Vikram Raman – Vice President Sales & Services at Bromma talks to Sheila Moloney
This article was published in the March 2014 issue of World Port Development. This article is restricted to paying subscribers. Subscribers can receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures – please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com
Can you briefly outline your career prior to joining Bromma?
After Graduating from a Masters Program in Engineering at the Royal institute of Technology in Stockholm, I started my career with Ford Motor Company. I have since then held several management positions in Sales, Marketing and Service with Ford and Michelin before joining Bromma in 2007. Most of my previous work experience has been in the automotive industry which is a mature and highly competitive industry. To stay alive and succeed in such an industry companies constantly have to optimise work standards and procedures to remain competitive. The Port equipment industry on the other hand is relatively young. The number of serious suppliers is limited. But the port equipment industry, and in particular the container handling part of it, has been and still is a fast growing sector. The industry will continue to grow as the wealth and prosperity in the world grows. The fast growing nature of the industry was one of the main attractions for me to join Bromma but I was also keen to learn about this industry and apply some of the knowledge and experience I had gained from my previous work experience.
Of the many challenges you have faced which one sticks in your mind?
Within the first year of joining Bromma we received a Quality Deficiency Alert in 2008 that resulted in a Global Quality enhancement program. The program covered a significant amount of spreaders located around the globe. To handle such a task we had to make sure there were sufficient and qualified resources available. We established several teams of highly qualified welders – each team equipped with state-of-the art welding equipment packed in containers – travelling the world. A central project management function was planning and coordinating the activities. For a limited period of time we were running a project the size of a medium sized company. We managed to effectively carry out this operation working closely with our customers and, through this activity, have strengthened our relationship with many customers. Several customers commented that “only Bromma would do this,” and in my view they are right. I believe we strengthened our position as a reliable business partner through this significant effort.
What do you consider to be your career highlights to date?
The first thing that comes to mind is the success we had with the “Mega” projects in 2012. When we summarised the year I was extremely pleased to report that we had secured orders for – in full or part – 9 out of the 10 “Mega” projects which included the terminals at Maasvlakte II, LWG and LBCT. These orders were taken under the toughest possible competition which only emphasises the achievement.
What is your greatest motivating force?
A very important motivating force for me is to see people grow and succeed in the organisation. My contribution in this is to develop, trust, coach and support the organisation so that we succeed together with our customers. If I can do this successfully it supports the higher level motivating force which is to develop our business. In order to achieve this I have to make sure our customers are satisfied and that we all contribute to our customers’ business success through, for instance, productivity improvements.
What do you consider the most important technical initiatives/projects undertaken by Bromma over the last five years?
Perhaps the most interesting area Bromma has developed over the last few years is around productivity improvement and tools to support this. By combining the information available in the spreader control system and our general knowledge about spreaders we have developed products and systems that will enhance spreader performance and productivity. Detecting and correcting a potential problem before it becomes a real problem is a reality today. Green Zone is a suite of terminal productivity tools in which we launched several applications over three years and intend to continue developing. I believe that very soon we will see more and more customers realising the true value of these apps. This is just the beginning. The other area I would like to mention is the continued development of all-electric spreaders. This started earlier but today about 90% of the yard spreaders developed by Bromma are all-electric. The all-electric ship-to-shore spreaders are still few in number but we have developed the 2nd generation STS spreaders and I am convinced we will see the demand for all-electric STS spreaders grow. Environmental aspects as well as generally lower power consumption and maintenance cost are the primary drivers for all-electrics.
In your view what are the core strengths of Bromma?
Bromma is a very strong brand and the market leader in the crane spreader world. We are an innovative company and in the forefront of spreader development, delivering solutions to help our customers to improve productivity and reliability. We have an extensive global footprint in terms of dedicated teams in Sales, Service and Customer support. Last , but certainly not least, over the years we have proven to be a partner our customers can rely upon.
In such a competitive market what are the challenges facing the company over the next few years?
We are developing and delivering additional customer value through the functionality, quality and support of our products. One of the challenges we face on a daily basis is how to prove this additional value. Mastering the balance between the value of the solution we offer to the price the customer is willing to pay, will be a key challenge for us moving forward. We see a clear drive towards higher productivity and reliability. Automation of different processes in the terminal will increase and as the spreader is an integral part of the equipment in the terminal, we will need to follow. Environmental issues will also become an even more important factor in the equipment selection process. The challenge for us is to make sure we maintain our leading position in these areas.
During your global travels what are the hot topics that customers are raising?
One of the topics that seems to be on everyone’s agenda is how to meet the increasing demand for higher productivity. This topic really became hot when the new large vessels appeared on the radar screen. The focus from the shipping lines on turn-around time really puts pressure on our customers, the terminal operators. Consequently the question how Bromma can contribute to increasing terminal productivity is high on the agenda when I meet with customers. This also links to another topic often raised which is how our products and support is perceived. You could expect that you would only hear from customers when something is an area for improvement but it is surprisingly common that I get positive comments on how our products are performing.
In your view what are the key technical challenges facing terminal operators over the next five years?
In a wide perspective one of the challenges the terminals are facing today and will be facing in the years to come is how to keep the terminal capacity up to speed with the increasing vessel sizes. Vessel turn-around time is only one of the challenges. Yard capacity and quay crane height are two others. Another challenge, which is a bit more predictable, is how the terminals will handle the requirements arising from the expected IMO regulations on container weight verification. T
he challenge for the terminals will be how to handle this without adding steps in the operations which affects the logistic flows in the terminal.
What is your strategy to ensure Bromma maintains its top spot in the spreader market?
We intend to continue to add value to our customers’ business. Our focus must be with the customer. If we continue to add value to our customers’ business we stand a good chance to defend our position. We will work closely with our customers to develop technology, products and processes. I think our current advertising campaign summarises our strategy well: We will stay Partners in Productivity.