Economy & Market

Changing hues of brands

Published

8 years ago

January 1, 2019

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Though brand pundits are brushing aside cement terming it as a ‘commodity’, Indian cement companies are focusing on brand building for hogging the consumer’s mind space, even among bulk users.

At the inception of brand creation, it is done mostly in the name of the corporate. But as the business matures, the brand gets a distinct name and identity. A brand represents the entire organisation’s commitment, and efforts to get the all-important competitive advantage. It is a promise that the entire organisation has to fulfil in all its functions.

Take the example of one of the young brands in the industry – Bharathi Cement. Launched in 2009 with the tagline "Three Times Better", it sought to highlight the superiority of its product on three counts – Quality, Consistency and Technology. For ensuring superiority in all these areas they had to survey the standards followed by various manufacturers for ensuring the ultimate product quality available in the market and quality of inputs that could ensure that their product could stand one step above others on these three parameters. As if to highlight its technical superiority it has also introduced SAP-software based e-billing system across the supply chain.

"Consistency plays a very important role in cement. It was ensured that each and every bag was of consistent quality since inception. We were the pioneer in certain aspects of the cement industry. To maintain the consistency of cement, we introduced robotic quality control, which checks quality at all the three stages,"said Suresh Kumar, Assistant Vice President – Marketing, Bharathi Cement.

Not strength alone
On the other hand, JK Grey Cement brand is 40-years old. It had to keep repositioning itself from time to time along with the changing consumer trends and preferences. Instead of just jostling for space highlight the strength of its products, JK Cement focused on ‘Trust’, leveraging on its legacy and strong heritage it has built over the years.

Though mass media campaigns are one of the main focus areas of many cement companies, JK Cement has adopted humour to take its message across. "In the Cement industry, most brands hung on to the claim of ‘strength’ which was visually represented through ‘obvious’ treatment routes. We took the route of humour and also got a celebrity cricketer, Virender Sehwag to endorse the brand promise of trust,"says Raghavpat Singhania – Special Executive, JK Cement.

More recently, based on an extensive brand study and research that gave us a very important insight on the basic human need for safety, JK Cement repositioned itself with a brand mantra "Build Safe."

Thus, brand-driven companies are strongly consumer-knowledge and understanding driven. Who will the brand serve most, what will the brand promise be, how will it back that promise up in each and every act, where will it spend most of its R&D efforts – these are some of the tough questions brand-building corporate will have to answer. The marketing team will work as an interface with the customers to understand the needs of the customer.

JK Cement has adopted national wall painting competitions for its wall putty branding, where ‘prevention of flaking/ pappdi’ had been the core single-minded message. This campaign saw the birth of a brand evangelist – Chhutkau Painter, the national wall painting champion who touts victory over substitute products like POP and inexpensive chalk mitti by using JK Wall Putty. "The campaign was then extended to a prosperous Chhutkauji, with his own wall painting academy training a new breed of wall painting experts. With the third campaign, Chhutkauji grew in both fame and recognition, and is invited to judge the World Wall Painting Championship. Over the years, the Chhutkau series has very successfully strengthened our positioning statement for JK Wall Putty – ‘Deewarein Bol Uthengi’,"says Singhania.

Premium brands
Lot of cement companies have launched premium brands under their umbrella to tap premium clientele imparting better pricing power for the companies. To sustain its brand, Bharathi has also launched new products aligning to its brand identity. "We had added value in product with Bharathi Ultrafast in the blended cement category. That will also help keep the brand fresh in the minds of people, sustaining the brand,"says Kumar of Bharathi.

Technically, blended cements are far superior because of low heat of hydration. We can produce a dense concrete by using blended cements. It gives you the strength of OPC, and durability of blended cement, with a fast setting ability.

JK Cement has recently added a premium grey cement product to our portfolio – JK Super Strong, that has been specially designed for concrete applications and caters to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala. "After extensive R & D, it has been manufactured with MPET – a new breakthrough technology in cement production that improves the performance of cement,"says Singhania.

Focus to remain
Though cement is considered to be a commodity for there is no much differentiation that is possible, if the cement company wants to cater to the rural markets that account for over one-third of the overall market might have to promote their brands which impart some trust and brings in loyalty for the branded products.

Bulk cement is picking up pace, lowering the share of bag cement in urban areas and in infrastructure projects. Due to economies of scale in usage and transportation that the bulk cement brings in, many big projects are opting for it.

