interview with a rubber leader_r v gandhi_grp

Know A

LEADER In 10 Question

s

Rubber & Tyre

rubbermachineryworld.com / tyremachineryworld.com

INTERVIEW WITH

R.V.GANDHIManaging Director, GRP Ltd.

ONE MUST

DARE TO DREAM

NEW

On

Pg 24

Leadership Insight

from

Around The World

The above verses best summarizes Rajendra V. Gandhi,

MD and the chief promoter of GRP Ltd.

From building an ethical corporate organization in GRP,

to serving on prestigious boards and industry bodies,

public and private trusts that serve the cause of education

in rubber, women empowerment, training in ethical

values, water resource management, Gandhi’s immense

contribution to Indian rubber industry has established

him as an inspirational business leader and an iconic

corporate citizen.

While the global reclaim industry depended on the

European technology for manufacturing, Gandhi boldly

decided to design, fabricate and install an entire plant

and machinery for the manufacture of Reclaim Rubber,

with complete indigenous components when India was

largely deprived of foreign funds for imported machinery.

This pioneering effort, at the start of his career as a

young graduate engineer from IIT, Mumbai, ensured the

beginning of a reclaim movement in India.

Under Gandhi’s leadership, GRP Ltd has emerged as one

of the largest manufacturer of reclaim rubber in the

world, setting benchmarks for others to follow.

Its an honour to know him and present you his leadership

wisdom in this edition. We also have ‘Leadership Insights

from Around the World in a Page’ as an additional

knowledge resource for you. As always, I welcome your

feedback on [email protected].

Best Regards

Prasanth Warrier

| Interviewer’s Note |

“Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader.

They set out to make a difference. It’s

never about the role - always about the goal.”

Gandhi’s immense

contribution to

Indian rubber

industry and social

causes make him

an inspirational

business leader and

an iconic citizen.

3

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Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World APR 2016|(Disclaimer: All the pictures and statements in this special supplement are sourced from web or shared by respective companies. All copyrights belong to actual owners. Rubber Machinery World does not independently verify them nor will vouch for their genuineness, hence will not be liable for any misrepresented data. The images are used for representation purpose only.)

4

| LEADER - INTERVIEW |

Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World | APR 2016

“The only driving force then

was a desire to start a business

which I can call my own

creation no matter how small”


5

PRASANTH WARRIER (PW):

Hello Rajendra Gandhi. First of all thank

you for accepting an interview with

Rubber & Tyre Machinery World and

sharing your thoughts. The decade of 70s

was not a period conducive to

entrepreneurs in Indian ecosystem. Yet,

as a young graduate out of IIT Mumbai,

you embarked on a journey that created

an enterprise, people today know as GRP.

So let me start with a personal question -

What would you say were secrets to your

success? What are the take away for the

next generation of leaders in your

inspiring story?

RAJENDRA V. GANDHI (RVG):

It is true that the decade of 70's was not a

period conducive to entrepreneurs in

Indian ecosystem. But after graduating

from IIT Mumbai, and having spent some

time in my family textile business, I had

inkling to start something on my own

instead of enjoying the family business

legacy. At that time I came across an

article which spoke how there is a good

future for the recycling industry in a

developing country like India. I was

struck by that article and decided to

pursue an opportunity in recycling.

After reviewing several options, I zeroed in

on rubber recycling. I must admit that I did

not have any fixed roadmap to succeed in

this venture when I set out. The only driving

force then was a desire to start a business /

industry which I can call my own creation

no matter how small. It was then that I was

introduced to K.M. Philip who was fondly

known as the 'Father of the Indian Rubber

Industry'. He encouraged me to set up a

reclaim rubber plant with technical

guidance from Wamanrao G Desai who was

an accomplished rubber technologist with

several years of experience in the reclaim

rubber manufacturing. Thus Gujarat

Reclaim & Rubber Products Ltd Company

was set up in 1974. Philip graciously agreed

to become the Chairman, while Desai was

appointed the Managing Director and I was

the Joint Managing Director. For me this

was a journey in faith.

The company was established on certain

values and principles, which later turned

out to be the valuable 'assets' of the

company. We decided that instead of

importing the machinery by bribing to get

an import license through DGTD, we would

design and make the entire plant based on

indigenous parts and equipment. Desai had

One Must Dare To Dream.Entrepreneurship is about dreaming, conceptualising.

