retail customers. Majority sale of our tippers happens through OEMs like Volvo. When we work with OEMs, we align our process to the OEM’s to create a unified approach towards servicing customer needs. We are selling our concrete truck mixers directly to end customers. Here the customer chooses the make of truck chassis and we supply and mount our truck mixers on the chassis bought by the customer.
How do you see the demand & growth prospects in the segment? Comment on the company’s expansion plans, export market and the segment growth drivers.
We are seeing steady growth in the tipper market. The mining tipper segment is growing steadily around 20% and expect the growth to continue. Our company has ambitious plans for expansion and to reach out to more OEM companies for tipper sale. We are planning for satellite units close to OEM locations like Bangalore, Chennai, etc. We are planning to introduce other products from Kyokuto manufacturing list. Growth drivers for our products are mining, infra & power. These sectors have immense potential for growth in the years to come and we are confident of our growth plans. We would also like to expand to neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc.