Kalmar, part of Cargotec, continues with its plans to optimise its operational footprint to deliver continuous business results. The company has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with ARX Mining and Construction Equipment Private Limited (ARX), according to which ARX would become Kalmar’s contract manufacturing partner in India responsible for the manufacturing and development of Indital branded products. As a consequence, all the activities at Kalmar’s current multi-assembly unit (MAU) in Bangalore, India, would discontinue as of 12 June 2020. The MAU Bangalore has been focusing on the manufacturing of Indital branded container handling equipment for the local market.

Kalmar will continue to have a strong local presence in India through its local sales and service network, focusing on the sales and service of both Kalmar and Indital branded products.

“The competitive situation in India is challenging and it has impacted on production volumes and costs during the past few years. The planned actions would improve Kalmar’s operational efficiency and profitability thanks to a more optimised global supply setup and streamlined product portfolio. Our ambition is to achieve long term sustainable business growth in India through this new contract manufacturing partnership. At the same time it is essential that we continue to serve our customers in India with a dedicated, local sales and service network, who will benefit from more efficient production capabilities,” says Claudio Strobl, SVP Operations, Kalmar Mobile Solutions.

The planned change is expected to result in the reduction of approx. 55 people in India. The exact number of people affected will be estimated later on in the process.

Today, Kalmar employs approximately 150 people in India located in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. In addition, Cargotec’s Navis, Hiab and MacGregor have a strong local presence in India.