"Unless we show value in the products or services, it will be continued to be looked upon as a commodity, and it will not enjoy any premium or preference. In fact, purchase itself is a premium. From this perspective also, it is even more important that the brand equity is sustained,"says Kumar.

"Considering that at present, the rural markets in India are still in the developing phase, cement has no direct substitute and the small quantity of cement used in building a home doesn’t require bulkers. This would act as a major factor for the cement brands to survive even 20 years from now,"says Singhania.

– B.S. SRINIVASALU REDDY

Economy & Market

Leonard Unveils Dual-Head Robotic Arm for Hazardous Industrial Demolition

Published

1 week ago

October 30, 2026

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Leonard unveils Descender Duo, a dual-head robotic demolition arm designed to improve industrial safety and reduce shutdown time by up to 50 per cent.

Industrial robotics and refractory services specialist Leonard has launched Descender Duo, a dual-head robotic demolition arm designed to improve safety, accelerate maintenance and reduce shutdown times in hazardous industrial environments. The system made its debut at Lisahally Power Station in Northern Ireland, removing 25 tonnes of slag material within hours.

Developed for the cement, metals, waste-to-energy and petrochemical industries, Descender Duo enables remote-controlled refractory demolition, anchor cutting and welding, and refractory spraying inside boilers, calciners and silos. Its vertical-access design eliminates the need for personnel to enter confined, high-risk spaces during these operations.

Weighing less than two tonnes, the pre-assembled system requires an access opening of just 1.2 m². Supported by an external overhead hoist, it uses electrically operated hydraulic stabilising legs to secure itself inside vessels. The robotic arm offers 360-degree rotation and is suited to vessels approximately 9 m in diameter, with its operating reach extendable through strategically positioned access points.

Equipped with two independently controlled robotic heads, Descender Duo can perform identical or different tasks simultaneously, including refractory demolition, anchor cutting and spraying. Its remote-control system incorporates live camera feeds, allowing operators to monitor operations without entering hazardous environments.

According to Leonard, the technology can deliver time savings of up to 50 per cent compared with manual methods. Its ability to operate at temperatures exceeding 100°C allows maintenance to begin as early as 24 hours after burner shutdown. An all-electric power supply further supports cleaner and more cost-efficient operations.

First Deployment Demonstrates Shutdown Efficiency

The system was first deployed at Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor’s (BWSC) Lisahally Power Station in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The facility generates electricity from grade C waste wood, supplying approximately 40,000 homes and businesses.

Leonard and BWSC collaborated to develop a customised solution for the plant’s 26-metre furnace, where extensive external pipework created significant access challenges.

Mark Leonard, Managing Director, Leonard, said, “It required new thinking and rather than step away from the problem we were committed to solving it for the customer, with the customer. We’re relentless in our approach to tackling complex challenges, head-on. We took our years of cement plant experience, coupled with our working knowledge of the BWSC plant, and designed, engineered and tested a completely new vertical solution within just seven weeks from that initial conversation with the customer. That solution was the Descender Duo as we know it today.”

Traditionally, the furnace required a cooling period of up to 36 hours before preparatory work could begin, followed by manual slag removal using rope-access personnel. With Descender Duo, work commenced just 24 hours after shutdown, reducing downtime by up to one day.

The deployment removed 25 tonnes of slag within hours, eliminated the need for at least six workers to enter the hazardous furnace interior and saved 26 hours in the shutdown programme.

“The effectiveness exceeded expectation,” said Martin Doran, Plant Manager at Lisahally Power Station.

“When the Descender Duo concept was first discussed, we had to spend some time with the team from Leonard looking at how it was going to be moved into the furnace. Every site is different and that presented its own challenges, but nothing that the team couldn’t overcome. Once it was installed we were hugely impressed by its efficiency.”

Expanding Industrial Robotics Applications

Descender Duo joins Leonard’s existing portfolio of robotic maintenance solutions, including the Axis horizontal-access arm, Nano confined-space access arm, Charger cement mill media recharging system and Calibre cement mill media grading system.

Headquartered in Northern Ireland, Leonard provides robotic refractory demolition, installation, inspection and industrial maintenance services across the cement, metals, energy, biomass, glass and civil engineering sectors.

Formerly known as G Leonard, the company has more than 35 years of industry experience and operates across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

The latest innovation reinforces Leonard’s focus on replacing hazardous manual processes with robotic systems that improve workforce safety, enhance operational efficiency and minimise industrial downtime.

