Plan to amass new businesses worth ₹200 cr this fiscal
With over 40 years in business, Pon Pure Chemicals is a leading international organisation specialising in chemicals manufacturing and distribution. Surya Prakas MP, Executive Director, Pon Pure Chemicals, shares his views about the company’s progress through the years, factors contributing to the growth of its textile chemicals business and new product researches.
Please give us a brief outline about Pure Chemicals--its startup journey, progress through the years and brand positioning as on date.
Incepted in 1981, Pure Chemicals Co is one of the reputed and highly diversified companies in the field of specialty and general chemicals. Headquartered in Chennai, we have 24 branches and 23 warehouses across all industrial hubs in India. Our overseas branches are in Australia, Singapore, Dubai, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and we export to 50+ countries globally. Rapidly growing, we post a turnover of around US $400 million with 1k employees across the globe. Numerous brands have curved a niche market from the basket of Pure Chemicals. Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is at Alanthur, Chennai and high-tech R&D centre and warehouse is at Madhavaram, Chennai. Our brand positioning is based on value creation and value addition for clients.
What are the new products Pure Chemicals is researching on related to the textile field?
Our product development team is continuously working on sustainable products to reduce carbon footprint in all field of textile chemical applications. Efforts to reduce effluent load, conserve water, time, and energy, and reducing lead time to produce finished goods with Right First Time (RFT) quality has always been emphasised. To this effect our ‘Concept of Packages’ has evolved.
Soft Silk Printing Package - Alternative for reactive dyeing avoiding ager and washing off process without compromising on quality. The product does not look faded even after subjecting to home laundry test. Advantage is huge, savings in process time, water, energy, man hours, easily reproducible and reduced carbon footprint.
Dry Discharge Printing Package - Substitute for wet discharge printing. Avoids ager and washing. Advantage is simplified process, easily reproducible, no odour, saves time, water and man hours.
Robustness of our silicones, enzymes and other auxiliaries have acted as game changer in a very short span of time from its launch.
How was the textile chemicals industry affected by the pandemic? What were the major issues faced?
All industries including textile chemical industry had to undergo precious learning during the 1st wave of pandemic, these lessons yielded results in the later phase. Safety of people was a real challenge as our industry is service oriented and our team had to execute tasks while facing strict constraints. Nevertheless, we were up and emerged victorious.
What are the major products of Pure Chemicals for the textile industry and what are their applications like?
There are 4 brands that we offer for textile application:
Pureprint:products for textile printing solutions
Puronal:products for wet processing of textiles from wetting agent to softeners
Puresize:products for effective textile sizing
Pureactive:colours for reactive dyeing of textiles
What are the factors contributing to the growth of your textile chemicals business?
We act as a one stop solution for textile consumers offering products across several verticals covering the entire chain of wet processing. All these products act as huge value addition resulting in saving time, water, man hours, simplifying processes and utilities whilst complying with global norms. This value proposition fuels our growth and has positioned us among ‘Top 10’ manufacturers in India.
What have been your business recovery model post the pandemic? Are you back to your pre pandemic levels yet?
Offsetting the challenges, we have expanded exponentially acquiring fresh set of customers, new business markets and new channel partners. We scaled heights in sales even during adverse times. Our agile work force sets things right for us to grow with every passing day and we are doing better than pre-pandemic levels. We are slated to finish high, this fiscal year.
What change in customer behavior do you notice and how are you geared up for the same?
Pandemic has let customers to exercise caution on uncertainty, exerted additional pressure to reduce cost, and adjust with the concept of doing more with less. Resistance to change or experiment, was high compared to normal days. Our approach to speak customer’s language and address their needs, getting into their shoes, has propelled us to design new packages, launch new products and undertake new projects. Our optimistic and pragmatic approach has won us customers. We shall continuously strive to help customers achieve their new targets and fall in line with their expectations.
How do you differentiate your products against competition?
Our differentiation surfaces from customer needs. Each product is tailor made to fix a solution. This art of customisation and troubleshooting has earned us brand reputation. Futuristic approach has taken us a notch above the rest. Packaging is well designed to compete both local and export market manufacturers. Our proficiency to excel every time meeting high end customer need helps us to stay ahead of competition. An insightful team with ‘Never say die’ attitude has made us deliver, where others fail to seize the opportunity.
Which markets do you operate in? Any new market you would like to tap?
Currently we are operating in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Our export team has geared up to spread its wings in entire Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. We have specialised teams for auxiliaries, printing, sizing and dyes who can share their rich experience, trouble shoot issues, produce new articles and direct clients towards sustainable business solutions.
What are the major sustainable practices you comply with throughout the manufacturing process?
We don’t let in any of the banned substances enter our organisational premises. Each step is system made to reduce redundancy, operated with optimised resources and automated processes help reduce environmental impact in manufacturing with ‘Zero Waste’. Every possible step is taken to reduce pollution, pollutants and usage of recyclable goods is given due importance in the entire value chain.
What are your plans to grow your textile chemicals business further? What is your revenue expectation for the current fiscal?
We have installed a new state-of-the-art R&D laboratory and are installing one more manufacturing unit to support the growing demand from textile sectors. Sales and service personnel count is being gradually increased to have a strong network of teams. We shall venture into new untapped potential markets, keep launching new sustainable products and increase our business partners to grow exponentially. We plan to amass new businesses worth ₹200 crores for this fiscal.
Who are your major textile customers in India?
Our major textile customers include Asian Fabrics, KPR Dyeing, Kapoor Industries, Premier Mills, India Dyeing Mills, SSM Fine Yarns, K G Denim, Jay Jay Mills, Jeya Vishnu Dyeing, Technocraft Industries, Shobawat, Loyal Textile, R K Exports, Kitex, Morarjee Mills, Adinath Dyeing, Ramakrishna Dyeing, Zindba Processors, S T Dyeing, S K Udyog, Mahadev Dyeing, NM Dyeing, Gokaldas Exports and more.
