Strengthening marketshare by investing in global technology
Strata India has set a vision plan for the near future that includes expanding its global presence and adding more products to the portfolio. Within India, it plans to take geosynthetics to the doorstep of every engineer and architect and develop usage in all areas
Strata is a global manufacturer and exporter of geosynthetics products, providing geotechnical engineering services and delivering a range of innovative products and solutions. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of geotechnical products made from high-tenacity polyester material. Established as a joint venture between Strata India and Strata US, a division of Glen Raven, USA, Strata India is a Rs 400+ crore turnover company with manufacturing facility at Daheli in India. The company is led by Narendra Dalmia, B-Tech from IIT Delhi and a team of more than 450 employees. Strata India started a new manufacturing facility a couple of years back.
Sharing an update on the new facility, its manufacturing infrastructure and capacity utilisation, Dalmia informs: “Our world-class 1,50,000 sq. feet manufacturing facility started in 2019. We manufacture our products according to international quality standards, backed by globally recognised design, engineering and technical support services. We have recently upgraded our StrataGrid™ machinery to increase production capacity by 250%. We have also increased the production capacity of StrataWeb® by 300% in the past year.”
“The plant’s current geogrid capacity is 35 million sq. metres and the facility can produce the the broadest geogrid in the market at 5.7 metres to meet the growing demand in both the domestic and international markets,” he adds.
The offerings include soil reinforcement products that can be used for reinforced soil walls, slope protection, ground stabilisation, erosion control, foundation improvement for embankments, steep slope embankments, strengthening of paved and unpaved roads, container yards and ports, warehouse flooring, and even pre-cast concrete arch bridges. Strata India’s products have been used in highways, landfills, container yards, roads, green roofs, steep slopes, railway tracks, and many more. The company currently supplies its products to more than 30 countries across the world, which includes New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, Norway and USA, to name a few.
Achievements
Over the last two decades there have been several defining moments in the company but some of the most important ones include:
1. In the early years when geogrid technology was not very common, most suppliers had an outlook to simply design a structure and supply a product. The construction quality was at risk and led to adoption risk and averseness from clients. Strata India decided to set up its own construction division with full block and panel casting capabilities to allay these fears and provide a quality finished output. This helped tremendously in adoption and allowed the technology to grow.
2. Strata India was set up as a JV with Strata Systems Inc., US. For almost 10 years both the companies were operating independently focussing on their respective markets. In late 2016, they decided to globalise the company and as one entity Strata has common manufacturing, branding, teams, etc. This led to the construction of the Daheli plant where it was able to improve product technology and achieve economies of scale.
“This new plant gave the company global recognition for our products and accelerate the growth of the company,” says Dalmia. Since the inception of this plant in 2019, exports has grown from Rs 20 crore in 2018 to Rs 130 crore planned in the current FY. The plant’s current geogrid capacity is 35 million sq. metres and the facility can produce the broadest geogrid in the market at 5.7 metres to meet the growing demand in both the domestic and international markets.
Overcoming Challenges
Speaking about the impact of the pandemic on the company, Dalmia explains that 2020 was a year that posed unprecedented challenges to humanity across the globe. And yet, through this crisis, the plant and site teams worked with the utmost caution and care and continued to deliver excellent results. “Our HO team quickly adapted to the work-from-home scenario and ensured that we kept the business growing. Instead of lying low, we decided to grow in all sectors – domestic sales, exports and matching production. We added new capacities to double our production of StrataGrid and triple it for StrataWeb. This grit to fight in even adverse circumstances has boosted our confidence tremendously to meet any new challenge in the times to come,” he says. Strata India has also been felicitated by Economic Times as one of the Best Infrastructure Brands of 2021.
Growth Opportunities
Sounding pleased about the government’s focus on the geotextiles segment, Dalmia elaborates: “The focus and adoption levels vary as per different departments. The Ministry of Textiles has a high recognition for the geotextiles segment and is working aggressively on several important initiatives to promote usage. Several user ministries such as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways have been encouraging the use of geotextiles by way of standards and circulars, resulting in higher adoption rate. But there is an opportunity in various other sectors such as water, ports and shipping, environment, mining, etc. where the adoption and awareness are still low. In general, with every passing day, the adoption rate is increasing marginally and higher investments in infrastructure will certainly be a significant opportunity.”
Global Leadership
Considering that the company is one of the established Indian manufacturers in the geotextile segment, does it have any plans to make further investments in expanding capacity to take advantage of the emerging opportunity? Answering this question, Dalmia states, “So far we have been focussed on a few products to achieve economies of scale and a leadership position in the global market. A considerable amount of time and effort has been spent over the last decade for creating our brand awareness, distribution and sales channels, technical capabilities and manufacturing expertise. We intend to leverage this platform to expand rapidly and have considerable capex plans for the next three years. We will not only expand our current capacities, setting up one of the largest geogrid manufacturing facilities globally under a single roof, but we will be adding newer products to our portfolio.”
Considering that the segment in which Strata India is operating is competitive both globally and in India with many large companies offering similar products and solutions, is there any key reason as to why should a customer pitch for its products? According to Dalmia, Strata has an edge given that the company offers the best balance between technical and commercial benefits. He adds that the company has over 200 engineers working on development and can offer strong engineering solutions, not only product-related but with technical designs, construction expertise and product innovation.
“But while offering such technical expertise, we have maintained a very competitive cost structure by achieving economies of scale in our manufacturing, leveraging our deep domain knowledge in raw material sourcing and through our product innovations which help reduce costs. This technical and commercial benefit is packaged strongly by our globally recognisable brand and the legacy which has been established over two decades. Strata is a preferred supplier for clients looking for sound engineered solutions at a good price point,” he states. The company has always been known for its product innovations about which Dalmia states that any development and innovation in the company is binary in nature – product innovation and application development.
IP in the Pipeline
“We have pioneered multiple applications in India such as the use of block fascia along with geogrids in reinforced soil walls, using reinforced soil technology to make vertical landfills, using geocells in container yards for heavy ground support and on highway slopes for erosion protection, etc. On the product side, we have developed a proprietary coating technology which offers tremendous technical and commercial benefits to the product. We were the first company to indigenously manufacture geocells and develop the technical aspects for its usage and have filed for two new patented systems for reinforced soil structures and are currently working on several new products which we will file for IP shortly,” Dalmia reveals.
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“The focus and adoption levels vary as per different departments. The Ministry of Textiles has a high recognition for the geotextiles segment and is working aggressively on several important initiatives to promote usage. Several user ministries such as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways have been encouraging the use of geotextiles by way of standards and circulars, resulting in higher adoption rate. But there is an opportunity in various other sectors such as water, ports and shipping, environment, mining, etc. where the adoption and awareness are still low. In general, with every passing day, the adoption rate is increasing marginally and higher investments in infrastructure will certainly be a significant opportunity.”
– Narendra Dalmia
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The company offers two key products. These include:
• StrataGrid: This is manufactured using high molecular weight of 25,000 g per mol and high-tenacity polyester yarn. The yarns are precision knitted into a dimensionally stable network of apertures providing tensile reinforcement capacity in both directions. A proprietary UV stabilized black saturation coating enhances the chemical and mechanical properties of StrataGrid, increasing its life and enabling its usage in harsh soil conditions.
• StrataWeb: This is a lightweight but strong, 3D honeycomb-shaped cellular confinement system. It can be used as foundation reinforcement mat for improvement of load-bearing capacities of weak soils and as an erosion control barrier for slope surface.