GL&V Dewatering Technologies Group has announced Abhi Impex Pvt. Ltd as its official representative for the Indian pulp and paper market. Recently they organized a press conference. Paper Mart presents the excerpts of this interaction.
Paul Henzell, Global Business Manager, Paper Machine Dewatering Technology introducing GL&V’s offering to the paper industry commented, “We feel that the biggest technological advantage and improvement that you can make on a paper machine is in the wet end of the paper machine. The BTF Headbox is one of our flagship products anmplements the dewatering technologies group. So that’s our area of expertise. That’s where we feel we can provide the most value to customers, in that it is the least expensive place on the paper machine to remove water, and as we go further down the machine it gets more expensive.”
Further commenting on the importance of the Dewatering division and GL&V’s operations in India, he added. “The Dewatering division is very important to us, because in the recession, there is not much scope for new significant capital projects. And as this division offers technology and After Market spare parts, thus enabling us to survive through the recession. The Indian market is very important to GL&V; we have made a significant commitment and investment by having full capabilities in our Pune facility, built in an area of 18,000 sq.feet with a workforce of 50 people. Not only does this facility provide engineering support to the Indian market, but also cater to GL&V’s global requirements.”
Identifying the key areas of GL&V’s focus Richard Tarr, Sales Manager said “We bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Indian paper industry. Abhi Impex has introduced us to a lot of paper machines in India. We’re not just supplying you an equipment, we’re supplying you some information, some know-how, some experience, in how to tackle the machine and create a better product, make it better in terms of formation, dewatering, and power consumption. We call the group Dewatering Technologies because we provide technology to the industry.”
Abhay Warhadpande, Executive Director, GL&V India, talking about the Indian paper scenario: “In today’s time, mills will not emphasise on having big capital projects or producing something fantastic with latest technology. But rather small upgrades, small rebuilds, which will not require much investment, and reduce operating cost, improve quality, give an edge over the market. I would say in that respect, GL&V specialises in rebuilds and upgrades and after market business. In fact, that has been identified as our focus area in the years to come.
Giving a synopsis of GL&V’s market strategy in India, R.K. Agarwal, Managing Director, Abhi Impex said: “Our objective for this product line in India is that when someone wants a doctor blade or dewatering technology, the first name to come to their mind should be GL&V.”
Do you intend to make the facility at Pune an outsourcing hub for your global requirement?
In December, we had already started manufacturing. We have manufactured drum washers there, for the project that GL&V Sweden booked for Canada, a mill called ChenMing Shendong. So we have made 5 drum washers for them. Right now GL&V has an order in the USA from a mill called Georgia Pacific .Its a 3000TPD fiber line, and the washer that is of the latest technology for which we are making certain parts. Also, we have recently purchased 5 acres of land, about 40 km from Pune, in order to expand operations in India.
What sort of emphasis does GL&V put on the R&D and QC?
We have ISO 9001 certification. Some paper mills in North America have told us that our quality standards are definitely better than our competition .We have a Quality team that goes around the world, qualifies vendors, and also does the inspection. We have a global department called Global International Outsourcing. Also, a Quality Control Engineer always supervises the manufacturing process at Pune.
We have a steering committee for both the pulping and the paper side. The business managers of the product groups meet to develop products. We have frequent presentations for the development of new products.
What major acquisitions has GL&V done in the past?
We have done a lot of acquisitions. Major acquisitions were started with Celleco, which was the number one company in cleaners, Hedemora, which was in disc filters. We acquired 3 divisions of Beloit, the chemical pulping division, the stock preparation division, and winders, which was called Beloit Lenox. Then we acquired Sandy Hill i.e. in the chemical pulping division. Other major acquisitions include KanEng, Perplas, Black Clawson-Kennedy, Dorr-Oliver Worldwide and Impco.
Do you plan to have tie-up with any Indian company?
As per the GL&V philosophy, it would be 100% owned. But we can have tie-ups with some companies in India for sourcing. For example, if a company is good in refiner plates, we can source from them. But just for that we don’t want collaboration with them. But there can be joint ventures also.
What is the mission statement for GL&V globally, and for GL&V’s Indian operations?
The mission statement for GL&V globally, as far as Indian operations are concerned, is:
1. Engineering outsourcing
2. Outsourcing of components or equipments for GL&V requirements worldwide,
3. Make India as a sales, manufacturing and service hub for South Asian market, excluding China.
What are the major innovations that GL&V has done in the past?
One of the major innovations is the centri-cleaner. We have recently innovated the cleaner. On a normal scale it operates at about .8%- .9% to clean pulp. We developed a cleaner called Twister which gives the same efficiency, same cleaning effect as the old cleaner, but can be operated at double the consistency. So you are retaining the efficiency, but you are reducing the power consumption by half. Also, the cleaner is designed in such a way that you have minimum modification in existing system. 4-5 centri-cleaners have already been installed in India.
GL&V’s technology is viable for which size of mills?
Our technology is suitable for a medium-size mill, producing over 30 TPD. Moreover, the wet-end aspect is usually the most neglected area in small mills. Thus, such mills would be the right target.
Could you tell us about GL&V’s product range?
Our products are amongst the best value-engineered in the industry; starting with the Superloc ceramic blade design and Hi-Vac removable spar Suction Box Cover; Poly material ranging from standard grades to the unique poly alloy EVO2; Patented Concept3, a drainage/retention and formation aid for the lower speed category of machines, yielding dramatic microturbulence.
