Canadian Speciality Vinyls (CSV) is an Indian enterprise specialising in manufacture of all kinds of calendered PVC films that are widely used in various industrial and commercial applications like banners, billboards, pneumatic toys, stationery, furniture films, industrial curtains, floor coverings, raincoats, handbags, plastic bags & other items. In a short span of time, it has built a huge network and has grown fast to become one of India’s largest manufacturers.
It is the manufacturing arm of the well respected and renowned ‘Shikhar Enterprises’ Group, a 20 year old concern established by educationist and entrepreneur Anil Mahajan, that engages in international trading of several industrial raw materials like textiles & plastics, and also has business interests in Real Estate and Construction.
To delve in to the company’s manufacturing strength and its strategy to combat the competitions from imported stuff and fabric, we, at Sign & POP World, caught up with Vinay Verma, CSV’s vice-president.
How is CSV placed in the Indian flex industry?
We are the second to set-up flex manufacturing plant in India. And for now, with a monthly capacity to produce 1500 tons, we are the second largest manufacturer of flex in India. Soon, we are going to expand it to touch 2200 tons mark, which is slated to be operational by March 2018.
How has been the infrastructure at CSV and its manufacturing capabilities?
We have a very robust infrastructure comprising most advanced manufacturing facility with automatic calendaring by Comerio ercole (Italy), Berstorff (5-Roll Calender from Germany) and Ding Co, to form a state-of-the-art facility that can produce a huge, unmatched product range.
We are capable of manufacturing calendared films up to the net width of 4.0 m. We also have the ability to manufacture extremely thin PVC Films in thicknesses of 0.03 mm that can be used for various applications. Heavy thickness for rigid and soft films can go up to 2.0 mm in our product range. We also have the flexibility to meet rush orders if you need material unexpectedly.
Moreover, our plant at Kashipur in Uttarakhand, is qualified for ‘Environment Management System’ by ISO 14001: 2004, which ensures a safe and clean operation. We are committed to the highest standards of safety, health and environment and will keep on meeting or exceeding all regulatory guidelines.
What is your USP? What makes you apart from your competitors?
Continuous product innovation, customer intimacy, superior quality, first-rate service and our ability to provide fast solutions to specific customer problems make us unique in the Plastic Film industry. Based on all this, we have gained the trust of our valuable customers. We always look forward to facilitate more profit to our customers.
The cornerstone of our philosophy is to be fully responsive to our customers’ needs. Our reputation for having the foremost service and delivery performance in the industry has always been an achievement of our people. From the highly skilled product development staff and engineers to the sales and marketing staff, all personnel work together as a closely-knit team to timely deliver the product that best suits the needs of our customers.
How do you assure your customers about the consistency in quality at CSV?
To ensure continuous improvement and a consistently high level of performance, we adhere to rigid quality assurance standards. These standards are enforced in every facet of our business – right from R&D to engineering, from production to marketing, and from administration to technical support functions. We are ISO 9001:2008 certified. ISO certification is our way of saying that each and every time, and without fail, we will do what we promise to do. Just a simple mention that we do not change the formulation of the raw materials, which we procure not only from India but also from overseas markets like Korea and China.
How do you see the state of Indian flex industry? Is invasion of fabric going to change the scenario?
The Indian flex industry is growing at around 20% annually. As we all know, the market here is price-sensitive and fabric is too highly-priced when compared with flex. Immediately, in next 5 to 10 years, I don’t see any impact on the market for flex. I can’t see a 100% shift over fabric from flex due to the limitations attached to the former. If anyway fabric succeeds, it will take 10-15 years to replace only 50% of the flex market. But at the same time, the market would grow by 50%, which will keep combating the effect to some extent.
What is your distribution model? Do you also export? If yes, to which countries?
We are present pan India through our dealers. Presently, we are not exporting to any country because we already have very good potential in domestic market irrespective of regions. But once the expansion is done, we will surely be looking forward to export destinations in various countries.
What is your take on competing with imported stuff?
We already have the anti-dumping duty in place, we don’t have to compete with any low standard cheap stuff. However, there are certain brands at the high-end band with which we are able to compete because we do have the capability to produce the high-quality stuff.
How has been the competition at high-end with foreign players?
In last two years, imported brand like Starflex has already lost 80% of its market share owing to the enhanced capacity and improved quality of domestic manufacturers who are now capable to produce high-quality products at a much lower rate. On quality front, we are at par with the high-quality imported stuff while when it comes to pricing we are 20-25% cheaper than them.