We are working with a few prominent CE OEMs to target their customers.

Sreejit Banerjee

COO, SBU-Greases & Lubric­ants, Balmer Lawrie & Co

What are the current technology trends that manufacturers are adopting for improving equipment efficiency, fuel economy and reduce downtime?

Let’s look at equipment efficiency & reduced downtime which are more relevant to construction equipment & industrial machines/ mills using lubricants. More precise viscosity selection is getting more focus & importance. New methods to restrict contaminant invasion into the system are being used. Use of smart filter carts to clean new or used oil without needing separate attention is in place. Renewed focus of lubricants air handling ability & varnish management to keep varnish is check is being practiced.

On fuel economy which is more relevant for on-road application development of ‘ Plus’ base stocks has helped the industry to move to lower viscosity grades. A typical SAE 5W30 require base stocks with lower volatility to meet engine tests requirements at lower viscosities. Prior to introduction of Group II + base stocks, manufacturers had to rely on using Group III Base stocks to blend SAE 5W30. Focussing on Group II + base stocks, there is improved CCS and NOACK volatility versus Group II Base stocks . On logistics also you can have a single tank with Group II + base stocks against 2 tanks with a Group II & Group III base stocks. The other advantage is price point when you use a Group II + against combination of Group II & Group III.

What kind of products and solutions are used today to ensure right performance of the components?

Nano materials have emerged as potential environment friendly lubricant additives to upgrade the conventional lubricants such as automotive oils, industrial oils, greases & metal working fluids. The application of nano particles additives are based on the application of solid lubrication and are mostly used as anti-wear, anti-friction  & extreme pressure additives. Their various advantages include small enough size, thermal stabilities, variety of particle chemistries & high reaction rate with the surface without induction period. These advantages translate into longer equipment operation, increased fuel efficiency & extended maintenance interval. Technological trends & literature analysis show that significant progress has been achieved with the application of nano materials based on carbon, metals, metal oxides, metal sulphides, metal borates, & metal carbonates in improving the properties & performance of lubricants .In addition nano lubes are commonly used from non toxic material making the lubricant environment friendly.

Tell us about the stringent emission norms compliance and also about the challenges in the transition to adopt BS-VI norms.

Technology upgradation , its validation & assimilation of this technology by customers are some of the major issues faced by the auto sector.

In case of diesel engines three devices catalytic converter, DPF & SCR are filled in Series to make the engine BS VI compliant. In case of petrol engine redesign of ports & exhaust system improvements with direct injection methods (replacement of normal carburetor) & other design changes has to be made to make the engine BS VI compliant.

For oil marketer/oil refineries, reduced timeline, selection of appropriate refining technologies, revamping of existing units & simultaneous distribution of two types of fuels are major challenges to be overcome.

As far as contractors are concerned, selecting the right lubricant needs proper knowledge. What are the steps taken in this regard?

To enable the contractors use the right lubricants we are partnering with the OEMs & advising our customers to follow OEM recommendations strictly for optimal performance of their equipment. With the OEM we are jointly developing products in our R&D to suit the Indian conditions & that will offer more value to the customers. Training has been an integral part of our offering to the OEM’s Sales & Service personnel as well as to the end customers in association with the OEMs. Our aim is to offer better value proposition to our customers & we are constantly developing superior performance products to offer better choices to our OEMs & customers .

Tell us about the emerging scenario in this segment and the outlook for the sector. Also, to what extent has the Covid pandemic affected the industry and likely to impact further?

As I have mentioned partnering with the OEMs to develop the right products for their equipment & machines has been an ongoing trend in the market for last few years & we are actively engaging with OEMs in Construction, Fleet & Infrastructure segment . Currently we are associated with Sany, Tata- Hitachi, Tata Motors , M&M to name a few & we are working with few others as well. We are also actively taking OEM approvals from few leading Global OEMs like Cummins, Volvo ects so that our customers has the choice of using an approved product & not just an equivalent product meeting the specification . We believe in offering more choices to the customers.

The pandemic definitely has dampened the market sentiments which is likely to continue till the time it becomes manageable. However FY 20-21 has been a better year for us in comparison to FY 19-20 & one of the main reason is for the growth that we have been able to get in our distribution business . As we want to grow our distribution business to 30,000 KL level by 2025 & with  enough space available  for us to achieve this, we don’t see that our volume is going to come down despite the difficult situation which is likely to continue in current fiscal.

Can you tell us about your future plans in terms of investment/ introduction of new products and revenue outlook for the current fiscal?

We at Balmer Lawrie have realized the potential that Balmerol Brand has in the channel/distribution business & have a clear 2025 plan in place since 2016. In the past we were primarily a B2B player & market leader in greases & few segments like railways, defense, steel & commercial vehicles where many of our products are used on proprietary basis. We have now expanded to distribution business with our entire range of automotive & industrial products. Last year our channel business touched 13000 KL level (from under 4000 Kl level in 2015) which we would like to take it to 30,000 KL level by 2025. We are today selling 200 Kl of MCO per month from less than 100 KL per annum in 2016. From primary sales we have now moved to secondary sales with implementation of dealer management software & will introduce a no of customer loyalty program in next 2 years through digital platform. We believe in offering better value to our customers & are selling super-clean hydraulic oils, high performances greases, synthetic mould oils & diverse products to cater to Industrial applications. Our retail portfolio offers DEOs, coolants, UTTOs &  all types of higher performances greases for automotive application. We are mainly targeting two ‘wheeler, commercial vehicles & tractor segment for next 4-5 years to grow our retail business. We are also focussing in infrastructure & fleet segment to grow our volumes & working with many big customers on long term contract.

We are also working with a few prominent OEM customers who are in construction equipment like Sany, Tata Hitachi & others where we are selling these OEM approved/OEM branded products in the after market mainly to target their customers. We believe to keep a simple model to exploit the available space in the market & focusing on few initiatives rather than trying to get into everywhere.

We are sure this will help us to cross 60,000 KL volume by 2025 from our current 35,000 KL level. We have currently 3 manufacturing.

Plants which is adequate to meet our projected volume in next 5 years & our future investments will happen in the area of bringing new technologies & partnering with the right partners & in making our distribution business more customer friendly. We will keep investing into our R&D facility which we have been doing for last so many years. Training for both in house & our customers & channel partners will continue as we strongly believe in educating ourselves & our customers are primary requisites for sustainability & growth in business.

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