"Once percieved to be a dull looking product, concrete has now started getting recognized as a decorative or architectural product. Design flexibility, aesthetic, durability, life time cost, and customisation being the key attributes which are adding to the growth of this product,” says Founder & M.D, Shree Bhoomi Constructions Co. (SBDECO) Mr. Anant Sahay, in an interview wih Maria R.
The decorative concrete, once viewed as a niche product, is now slowly gaining acceptance in the Indian market. Being associated with this industry for long, how do you think the journey has been so far of decorative concrete from a niche product to a recognized main stream land scapes/flooring option?
Any product or I will rather put this way any industry new to any market have few takers initially. Because the industry itself is new. Applications are never experienced and the loyality in established products being used for such a long period is difficult to break. Concrete in India even today is percieved to be a dull looking product and to associate it with decorative or architectural product is very difficult. Over the past 5 years decorative concrete industry has been at a very early phase of awareness. The CFG (core focus group) as I have called the small segment of audience who have really contributed a lot are the architects and the institutional segment. One being the influencers and the other the segment which has used this product the most, the schools, colleges etc. Obviously as architects find it to be an innovative product and institutional customer finds value for money in these products, more importantly the segment who have till date found interest in these products are the actual users of these products. Life time cost is the top priority when it comes to price and aesthetic look, customisation and durability being the key attributes adding to the growth of the products. Now some of the top builder groups are also coming forward to using these products which is a very positive sign. Architects themselves are very positive.
How do you see the market of decorative concrete in the long-term and what are the emerging application areas where this product will get widespread acceptance?
The future of the decorative concrete industry is very bright if we take a 5-7 years period (long term for a new industry). Feel that the real estate market is picking up. Competition is increasing and every one needs to give something new and wonderful to add to their brand image. Decorative concrete is one such product.The ability of decorative concrete to cater to interior and exterior floorings means less use of ever diminishing natural products like stones and marbles etc adding to the conservation of natural products. Also in years to come these alternative products being used widely today will be very costly. With good training and processes in place the industry will see a huge change in the coming years in the decorative concrete industry. The clear distinct advantages associated with these products over the others in terms of durabilty, aesthetics, customization and freedom of design will add to rapid penetration in all the segments of the market.
The new concept of polished concrete for interiors and overlays increases the scope of application now. Pool decks, gardens, jogging tracks, cycle tracks, skating grounds, terrace, and stair cases are some of the new application areas for exterior floors. With decorative coloured polised concrete, the interior floors can be customised in terms of designs and colors something a stone or a tile cannot achieve. All these new applications and new products are adding to the scope of work and application areas.
What are the teething issues/challenges the industry faced over a period of time to make this product familiar to the users?
a. The competition from all products: Floorings have well establised products being used over and over the years, tiles, pavers, natural stones are the most preferred products. Loyality towards these products is very strong. To shift the loyality from these well established products in the minds of the prospective markets has been the biggest challenge. Resistance to change will always be there but clear distinct advantages of decoratvie concrete coupled with likeness of these products by the key influncers the architects have resulted in creating awareness.
b. Inadequate training and lack of skilled labour: These products which are made at the customer premises carry high risk factor. This has also been the bottlenecks till date where players have failed to live up to expectation. The processes involved in these products are irreversible so there is no second chance. Today there are very less skilled or semi skilled masons who can give a world class quality. So training them thoroughly should be the top priority for any player. This also directly affects output per day and impacts the cost of installation negatively. Supervision of on site work has been the most neglected part. Placing good quality civil engineers to oversee the entire installtion should be one of the top priorities.
c. Product knowledge of end customer & perception based product: There is hardly any expenditure on the marketing aspect for these products, technical literatures and maintenance guidelines etc have seldom been a part of product awareness programes, marketing has been weak, beginning from a comprehensive knowledge imparting websites to qualified marketing personnels, brand building is practically absent in the industry. All players should focus on the awareness aspect on a top priority and use good marketing tools to create awareness about the products, its advantages and limitations.
d. Few products in offering: Even after so many years we are still as an industry promoting only one product, Stamped Concrete, there are too many good products which players have not promoted either due to lack of infrastructure or investments in expensive tools and equipments or inadequate training in newer products. To expand the market we need to realize that we need to put more and more products in our offerings. Products bundling the right way customized for each segments we are targeting is the need of the hour.
Today, a variety of innovative products and techniques are available in the market to add a touch of class and glamour to the floor/wall. How Decorative Concrete solutions are able to mark its presence in such competitive environment?
What about the current trends in Decorative Concrete industry and product ranges available in the market?
The current trend is of course Stamped concrete and IPS finish for exterior floors, Polished concrete is being done by a few players. Vertical concrete is something we are introducing in a big way in selective cities. Exposed aggregate system which is the most used application globally and especially in western countries will still take time as maintenance is a big issue and in india the dusty atmosphere is a issue but still will find niche markets in selected segments where everyday maintenance is not an issue.
Please tell us about your company Shree Bhoomi Constructions Co, (SBDECO), and why are you different from others?
Shree Bhoomi Constructions Company is the youngest player in this Industry. The company came into existence about 1½ years back and is managed by the pioneers and very young people from the industry who have been instrumental in building this industry. SBDECO is the brand in which we sell and install our systems. We are different on several counts:
- We are the youngest but 1st and the only company in this small industry till date to get an ISO 9001:2008 for process and OSHAS 18001 for installation and manufacturing certification.
- We are the only company who are providing, Exterior, Interior decorative floors and wall imprint sytem under one roof. A one stop shop for all your floorings and walls requirement.
- The company operates from multiple cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad unlike others who operate from just one place. We are also expanding in neighbouring markets like Nepal where we are setting up factory for manufacturing. We also intend to set up another manufaturing unit in Delhi or Mumbai apart from the one in Hyderabad where we have a partnership.
- The only company to have its own multiple teams placed in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.
- Thoroughly trained staffs who have been trained abroad and in India.
- Good civil engineer for each team to supervise and maintain quality of product.
We have been positioning ourselves as innovative systems providers. We have given the industry some of the most innovative and complex design solutions not possible for others to install a pointer towards the best of training given to our guys. In a short span of time, we have created our name in this and have associated with some of the big names in the customer segment like Paramount Group, Amrapali, HCL, in Delhi NCR and Tharwani, Delatechnica, Sementec & Aggam Infra in west. More importantly unlike others we are getting repeat orders from clients. The focus of the company is on key accounts development and introduction of more innovative tools to ease the processes of installation. The focus is on brand building by taking up challenging projects with lots of design creation etc to position SBDECO as a premium brand giving world-class quality.
The system of multi casting multi color and multi pattern in stamped concrete was introduced by us something never thought of and different from plain jane single pattern designs etc.
The first to do complex design implementation in IPS color concrete finish with flexible formwork. We have given the customer a feel of capability of decorative concrete systems by giving world class workmanship.
Can your solutions be customized too? A word about your support services.
Customization is an inherent property of the decorative concrete systems. Our customization of designs and more importantly ease of installtion for complex designs has set up new benchmark for others to follow. Our support services include design consultancy, after sales services like AMC and also being a complete solution providers for all decorative floors and wall needs something none of the other companies have.
