Building big through building materials
In just two decades the 356 year old French company Saint Gobain [SG] has contributed to a spectacular transformation of the building materials industry in India. Its range of products included flat glass/mirror, safety glass, abrasives; ceramics, gypsum boards, refractories… In these SG is the leader helping India catch up with contemporary technologies and products. A strong focus on research is seen in SG setting up a global research centre at the IIT Madras Research Park with the focus on developing products for hot and humid climates.
Starting from a single float line glass factory at Sriperumbudur Tamil Nadu in 2000, SG glass today has expanded manufacturing to Gujarat, Rajasthan…
A year ago B Santhanam who took Saint Gobain Glass to great heights, was given charge to head the group’s activities in India. The units included Saint GobainGlass, Grindwell Norton, Saint Gobain Crystal, Saint Gobain Gyproc, Sekurit India, SEPR Refractories, Weber India… Recently Santhanam has been made the head of Saint Gobain’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region covering Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the South East Asian countries besides India. This appears to be a recognition of SG’s stellar performance in India in just a year of his taking charge as the Indian head of SG. Remember this was the year when the Covid-19 pandemic devastated economic activity.
SG has majority stake in Grindwell Norton, manufacturer of coated and bonded abrasives and has expanded its activities manifold. The growth of this company is provided the spectacular perfromance: share prices of this company zoomed from Rs 400 March 2020 to Rs 1220 by end May 2021 contributing to a threefold increase in market cap of the company!
Training, skill development, CSR…
The very many innovative features Santhanam introduced at SG glass for upgrading skills through intense and innovative training and the spectacular increases in productivity are liberally shared. He headed the skill development initiatives of CII and is also an active proponent of corporate social responsibility. The group recently imported Rs 20 million worth of oxygen equipment from France. This has been distributed to a number of hospitals in several states. Besides he has been making regular handsome contributions to his alma mater, IIT-M and has been closely involved with the IIT-M Research Park.
Santhanam’s perspectives had a 360-degree range: soon after the start of production at Sriperumbudur in 2000, SGGI suffered a serious shortage of water. He quickly planned to harvest rainwater using the vast roof areas; later SGGI raised rainwater forests in the factory area. The Sriperumbudur plant is reaching near self-sufficiency in water.
Similar is the record in harvesting sun rays. The sprawling roofs of the factory sheds today are mounted with SPV panels. There are plans to achieve self-sufficiency in power too!
the positives of Covid-19
Santhanam listed several positive fallouts in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic: “in a very short time the government massively expanded diagnostic and treatment capabilities. Corporate health care also recorded handsome improvements… Industry has cut costs and improved efficiency. There has been more effective communication with employees and the public. Several companies also took excellent care of their employees. In the last couple of years companies in general have become more competitive,” said Santhanam.
Santhanam expressed qualified optimism: “the recovery after phase 1 of the pandemic was helped by an increased demand of the festive season. This continued till about April; but with the second wave, the economy got a big hit. In May, there was a dip in sales across the board. However, there are hopes of good recovery in June and July. With better control of the Covid-19 second wave, the outlook for a rapid recovery looks bright,” he said.
On the secret of healthy performance…
Even during the difficult times, Santhanam said that the systems and practices in SG were sound: “I ensured closer communication among senior executives that resulted in better cooperation, leading to better results. There was a good machine in place, I just lubricated it,” said Santhanam.
Santhanam points to several companies in Tamil Nadu constantly renovating and upgrading additions to the facilities through handsome investments. Look at additions to the float lines; the switch to compressed natural gas (CNG) from expensive furnace oil; scrapping of the two decades old first float line and replacing it with a state-of-the-art line at SGGI, Sriperumbudur under way.
Even while several companies wait for months for the completion of a gas pipeline from the Ennore Port, SGGI jump started by transferring gas by road tankers!
There are other big opportunities waiting: utilisation of precious silica recovered from the huge overburden removed by the Neyveli Lignite Corporation is one such.
Another is the huge opportunity in the rapidly expanding solar panel business – glass is an important component of solar photo voltaic modules. SG has rich expertise in this. Avances, Germany, a leader in this business was part of SG.
With Santhanam’s global perspectives, one can look forward to more Hanuman jumps into hi-tech investments by the SG group. – SV
