Our Company Is Progressing By Understanding The Market, & Translating The Customer Needs Into Advanced Products & Solutions
In a candid interview with WFM Media, he explains his company’s presence in India, its products and services, the challenges faced by the industry during the pandemic, and the future of the glass industry in India.
How And When Did Your Journey With Saint-Gobain Start?
My journey with Saint-Gobain started many years back with Grindwell Norton Ltd, which is a Saint-Gobain group company. As part of their expansion plans, Saint-Gobain decided to invest in the float glass business, and some of us joined this new entity. It was a start-up kind of working ecosystem way back in 1997. I was fortunate to work with this start-up team of Saint-Gobain under the leadership of Mr. B Santhanam, Founding Managing Director and now Chairman of Saint-Gobain India. The first three years were the period of formation, establishing structure and foundation elements in place. The initial years of the business were exciting and insightful when the Saint-Gobain brand was built under the charismatic leadership of the late Mr R Subramanian, who was then heading Sales & Marketing and later went on to become the Managing Director of Glass Business.
Tell Us About A Few Of Your Success Stories And Milestones With The Company Over The Journey Of Almost 24 Years
Saint-Gobain is a well-known organisation with a huge heritage; it is a company that has thrived successfully for over 350 years. The company has an excellent background spread over 3 centuries, in terms of innovation, adapting to a changing environment and also in terms of worldwide growth in a responsible manner.
Saint-Gobain Glass in India is a 100 per cent Saint-Gobain investment and not a joint venture. That makes it easier to accomplish various business missions and also in the decision-making process. We started this business in India with a clear long-term vision, and have invested resources slowly and steadily. There were very clear objectives:
- Provide product solutions relevant to Indian requirements.
- While India had very basic products way back in the 1990s, the market had potential for advanced and value-added products; therefore, work with the ecosystem for the development of the market as a whole and in the process, our business.
You would have seen the changes in the glass products in the market over these 3 decades. Please take us through the journey of evolution.
With long-term perspectives, we started working on categories of products. We started with the basic clear glass, which was at the commodity end of the market those days. We offered the desired clarity and a superior quality product. Creating brand awareness at that point was important. Working on that angle and communicating the USPs of the product, we moved ahead. This was spearheaded by the late Mr R. Subramanian, who was heading the sales and marketing then, who led the company towards achieving the goals and also in establishing Saint-Gobain as a well-known brand in the country, as the clearest glass. Unfortunately, he is not with us today, but his legacy stays on.
The next step was to introduce advanced products for the region. We started introducing mirrors, reflective glasses, tinted glasses, etc. That was the time when glass became a natural choice for building facades. That’s when we started introducing high-performance magnetron-coated glass for the façades, and we invested a lot of time in R&D. Then came the lacquered glass for interiors that redefined the way colours are deployed in the interior spaces and so on. We have always consistently introduced products in the category ahead of the times. Unlike in other countries, in India, we need to invest ahead of time with a leap of faith. We invested several million euros with very low capacity utilisation for years on.
We needed the logistics backbone ready, and we had to understand the emerging façade market very well. We started interacting with architects, consultants, façade contractors, developers, etc. With these efforts, glass façades became the norm for every modern building. We were in the mid-2000s by then, and evolution was very evident. Our next focus was on exports.
Though glass as a material is centuries old, as a prominent building material, it was new in the Indian context. Then, there was very little awareness of its use as a building material among various stakeholders in the industry, including developers, architects, consultants, etc. The glass processing industry was evolving with several entrepreneurs investing in new processing lines, requiring knowledge and skill to handle value-added advanced products. To impart knowledge and skills to all the stakeholders about this wonderful material, we supported the founding of an independent knowledge platform entity – “Glass Academy” to engage with the outside world. With the help of many eminent experts, and the well-known Ar. C N Raghavendran, as the Chairman of Glass Academy, created a good knowledge base and helped in developing technical skills in the industry ecosystem. The academy organises skill development classes and workshops in several polytechnics and other institutions, offering diplomas, and is involved in many other skill development missions for the industry, including those for the fabrication and processing industry. It was essential to develop an entire ecosystem.
Saint-Gobain has always been responsible for offering the right products that suited the Indian tropical conditions. We not just keep introducing advanced products for enhancing energy-efficiency, but also work with the Indian Green Building Council, GBCI – Indian arm of USGBC, TERI and BEE to promote Green buildings and sustainability in the country. Thanks to Saint-Gobain Research India (SGRI), one of the eight global transversal research centres for Saint-Gobain globally, we are constantly offering products that make the buildings energy-efficient, optimally daylit and aesthetically appealing. We have over 100 researchers working in that centre, which has been operational for over nine years now. The mandate of the research centre is to develop products suitable for hot and humid climates, for countries like India, the Middle East, etc. The commencement of the research centre helped in understanding the market and translating the customer needs into lucrative products and solutions.