Concrete

Martin Engineering Appoints Ashwini Khunte as India General Manager

Published

1 week ago

October 30, 2026

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Martin Engineering names Ashwini Khunte India General Manager to strengthen operations and drive growth across key bulk material handling sectors.

Pune

Martin Engineering, a global provider of bulk material handling solutions, has appointed Ashwini Khunte as General Manager of its India business, strengthening its leadership as the company expands its presence across the country’s cement, mining, steel, power and infrastructure sectors.

Khunte brings more than a decade of experience with Martin Engineering, having joined its Indian operations in 2013 as a Design Engineer, shortly after the company established its presence in the country in 2012.

A mechanical engineer by qualification, she spent her initial five years developing bulk material handling solutions in collaboration with the company’s operations team. During this period, she gained extensive experience addressing operational challenges in the steel, cement and coal industries. She subsequently moved into project engineering, managing major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) projects from initial enquiry to commissioning. Her responsibilities later expanded to overseeing Martin Engineering’s conveyor product portfolio in India, involving customer engagement, technical presentations and site visits across heavy industries.

In 2024, Khunte was promoted to Head of Sales & Marketing for the company’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and India (EMEAI) region. The position broadened her international market exposure and strengthened her strategic and commercial leadership capabilities.

Commenting on her appointment, Ashwini Khunte, General Manager, Martin Engineering India, said: “India represents a tremendous opportunity for Martin Engineering. The country’s continued investment in cement, mining, steel, power and infrastructure is creating increasing demand for safer, cleaner and more productive bulk material handling, and that’s exactly what we do. My priority will be to build on the strong foundations already established in India, while continuing to develop our people, strengthen customer relationships and bring practical solutions to the challenges faced by our industry.”

Robert Whetstone, Area Vice President – EMEAI, Martin Engineering, highlighted Khunte’s technical expertise, market understanding and leadership experience.

“Ashwini brings an exceptional combination of technical understanding, customer knowledge and commercial leadership. She has grown as Martin Engineering has grown, and has consistently demonstrated outstanding capability to transform her expertise into practical solutions. Her knowledge of the Indian market, together with her international experience, makes her ideally suited to lead our India business through its next stage of growth for years to come.”

Since establishing its Indian business in 2012, Martin Engineering has expanded its local workforce, manufacturing capabilities and dealership network. The company supplies conveyor products, transfer point solutions, material flow aids, training and technical support to bulk material handling industries. Khunte’s appointment positions the company to further strengthen customer relationships and expand its solutions portfolio in India’s growing industrial and infrastructure markets.

Concrete

Fornnax Wins AIRIA’s Special Export Award for Rubber Machinery in 2025-26

Published

3 weeks ago

October 19, 2026

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Fornnax Technology Pvt. Ltd. has been honoured with the Special Export Award – Rubber Machinery for 2025–26 by the All-India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA), in recognition of its highest exports of tyre recycling plants to the European region.

With more than a decade of experience in India’s tyre recycling industry, Fornnax has contributed to the development of advanced recycling technologies and infrastructure. The company currently holds a 90% market share in India’s domestic tyre recycling sector, while exports account for 30% of its business, spanning markets such as Europe, Australia and the GCC.

The award marks another milestone for Fornnax, whose tyre recycling lines and advanced shredding technologies are supporting the growth of the circular economy in India and international markets.

Commenting on the recognition, Mr. Jignesh Kundaria, Founder and Director of Fornnax, said:

“This honour from AIRIA is a reflection of an incredible journey we have undertaken over the years. When we started Fornnax, there was no established recycling industry in India to follow. We chose to build for the future instead. Today, when you see India’s tyre recycling sector, it has already transformed into a dynamic, high-growth industry and we are extremely proud to have played our part in building it.”

Unlike standalone equipment suppliers, Fornnax focuses on developing complete, high-capacity recycling infrastructure. Its integrated systems combine multiple stages of shredding and size reduction to enable efficient, continuous operations. This system-level engineering approach helps recycling operators improve throughput, equipment reliability and operational consistency.

The recognition reinforces Fornnax’s commitment to developing engineering technologies that contribute to a more efficient and circular recycling ecosystem.

Looking ahead, the company aims to expand its international presence while continuing to develop advanced shredding and recycling solutions to address the growing volumes and evolving requirements of the global recycling industry.

For more information, visit: www.fornnax.com