The objective of applying a paint coating is to provide a film which will give protection and decoration to the surface being painted. Polycoat is an emulsified thixotropic bitumen protective coating. The coating dries to form a black flexible protective film. The finished film forms a tough barrier to vapor transmission. The success of any paint application will be governed by several parameters, including film thickness applied, method of application, conditions during application. Grand Polycoats is one such manufacturer of exclusive, high performance, specialty coatings, based on Polyurethane, Epoxy and Special Polymers. From its humble origin Grand Polycoats has grown into a prospective giant.
There are two main factors that govern the performance of a protective paint system, mainly the nature of the paint coating and the degree of cleanliness of the surface to which it is applied. The optimum performance of any paint coating is directly dependent upon the correct and thorough preparation of the surface prior to coating. The most expensive and technologically advanced coating system will fail if the surface pre-treatment is incorrect or incomplete. Read along to know more about how Grand Polycoats is one of the highest performing industrial paint manufacturers in India.
Mentioned below are the highlights of the interview.
Describe about your company in detail.
Grand Polycoats’ story began in 1981 when we first introduced high performance polyurethane coatings into the industrial paints and coatings space that had never seen this technology before. Fast-forwarding to today, we are a leading manufacturer, exporter, supplier and service provider of industrial paints and coatings with a customer base of over 1700 strong. Our mission is to bring Perfection in Protection as we prioritize developing customized solutions to protect our customer’s assets.
We serve a variety of industries such as Agriculture, Automotive, Construction, Defense, Power & Electrical, Railways, etc. with our range of technologies including traditional and high-performance Polyurethane Coatings, specialized Epoxy Coatings for high chemical resistance, highly flexible Elastomeric Polyurethane Coatings, very quick drying Polyurea Coatings, a variety of Floor Coatings and Special Polymer Coatings for very specific applications.
Our company was built on a single mantra, Profit, Growth and Happiness. We believe these are the key attributes in building a long term and sustainable business. Over the year, with a mix of cultures, values, from our team members, the GP Family continues to hold on to this mantra as we stride ahead in our field.
Brief us about the featured person and shed some light on his/her professional tenure.
The company was founded by Mr. Bharat Chokshi, Chairman and Managing Director. With no prior background, he started the business by formulating paint in the kitchen of his home determined to make coatings that competed with the best in the world. He started by approaching large plants such as GACL, then IPCL and IFFCO Kandla, which faced major problems due to corrosion. Working in tandem with contractors, he convinced these large corporations to use high quality and more expensive two component polyurethane paints instead of the traditional oil-based enamel paints. Later, he forayed into the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) space as manufacturing ramped up in India. This led to a major growth trajectory in the story of Grand Polycoats. Today, Mr. Bharat Chokshi, along with his son, Mr. Ankur Chokshi, lead the company from the forefront into a variety of new segments such as oil and gas, powder coating, and retailing.
What made you venture into the Paint and Coating Space?
I saw a huge opportunity in this space. India was still an underdeveloped economy back in 1981 and having travelled to other parts of the world, I could envision the potential of this industry as our country would develop over the years. I had no prior knowledge of this industry, but with a degree in chemistry, I was always intrigued in working with various chemicals to solve problems. I saw huge potential in this industry, so I started working in that direction without ever looking back.
What kind of offerings do you provide to your clients?
We pride ourselves in providing a customized high performance coating solution. These solutions help solve a variety of problems but can largely be grouped as providing protection along with aesthetic appeal. The coating industry is a highly technical industry where each client has different specifications based on their application.
Some may be painting a steel pipe, whereas others could be painting a small component part of a larger auto assembly. For this very reason, it is very important to customize and innovate to always provide the client with the most efficient product while still surpassing their performance requirement. Our product offering ranges from highly chemical resistant epoxy coatings to highly durable fluorocarbon-based coatings that provide a life in excess of 25 years. We offer the full range of paints and coatings that are required for solving the client’s problem.
What kind of challenges have you faced while entering the paint and coating?
As with all things in life, challenges have always been persistent, but it is with the motivation of our team that we have gotten through all of these challenges. Different times called for different challenges. In the very inception of the company, challenges faced were more towards sales and winning people’s trust so they would give you an opportunity to serve them with your products. This was especially challenging because I had no track record to boast of, but with time and lots of hard work, consistently solving their problems, I was able to gain their trust and build a sustainable business with our clients. Today, especially now, supply chain is one of our biggest challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with many other issues has completely disrupted the world’s supply chain and hence made raw material availability a big problem. Our team at GP though, has been doing a fantastic job at managing this crisis and ensuring excellent customer service.