Interview With Rajendra V. Gandhi,

Managing Director, GRP Ltd.

Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World APR 2016|

6


the adequate experience and it was my

choice to have faith in his experience

and expertise. Philip's advice was very

reassuring. So, initial years were spent

in designing equipment necessary for

manufacture of reclaiming rubber,

preparing plant layouts, etc. We were

able to purchase locally a second hand

imported cracker mill for initial size

reduction of waste tyres.

I realised the importance of patience and

perseverance during this period. We

were able to convince the financial

institutes to give us loan on the basis of

self -designed and fabricated plant and

machinery. This indeed provided us lot

of encouragement and confidence. But

my family was more cautious and

offered a limited capital for the venture.

It meant that for the remaining capital I

had to look for other sources. We decided

to set up our plant in Ankleshwar,

Gujarat which was then declared as a

backward district and various financial

incentives were available for

entrepreneurs setting up a unit there.

After mustering some capital from

relatives and friends, I decided to make a

public issue to raise the balance capital.

Unfortunately, the period from 1975-77

was a time of emergency declared by

Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The

capital market was indeed very

depressed just as the economy then. For

a paltry sum of Rs 15 lakhs that I needed

from public issue, I had to spend more

than two years to get this amount

underwritten by various institutions. This

delay resulted in cost escalation and we were

trapped in liquidity crisis.

During this time I lost my father. I was scared

and at times frustrated. But I believed that if

one's intentions are honourable, one will

receive support.

KM Philip, inspite of his stature and respect,

decided to fully stand by me. With the public

issue in 1978 we were able to invest rest of

the capital and as a result we were able to

commission the first line at Ankleshwar in

around Oct 1978 with our indigenously

designed and self-fabricated machinery.

Obviously there were plenty of teething

troubles in the equipment, resulting in

frequent stoppage of plant. It took us about 4

years to resolve all technical issues. In the

process, we paid heavy price in terms of

further cost escalation.

We were fighting against heavy odds. It

needed lot of patience, perseverance, and

faith to continue. In KM Philip I found a great

motivator and supporter. While dealing with

the debugging of equipment, I also learnt the

need to establish good practices in corporate

governance. I realised the importance of

giving respect to my colleagues at all levels. I

realised those working with me as a valuable

human asset.

“I was scared and at times

frustrated. But I believed that

if one’s intentions are honorable

one will receive support”


10


In this journey of over 40 years with

GRP and in the rubber industry, here

are few take away as I reflect back.

• One must dare to dream.

Entrepreneurship is about dreaming,

conceptualising.

• One must have healthy reservoir of

patience and perseverance.

• One has to have long term focus.

• It is important to have right values

and healthy precedents to be

introduced in the very beginning of

a start-up enterprise.

• Taking risk is an integral part of

entrepreneurship.

I can broadly divide my role in 3 parts;

a) In Business as an entrepreneur,

b) In Industry as a member of different

rubber bodies, and

c) In social area, as an active citizen.

In Business: When I decided to enter the

reclaim rubber industry, I was aware that

there were few established players then. So I

cannot call myself a pioneer then. As I began

to grapple with the routine issues faced by

any new enterprise, I realised soon that I

need to do things differently, to carve out a

niche. The idea of designing and self-

fabricating all equipment for manufacture of

“It is important to have

right values and healthy

precedents to be introduced

in the very beginning of a

start-up enterprise.”

PW: You have donned quite a few hats

in your career – a rubber reclaim

pioneer, visionary entrepreneur,

representative of various bodies,

advisor, mentor, educationist,

championing causes of woman

empowerment and employment

amongst other corporate and personal

initiatives. Which is the position that

you enjoyed the most?

