Kalmar total cost focus

In an exclusive interview, Kalmar president Olli Isotalo told Port Strategy how he has watched discussions on the environment and sustainability move from the ‘PowerPoint level’ to become real requirements for port equipment purchasers.

“Today, more customers are calculating in real terms the total cost of ownership, meaning not just the purchase price, but also the cost of owning the machine including services, fuel consumption, and productivity,” he said.

“The change has not taken place overnight, but the words now have meaning when you stop and think about the decision-making criteria today and how are our customers thinking today compared to ten years ago.”

Speaking after the launch of the company’s latest reachstacker, Gloria, Mr Isotalo said that this focus has had a profound effect on the development of its units and will be a key theme going forward.

“Smart port features are part of the ongoing developments and where we are actively pushing forward. So, you could say developments will be on the soft rather than hard side; the machine will look the same, but its intelligence level will be improved.”

Kalmar colleague Mikael Persson, reachstackers and empty container handlers vice president, agreed that there is potential to further develop the driveline. “Every discussion I hear is fuel saving, fuel consumption, and cost of ownership, so it’s definitely something we need to work on even more.”

On the business front, Mr Isotalo confirms that Kalmar is doing “quite well”, but concerns remain about stagnant Chinese growth. “The market activity is better than you would expect if you only read the European newspapers,” he said. “Of course, we are very concerned about news coming from China that growth is less than expected and what will be the impact of this on the global community and especially on container flows.

“If China’s economic growth is less than expected it is a problem for our business and for our customers.”

That said, he is more optimistic on North America potential, while East Europe and Russia remain key areas for growth in the longer term.