Where do you envision your company to be in the long run and what are your future goals? How do you plan to embrace the changes happening in your industry?
Grand Polycoats is currently seen to be a partner of choice by Indian engineering equipment manufacture Entity and we would further like to consolidate this position in the broader market. We aspire to become a highly integrated player in the paints and coating space by becoming selfsustaining wherever possible and are very focused on doing so. From a market approach standpoint, GP will be expanding its footprint and will strengthen its position in
the industries we already play in. We have already forayed into a variety of new segments such as powder coatings and retail business, so in the medium to long term we will be consolidating our position in these markets as well as integrate by working with our other business units.
As far as embracing changes is concerned, Grand Polycoats has always been a trend-setter and not a trend-follower. In 1981, we pioneered the use of Polyurethane coatings for protecting our fertilizers and chemical plants and changed the way in which the assets were protected.
Again in 1998, we introduced high-performance coatings to the engineering equipment manufacturers and redefined the market space. We were also the first to introduce Polyurea coatings for water tunnels to protect the concrete walls from the abrasion of the extreme velocity of water containing high levels of silt.
The last example I would like to quote is the way in which GP had developed a special coating for India’s space program in only six months, making us only the third manufacturer in the world to produce that coating.
Thus, it is this pioneering spirit of Grand Polycoats that differentiates us from the rest of the industry and allows us to push far above our weight in the industry.
We have always been a technology driven company, both, in terms of technologically superior product offerings and in terms of accepting and embracing the shift in the times of technology. This has always enabled us to ride the wave of change without many hurdles. Last, but surely not the least, having a positive, highly charged, and motivated team, can help a company get through any challenge.
What is the current industrial scenario of the Indian Paint and Coating space?
As I mentioned earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon quite a lot of changes to the landscape of Indian paint and coating space and will continue to do so at least till the end of this year. The disruption of the world’s supply chain has had many rippling effects across our industry especially here in India. India has always been a low-cost producer/provider of many products/services and with low costs come even lower input costs. Due to this, many global players have decided to restrict the allocation to India and jacking up the prices. This has led to a death trap of high input costs, but only a marginal increase in the pricing. This landscape is highly tricky to maneuver through especially for smaller manufacturers who do not have a wide customer base. We hope and wish these changes soon though, as things settle down. India should also look to shed the image of being a low-cost producer of goods and services not only to raise the per capita income, but also to rise in the ranks of a highly competent nation that delivers high quality products. For this, everyone in the value chain needs to recognize that paying for performance build a healthy ecosystem in the long run.
How Technology has Helped the Paint and Coating Space Worldwide?
Paint and coating technology is always driven by the customer’s need, change in the aspirations of end users, economy, ecology, regulations, etc. Hence, paint technology
has undergone constant innovation to meet these challenges.
India loses approximately Rs 10,000 crores every year due to the corrosion and corrosion related problems faced by many industries. That is when coating formulators like us, have to work continuously to innovate and come up with newer and better technologies to reduce those losses. Recently, when the world experienced COVID-19 and its devastating effect, besides medical science, coating technology also chipped in by developing a product that protects surfaces from viruses for up to 90 days.
Similarly, as industrial activities increased, users wanted to reduce cost and time of application. This led to the birth of technologies such as mastic coatings that require lesser
surface preparation, and unicoat products, which combined the performance of two coats into a single layer of coating.
The concept of smart cities and the push towards better quality of construction lead to the development of super durable product for preserving the aesthetic for a longer duration of time. This included technologies such as PTFE or fluorocarbon technology, anti-graffiti coatings, selfhealing coatings and many more such technologies.
Another example being due to the change in environmental norms and in trying to make our environment greener, some hazardous chemicals such as lead, chrome, silica, asbestos, etc., were banned. This led to the development of alternate coatings that were lead and chrome free, heavy metal free and RoHS compliant. The biggest example of innovation due to environmental norms is the change from solvent-based coatings to water-based coatings with equal or even superior performance.
Work is currently under progress on many new technologies such as nano technology products offering extremely superior properties, self-detectable coating, self-healing anti corrosive coating, colour changing coatings, etc. So, as a result, technology has and will continue to be at the core of the coating industry. It keeps pushing the limits of technology to answer to any challenges or demands or aspirations of the end users.