It is true that I have donned many RVG:

hats in my career. Of course, all hats were

not donned at the same time, but at

different times.



reclaim rubber offered many challenges

and opportunities to learn. I enjoyed

interacting with different vendors and

trying to understand where they can be

vulnerable or what their real strengths

are. It was an interesting experience to

trust my vendors and machinery

suppliers with our drawings and

proprietary information. While few

betrayed that trust most others turned

out to be trust-worthy. Even today we

have a dilemma. If we develop a

concept or an idea and we would like to

engage a machine supplier to test our

idea on his machine, we need to share

our objective and to seek the vendor's

input how best to tweak his machine

for our objective. At that point the

vendor is keener to know what our real

objective is, so that they can offer their

machines to others for a similar

objective. While the vendor want to sell

multiple machines based on our idea

where as we are keen that he sells his

machine without sharing with others

what our objective is. In such a

situation there exists a trust deficit.

In trade bodies: I was fortunate to be

part of the AIRIA Managing Committee,

initially as a representative of the Indian

Reclaim Rubber Manufacturers'

Association and in later years as a

special invitee. I witnessed in earlier

years how K.M. Philip, and other senior

members of the rubber fraternity were

grappling with the issues confronting the

Indian rubber industry. I recognised that

most members were not equally

committed to serve the rubber industry

selflessly. Often there is a dilemma whether

the trade body should adopt a protectionist

attitude to support their members' interest or

to develop a larger picture for the potential

growth of the entire industry. Either you

choose to grab the larger piece of a cake or to

think of carving out a larger cake itself and

thereby to increase your size. I wish when

members come on a trade body, they develop

a foresight to see the larger picture and

potential. I also hope that more and more

members use such a platform to broaden

their vision and serve selflessly instead of

using such platform for personal gains and

indulging in petty politics.

I believe the Indian Rubber Industry can

attain much greater heights if its trade

representatives adopt a bolder and wider

vision.

In Social areas: In our upbringing we have

been taught that we must learn to 'pay-back'

to society in whatever way we can. So from a

young age, I have tried to be an active citizen

by participating and joining social

community activities.

“While the vendor want to sell

multiple machines based on our

idea where as we are keen that

he sells his machine without

sharing with others what our

objective is. In such a situation

there exists a trust deficit.”


11


“K.M. Philip, inspite of his stature and respect,

decided to fully stand by me... I found a great

motivator and supporter (in him).”

Rajendra V. Gandhi with Kandathil M. Philip.

K.M. Philip, fondly known as the ‘Father Of Indian Rubber Industry’, is also the

Chairman (Emeritus) of GRP Ltd.


12


PW: What have been the significant

changes you observed in the rubber

industry in the last 4 decades? What

were the drivers for this change?

When I decided to set up the RVG:

Reclaim Rubber factory in 1974, Indian

economy was a socialist / control

economy. For procuring any raw material

or for making any product you needed a

DGTD quota or DGTD Registration/an

industrial license. These quotas and

license were made available on very

selective basis. As a result few enjoyed

monopolies and prospered because of

artificial scarcity created by such quotas

and licenses. There were few exceptional

tyre companies who could genuinely

claim to be home grown during that

period.

However with the advent of

liberalization in early 90s, the shape of the

rubber industry had changed dramatically.

With the markets opening up and with

growing consumer demand there was rapid

expansions in the production capacities of

all rubber goods manufacturers.

In the 70's and 80's, the Indian rubber

industry was very inward focused and

prospering or surviving on the domestic

market only. But since 90's those companies

which started expanding their markets

beyond boundaries began to see lot more

opportunities. Of course entering export

market meant intense competition and

quality improvement.

I believe there are several shining examples

of Indian rubber manufacturing companies

who have established niche for their

products in the global markets because of

their high quality and competitive process.

I am proud of the fact that my company GRP

Ltd. is one such company.

“I believe there are several

shining examples of Indian

rubber manufacturing

companies.”

Image from Web: Schematic Layout

Of Tyre Recycling Machinery


14


Consequently, when our Company in early

90s decided to enter export market we

realized, we had to re-educate technical

people in the compounding division of our

customers to see the benefit of Reclaim

Rubber as a technically sound ingredient /

raw material rather than cheap inexpensive

filler. It took a lot of time and efforts to

build trust with our customers.

After 2005, with the Chinese economy

galloping at more than 10% annually, there

was a concern worldwide about possible

shortage of Natural and Synthetic Rubber.

The prices of Natural and Synthetic Rubber

along with crude oil price began to rise

rapidly. In addition, with the adverse effect

of global warming, several Governments

became conscious about sustainability and

environmental degradation.