In the last 10 years, we got even closer to the customer, thanks to the geographic expansion. We had the opportunity to acquire the float glass plant of Sejal, at Jhagadia in Gujarat, in 2011; we started a green field Float Glass plant at Bhiwadi in 2014 and an advanced float glass plant at World Glass Complex at Sriperumbudur in 2019. Today, we have manufacturing facilities in the south, west, and north regions of the country. This has made a big difference in servicing customer needs faster and in overall logistics, because faster deliveries are critical. Even the whole logistics process has become far simpler and leaner today.
Glass has become an important material for façades and interiors, and hence, we continue our efforts to contribute to more and more energy-efficient buildings. Functionalities and uses of glass have also become much more diverse in terms of energy performance, safety (especially considering fire safety), apart from aesthetics. We introduced fire-rated glass 10 years ago, and it continues to be much in demand. These fire-rated glasses are so advanced that even if you touch the glass after a 2 or 3-hour inferno, it would not be hot/melting like normal glass. Such advanced products are manufactured in India and exported to many countries, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia, etc.
Please Tell Us About Your Manufacturing Facilities?
Our first factory was established in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, and it is our largest manufacturing facility. Then we have one in Jhagadia, Gujarat and the third one in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. These are the three manufacturing facilities we have, as far as glass is concerned.
Talking about the product range, we have highly transparent Clear and Pure glass (654 PPM) – the first in the country, High Definition Glass (Extra Clear Glass), Tinted glass, Sun Ban Reflective glass, High-performance magnetron coated glass for façades, Mirrors that are free from copper/lead and arsenic advanced and durable lacquered glass for the interiors, fire-rated glass, bullet-proof glass, shower enclosures, LED mirrors, kitchen shutters, and the list goes on. It has been quite an advancement over the past 23 years.
Please Brief On The Testing Facilities For Glasses In India? How Do You Test The Product And Get It Certified? Do You Collaborate With Any Other Companies?
Each product is different, and the tests performed are also different, depending on the product characteristics and application needs. We have a well-equipped internal lab for testing. We test clear glass to high-performance glasses (where you need to check spectrophotometric properties, low emissivity properties, etc.). For products such as float glass, high-performance coated glasses, tempered glasses, safety glasses, etc., there are testing facilities available in India – thanks to the Glazing Society of India (GSI). It has many members from the glass processing industry, fabrication industry, Glass Academy, consultants, experts from IITs, Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), etc. The GSI has enabled three testing labs in the country. The first one is in IIT Madras, called SGRT; the second one in CEPT Ahmedabad, which does testing in spectrophotometric properties; and the third is in CGCRI-Kolkata. For certain products like fire-rated glasses, it is important to test the systems as a whole, and not just the glass used. There are third-party testing facilities to test such systems and certify them. Today, we don’t have many such testing facilities in India, and it is mostly done overseas in facilities accredited by international organisations.
As far as the façade is concerned, this industry is still evolving, and the projects are getting bigger as we are reaching an international scale. Existing testing facilities can do full-scale façade testing against wind load, structural stability, and
leakage, etc., which are good for current requirements. But, going forward, we require more such facilities, and I am sure it will evolve with the market requirements.
Do You Manufacture Some Customized Glass With Special Demands For Some Projects?
Yes, customization can come from multiple points of view. If it’s the energy performance, it largely comes from the coating that you give. We have a very wide range of coatings that we offer. Considering the aesthetic point of view, as far as the colour is concerned, we have a very wide range of products. There are occasions where we have managed to provide customized glass with certain aesthetics combined with specific energy performance.
We have a design team that works very closely with the architects and consultants. They advise on the functional performance – that is, from energy, safety, to structural stability, aesthetic aspects and also on the possible combinations of glass.
We have deeply leveraged the digital space and have developed many important tools, and one among them that I want to speak particularly about is the GlassPro Live. It’s a proprietary rendering tool that gives physico-realistic rendering. There is a difference between physico-realistic and photo-realistic. Unlike many of the other materials, rendering glass is not easy because glass is a transparent material. It reflects light, and it transmits light. The ambient conditions also could be very different based on a sunny or a cloudy day. With GlassPro Live, our engineers work on the building to be rendered. They have to work for over 15 days on a project, and it involves an enormous amount of effort in terms of converting the 3-D drawings into façade renderings. This is helping architects and developers to visualise how the building is going to look if they were to use particular glasses, and this tool has transformed the way they look at options and the entire decision-making process itself.
Are You Providing Any Kind Of Training To The Architects Who Are Using Such Kind Of Tools, Which Might Help Them In The Future?
