Economy & Market

We were the first to introduce tamper-proof laminated PP bags

Published

8 years ago

January 7, 2019

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What is the importance of packaging in cement production and distribution and what are the latest advancements that are taking place?
Packaging is a significant factor in cement production and distribution with significant emphasis on product protection, shelf appearance, cost margins and sustainability targets. Since approximately 65 per cent of the cement consumption is from the housing segment, primarily from the IHB’s, the focus is on mobilising the product to semi-urban and rural areas economically and damage free.

Up to 70s all cement bags used to be made of jute, which were zero moisture resistance and high spillage during handling and transportation. Post which switchover to plain woven polypropylene (PP) sacks took place. To upgrade the PP bags, concept of lamination was introduced which came with an increase in packaging and handling cost. Some manufacturers are also using BOPP laminated bags to enhance brand value. Talking about the latest advancements, the concepts of 2 – 3 ply paper bags are emerging gradually. These bags are biodegradable and protect the inside materials well, only disadvantage being the cost and handling care – which again pushes up the cost.

While the focus is on cement packaging, I would like to throw some light on some of the pioneering initiatives that we have taken in concrete packaging. Nuvoco was one of the first building materials company to introduce wet ready-to-use premixed range of concrete and mortar "Instamix" in 35 kg bags. The main idea behind this innovative move was to make concrete available to all irrespective of the area or place of their dwelling. With these ready-to-use concrete and mortar in bags Nuvoco has ensured cost-effective and easy construction in any location. It is easy to use on site, as placing and spreading is more efficient.

Cost is an important factor besides product loss, shelf life and environmental factors in selection of packaging options in cement. How do various options stack up against all these parameters?
A reasonable amount of cost is incurred towards packaging. However, the customer appreciates the benefits of better packaging and is willing to pay the additional price. In terms of stacking up of various options, HDPE bags are the most cost effective followed by Laminated PP, BOPP and Paper bags. From the customer perspective what is most important is getting the net assured 50 kg cement in bag. They are ready to pay a premium for guaranteed weight and quality.

What is the packaging option you have zeroed in on and why? What are the factors one should look at while selecting the best packaging material? How anti-plastic movement will impact packaging in future?
Sustainable packaging is the underlying principle that Nuvoco follow which is replicated through our Laminated PP, moisture and tamper proof cement bags. Today, across industry, approximately three per cent of the cement produced is lost in the supply chain and this loss is largely attributed to the cement bags being stored in open environments and use of hooks for unloading across the supply chain, making them vulnerable to damages. At Nuvoco, we ensure that cement bags damaged due to normal wear and tear in transportation are sent to our Readymix Concrete plants across locations avoiding wastages.

Talking about the factors while selecting packaging material, Nuvoco always try to offer best products to its customers, maintaining a proper balance between quality, quantity, cost and environmental concerns. A sturdy cement bag is environment friendly and has a self-life of eight months to a year. Cement bag is generally reused three to four times for mobilizing sand, aggregates, rubbles, bricks and other materials thereby saving on other packing materials. Most of the cement bags degenerate because of exposure to UV rays and at the end of it degenerate into shreds.

Are you planning to mechanise or deploy robotics in packaging process?
Use of automation in cement packaging is imperative; all our packaging machines are calibrated to discharge exact quantity of cement ensuring higher consistency, speed and accuracy.

What is the importance you give for packaging material that improves visibility of your product and what suits the best?
In a product like cement, packaging plays an important role in protecting and enhancing shelf-life. We, at Nuvoco, keep reviewing developments in this space. Nuvoco was the pioneer in introducing Concreto in tamper-proof laminated PP bags, which keeps the cement fresh and prevents adulteration. The idea was to bring disruptive packaging that was entirely unique to the industry, which would not only enhance the "premium" imagery of the brand but also address a longstanding practical concern.

Colour plays a vital role in brand building and recall, and which is why to enhance the visibility of our brand, we have reinforced, our brand colour (green) and significantly modern, orange and purple colours in packaging giving us strong identity in the IHB segment. We also use our packaging to educate customers on "Void Reduction Technology" and "Micro Fibre" used in our products. For our Duraguard brand we have introduced tamper proof bags in north because when we conducted a research it showed concerns of duplication of the brand and in order to reinforce our quality and commitment to the customers we started double stitching on our bags to assure consumer on our quality. The customer looks for more than just information on cement bags and our efforts in packaging have set us above and apart from others enabling in strengthening our brand recall. Also, our customer promise and USP is boldly stated on our packaging…

What are your views on the potential demand dynamics of bulk packaging of cement as against retail packaging?
The housing segment accounts for approximately 65 per cent of the cement consumption, with Affordable housing and IHBs being the major consumers. The IHB’s tend to buy in small lots with constraints in storage space and security of the material; hence the retail packaging dominates over bulk packaging at an overall level.

The demand dynamics could change when we talk about large projects, where the concept of smart silos (capacity up to 8 MT) is picking up where contractors are shifting towards buying bulk cement. Also, with the increase in ready-mix usage, the share of bulk cement is gradually increasing.

What is the growth that you expect in the cement industry in the next three years?
The past two years have witnessed a robust demand for cement and the momentum is expected to sustain on account of increased budgetary allocation towards infrastructure (including roads and railways), rural development and affordable housing demand in rural and urban areas especially under PMAY scheme.

The macroeconomic fundamentals are expected to improve on the back of sustained rise in consumption and government’s reform measures, fostering an environment to boost investments and ease banking sector concerns. Cement demand has a strong co-relation with the GDP growth with an empirically established ratio of 1.2x to 1.3x thus providing an outlook of approximately 8 per cent CAGR over next three years.

Economy & Market

Leonard Unveils Dual-Head Robotic Arm for Hazardous Industrial Demolition

Published

7 days 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

7 days 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