“By late 70's barring one or two

Reclaim Rubber producers

almost all manufacturers ceased

to exist in USA / Europe. As a

result, Almost one generation of

rubber technologists did not

have the knowledge of use of

reclaim rubber in compounding.”

PW: Reclaim Rubber is widely used in

manufacturing of automobile tyres and

tubes as well as many other rubber

products. How do you ensure that

industry acknowledges the

'sustainability & environment friendly'

aspect of Reclaim Rubber and

consciously increase its usage in their

products; especially when there are

favourable price fluctuations for them

in NR and SR?

In the aftermath of the World War II,RVG:

Reclaim Rubber emerged as a significant

player in countries like USA to offer the

third source of rubber hydro carbon after

Natural Rubber and Synthetic Rubber. But

with advent of cheap crude oil prices in

the 50's and 60's, and huge production of

Synthetic Rubber saw demise of Reclaim

Rubber Industry in the western world.

By late 70's barring one or two Reclaim

Rubber producers almost all

manufacturers ceased to exist in USA /

Europe. As a result, almost one generation

of rubber technologists did not have the

knowledge of use/advantages of reclaim

rubber in compounding.

Image from Web: Tyre Recycling Plant


18


GRP since then has been highlighting the

role of Reclaim Rubber from the point of

view of sustainability and as a

environmental friendly raw material. We

have succeeded to some extent in this

endeavour. In recent times, however

with the crash in the commodity prices as

well as in the prices of Natural and

Synthetic Rubber, there are fewer

incentives for using more Reclaim Rubber

despite of it being more environment

friendly raw material.

End-of-Life Tyres (ELT) are an PW:

important source of recycled rubber

around the world. This is also a key

input for Pyrolysis Units that focus of

CB and Oil Recovery. In the wake of this

competition, how do you foresee rubber

reclaim industry shaping up in the next

5-10 years?

It is true that pyrolysis has entered RVG:

in India in a big way. Many small scale

entrepreneur saw in it an opportunity to

make quick money by sale of oil recovered

from this process. The risky operation

associated with pyrolysis caused few fatal

accidents in several states compelling the

state authorities to clamp down on such

unsafe units.

Further with the crash in the crude oil prices

and consequent lower prices of fuel oil,

pyrolysis does not appear to be as lucrative.

In the western world, a number of start-ups

are engaged in producing carbon black and

oil recovery through pyrolysis but most of

these plants are highly capital intensive and

so far we are not aware of any commercial

viable plant in operation.

In India the fortune of pyrolysis units in the

coming years will be decided by:

a) The operations margin available

“With the crash in the crude oil

prices and consequent lower

prices of fuel oil, pyrolysis does

not appear to be as lucrative.” Image from Web: Pyrolysis Plant


19


depending upon the Government

monitored price and furnace oil. It is

believed that most of the sale of

pyrolysis oil takes place on grey market.

b) How effectively state pollution control

boards are able to monitor the unsafe

working condition in such units?

As an industry leader, what are PW:

your expectations from machinery

manufacturers/suppliers to propel the

growth of rubber reclaim?

I believe machinery manufacturersRVG:

can play a significant role in the growth

of Reclaim Rubber Industry in India.

There is a need for designing of 'right' size

reduction machines such as shredders,

crackers and grinders which can

effectively handle steel belted radial tires.

In the coming years there can be good

opportunity in this area.

There is also need for machinery

suppliers to offer cost effective material

conveying system (MHS) which can

substantially bring down labour cost.

There is also opportunity to offer

innovative packaging solution to Reclaim

Rubber industry.

Continued on Page 27

R.V.Gandhi receiving the prestigious KMP Gold Award on Jan 21, 2013

for his outstanding contributions to Indian Rubber Industry.

Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World | APR 2016

20

Dis

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or

rep

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pu

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se a

nd

no

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dve

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BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

A US $20 million company in India

proposes to set up a modern rubber

conveyor belt (Synthetic fabric and

Steel cord reinforced rubber

conveyor belts) manufacturing

plant in India for Mining and

Industrial sectors.

This company is desirous to enter

into a strategic agreement with a

renowned brand (technology

partnership/equity stake).