Of course, we do that. Apart from the Glass Academy initiatives, there are constant engagement programmes wherein our experts conduct technical sessions with architectural firms.
The Right Selection Of Glass Is Very Important While You Are Building A Façade. What Is The Awareness Level Among Architects And Builders On This?
This is a very good question. Many times, glass is seen as a villain when it comes to buildings, either from an energy-efficiency or a safety point of view. I think it is because of the lack of awareness of what glass as a material can do or is doing in the buildings. The good news is that, among the people who are constructing the buildings and those who are designing the buildings over the last 15 years, there is a significant jump in terms of awareness on how to select the right products. They consult people like us and make the appropriate decisions. I think professionals in this field are aware, and reference documents like the National Building Code have incorporated several aspects of glass, its design and applications, thanks to efforts by the industry and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
We have conducted several awareness programmes through the Glazing Society. There is no other building material that can match glass, as it is much lighter compared to brick and mortar or concrete. Glass reduces the quantity of materials used in construction. There is no other material where you can see through and at the same time be structurally strong, safe and conserve energy. It is possible today because of the advancement in coating and processing capabilities in the country.
Please Tell Us About The Codes And Standards For Glass As A Façade Material.
The glass industry can be considered a very good benchmark when it comes to developing standards and codes. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has developed new codes for several glass products and also strengthened existing codes in line with international standards.
Not just the standards of the product, we also need codes of practice, considering installation. A code of practice for the use of glass in buildings was developed and is now incorporated as part of the National Building Code 2016 edition. Further developments are happening now in terms of the framing systems, the fire-rated glass, and also in testing. So I think that we are really moving in the right direction and compliments to BIS for providing the platform for making India Atmanirbhar on the standards and codes front.
As I mentioned earlier, there are three testing facilities that have come up, thanks to the Glazing Society of India. Each of these facilities are also enhancing testing capabilities and adding equipment for new tests to be performed. We will come up with more testing facilities in the country so that we have enough testing & certification capability as the market evolves.
Could You Please Tell Me About The Challenges Faced By The Glass Industry?
The glass industry has been facing unfair dumping by Chinese companies invested in South East Asia, and taking advantage of the Free Trade Agreement India has with those countries. Even though we are competitive on a global scale, we have some disadvantages in terms of energy prices. The gas price in India is much higher compared to many other countries, like the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Natural Gas is not covered under GST. So whatever GST is on that, it becomes a cost. The Honourable Prime Minister has also been talking about bringing Gas under GST, and we are hopeful that it will happen soon. But for these two, as an industry, we are competitive. So the industry doesn’t need special favours. What it requires is fair and quick policy interventions when there is unfair dumping, a strategy followed by China from its soil, as well as part of its Belt & Road program.
The Industry Is Thinking Of Increasing The Cost Of Window/Door Systems Due To The Price Hike Of Glass. Could You Please Comment On This?
We are slowly recovering from the pandemic. Due to the continuous nature of our manufacturing, we lost heavily from March to July 2020. We are faced with two concerns: the supply chain of raw materials is going through challenges of availability and cost; the energy prices (Gas and fuel) have gone up significantly compared to pre-pandemic levels. To reflect these, we have made a price adjustment.
As I said earlier, we had really suffered because of unfair dumping from China and Malaysia for almost three years. And during that time, our prices had come down. Today’s price level is equal to what it was four years back, not factoring in inflation.
How Did You Face The Pandemic?
Like every other industry, the pandemic affected our industry too. During the lockdown, we had to halt production across all our plants. There are some fixed costs in the case of glass since we cannot shut down the furnace. It’s a continuous process, and once a furnace is lit, it cannot be stopped for 18-20 years. So the biggest challenge was to keep the furnace hot, incurring huge costs daily without any output. We were burning cash every day to fuel the furnace, which is a permanent loss.
The health and safety of our people has always remained our number one priority. Even before the lockdown started, we stopped our production and sent employees back home. Skeletal staff were retained in the plant to keep the furnace running. For us, at Saint-Gobain, it’s not just our employees, but our extended family of customers and their employees as well. We provided necessary personal protective equipment and medical insurance facilities to all our customers and their employees. We also helped our customers to restart the business when the lockdown was eased, by providing a comprehensive “restart protocol” for the health and safety of their employees and visiting customers. We also facilitated expert consultations on how the benefits announced by the Government could be availed by the MSMEs in our eco-system apart from launching a campaign on “Glass Shield” to generate demand for our customers.
How Do You See The Glass Industry In The Next Five Or 10 Years?
Glass has now become an integral part of modern construction and interiors in India. Its functionalities and possibilities are being explored and exploited in phases. The industry is a benchmark in terms of setting right standards on quality and applications, and a shining example for Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Therefore, I see an important position for the glass industry in the growth and self-reliance of India as a nation.
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