Swagelok, the $1.1 billion US-based critical fittings company, has embarked on a drive to expand customer awareness for its specialised products, with a focus on the savings and safety aspects.
"The use of CNG (compressed natural gas) in vehicles and the increased application of high pressure pipelines in state-of-the-art industrial units have enhanced the necessity to have fittings that are leakproof and have guaranteed performance," A C Gupta, country head of Swagelok, said.
Vehicular and plant safety issues have come into focus following fires in CNG-fuelled buses in Delhi and in refineries in the recent past.
The stumbling blocks in the replacement market were the tender terms and cost clauses. "Swagelok gives a lifetime guarantee with free replacement, so we are finally making headway despite the higher initial price," commented Gupta.
Another technique being used to grow the market was providing free consultancy services to users. Many companies use overengineered, oversized pipelines and fittings. Swagelok helps companies in rightsizing applications and eliminating overengineering by referring to experience gained in other vehicles or factories," said Gupta.
The manufacturers of CNG buses for example has placed large orders for Swagelok fittings following recent bus fires. "Earlier, companies were using locally-made non-standard products even though the world-class foreign-designed engines and fuel systems it was fitting from foreign companies necessitated such fittings," said Gupta.
The safety angle was proving to be the principal growth driver in the critical fittings market, currently estimated to be around Rs 600 crore annually but dominated by locally-made sub-standard goods. As long as most applications were using liquids, where leaks were visible, the loss was mainly financial. According to Gupta, each fuel or fluid leak costs Rs 15000 annually and there would be several leaks on every diesel or CNG/LPG bus as long as it used bad-quality fittings. "A Swagelok package would cost Rs 30,000 or so and would earn back its cost in less than a year on any bus or factory pipeline," said Gupta.
The company has 90 companies in its buyers' list at present. However, the bulk of Swagelok's current sales comes through components in machines built by General Electric and ABB Ltd as original fits. "These two companies use only Swagelok, and most Indian engineers do not realise that they are using our products already", Gupta pointed out. The company was focussing on the replacement market for these machines.
Besides safety and life issues involved in gas handling applications, manufacturing units often ignore shut down and repair costs that arises from using sub-standard and cheaper fittings.