Genuinely interested companies

from Japan, Korea, Australia, USA,

UK, France, Canada, Germany, Chile,

Brazil, South Africa, Poland etc may

email in confidence to

[email protected]

for further communication.

Date

d: 0

6 A

pri

l 2016 | R

ub

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& T

yre M

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Wo

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TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS FOR CONVEYOR BELT MANUFACTURING IN INDIA

| ONE PAGE LEADERSHIP INSIGHT |


ONE PAGELEADERSHIP INSIGHT

FROM AROUND THE WORLD

24


| ONE PAGE LEADERSHIP INSIGHT |

Source: HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING. Image From Web.

25


What new ideas and opportunitiesPW:

are energizing the reclaim industry

globally? How much of these are

facilitated by developments or

improvements in machinery?

Unlike India, globally rubber RVG:

recycling is seen as an activity to get

rid-off the stock pile of end-of-life tyres.

Incentives are available to entrepreneurs

by way of tipping fees if they have any

process which can get rid-off such stock

pile up. Therefore globally machinery

suppliers are producing size reduction

equipment of different types to produce

ground rubber from end-of-life tyres.

Such ground rubbers are available in

different particle sizes for a variety of

low cost consumer application. It will be

interesting to see how machinery

manufacturers globally can design

machines which can while consuming

less power produce micron size rubber

powder. Developing size reduction

equipment which is power efficient and

capable of giving micronized powder

offers tremendous opportunity.

Manufacturers find it difficult to carryPW:

hand-in-hand ‘superior-technology’ and

‘low-cost’ expectations in machinery? As a

pioneer in customizing equipment in-house

to suit your technological processes, what

are your views to this dilemma?

In my opinion there is a trust deficit RVG:

between machinery manufacturer and user

of such machines like us. Since Reclaim

Rubber has to be produced from variety of

end-of-life waste rubber products, innovative

reclaimer like GRP looks for flexibility in the

process and their machines to deal with such

variety of waste.

The machinery manufacturers particularly in

India are not prepared to do any R&D to

modify their equipment or to build certain

flexibilities in it so that these machines can

handle variety of waste. If those rubber

machinery manufacturers show their intent

of investing upfront in R&D and also show

their intent to be trustworthy partners then I

am sure customers across different sectors of

the rubber industry could mutually benefit

on the basis of such cooperation.

Image from Web: Tyre Recycling Plant


Co

nti

nu

ed f

rom

Pa

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20

27


What do you envision for GRP inPW:

the next 10 years? What challenges do

you foresee to achieve this vision?

As I take a back seat and allow the RVG:

younger generation at GRP under the

able-leadership of Harsh Gandhi,

Executive Director to provide direction

and future momentum to GRP, I have

great confidence in the future of GRP.

With the aid of Information Technology

(IT) and multi dimensional skills

available with the younger team, GRP is

preparing itself to carve out not only

niche products for the existing

customers but also looking at products in

the adjacent sectors. I am confident that in

the coming 10 years GRP will continue to

maintain its leadership status both in India

and globally as it grows from strength to

strength.

“As I take a back seat and allow

the younger generation at GRP

under the able-leadership of

Harsh Gandhi, to provide

direction and future momentum

to GRP, I have great confidence

in the future of GRP.”

Harsh Gandhi (Executive Director) with R.V.Gandhi (Managing Director)


29

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Chingavanam - 686 531, Kottayam, Kerala. India.

Phone Off: +91- 481-2430325. Fax: +91- 481-2430596

e-mail: [email protected]


RMW

PW: Great! And one last

question. What advice on

‘machinery selection’ would

you give to buyers in rubber

and tyre industry?

I advice buyers to partnerRVG:

with machinery suppliers, who

are trust-worthy and respect

the confidentiality of

information you share with

them. If you are discussing

specific customized machinery,

a trust-worthy supplier should

always display ethics by

protecting your business

interests and idea even when

he has the urge to increase his

profits through additional sales

of your custom machine to

other buyers. The machinery

manufacturer should also

invest in R&D and have the

foresight to modify their

equipment or to build certain

flexibilities in it so that these

machines can handle all your

process requirements

effectively.R.V.Gandhi

31

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interview with a rubber leader_r v gandhi_grp

Leadership & Management