There has been increasing exploration and awareness of India’s unique geology which offers attractive opportunities especially in unexplored offshore areas. Several analogous basins have been explored, where oil and gas discoveries have been made, and downstream operations including refining have been undertaken. This combined with an aggressive push by the government and industry to international investors in the US and Europe to invest in oil and gas production and refining in India means there will be an increased demand for industrial gaskets to service all these projects.
However, it is also true that excess demand creates a lot of competition for which quality is the main differentiator. Because of the critical contribution of industrial gaskets in these operations, substandard quality products could lead to huge losses at these factories and project sites – both human and financial. IGP Engineers is a trusted manufacturer of industrial gaskets, valve components, and monolithic insulation joints, and is one of the distinguished players of the industrial gasket industry because their products are widely consumed in process industries, such as refineries & petrochemical, power generation, chemical, and pulp & paper, to prevent leakages of liquids and gases.
As mentioned above, quality is undoubtedly the foremost expectation from both upstream and downstream players since gaskets perform the critical task of preventing leaks which is important for safe and efficient transfer of media. IGP adheres to the strictest quality standards for our gaskets that have enabled us to have global acceptance of our products including some of the world’s biggest oil and gas refineries, despite India sometimes being amongst the least-trusted countries for some global tenders. “Having been the first company to manufacture industrial gaskets indigenously in the country, IGP is and has been the market leader for industrial gaskets in India for nearly 70 years. Today, IGP continues to be the largest manufacturer of industrial gaskets in India. In addition to our leading position in India, IGP is an exporter of gaskets as a contract manufacturer for several leading international brands in over 66 countries”, mentions Dr. G. Ganesan, Technical Director, IGP Engineers.
Assurance of Quality
IGP has built its brand on decades of trust through the ability to meet customer needs and provide sealing solutions. The company’s strong brand identity is based on a two-pronged strategy i.e customer-first mindset backed by quality and pricing. It has the reputation of being very dependable and high-quality amongst customers, so that in the 11th hour of a crisis, it can support them with high quality products at a very short turnaround time.
This includes adapting to the market trends such as developing new products, initiating new processes, exploring different materials and testing procedures, as the industry evolves. The company’s fortified sourcing strategies enable an extremely controlled and competitive pricing, which keeps the customers satisfied especially since many of their projects are long-term contracts.
Capacity to produce and deliver large quantity of gaskets in short turnaround times during plant maintenance shutdowns is valued highly by the company’s customers. IGP has achieved this through investment in large scale production facilities that are sufficiently nimble to meet quick turnaround jobs. IGP has the capacity to manufacture over one million units per month, and this has enabled the prestigious position of being
the SOS call for all the customers. Customization of gaskets by size/flange/media and other variables is very important to the company’s customers due to the wide variety of end-use applications. IGP provides advisory to customers on this front, such as providing suggestions on what kind of gasket, material grade, size, shape, hardness, and standard will best suit a specific situation. It has the ability to meet different global standards of manufacturing such as API, ASME/ANSI, NORSOK, DIN, NOVA, BS, AWWA GOST, and others.
Given the critical nature of the gaskets in sealing the fluid, there are some delicate parameters that have zero-tolerance for deviation lest there be huge human and financial losses. IGP validates all its products in international labs such as AMTEC Germany and Yarmouth Labs USA to ensure that it meets/exceeds global requirements on key characteristics. “The quality teams have pre-defined benchmarks and limits with more than two checkpoints for every major go-/no-go decision when they closely monitor the in-coming inspection of raw material, process inspections during production and during the final inspection of finished products. Effective Risk Assessment, Risk mitigation and Contingency Plans are all part of the quality processes. Other key check points include a robust due diligent process while evaluating any partners including raw material suppliers, third party testing providers, and logistics partners”, states Dr. Ganesan.
The latest Quality Assurance program that has been created in-house contributes to a host of benefits, including reduced costs, non-linear increase in manufacturing efficiencies, and ultimately, enhanced customer satisfaction scores. IGP has invested heavily in testing and validation equipment in its facilities to ensure that in-house testing is carried out routinely. Internally, there are strong quality checks in place for operations to ensure high efficiency and immediate capture of down-time; this includes communication processes between different teams, data transfer between different supply chain nodes, and movement of material between different production stages.
Advanced Infrastructure
IGP has two manufacturing facilities (a total of 260,000 Square feet) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu which provides a capacity of over one million pieces of gaskets per month. It has equipped itself with state-of-the-art machines including several CNC’s (computer numerical control machines), semi-automated gasket machines and laser cutting machines. The increased adoption of CNC’s by IGP has ensured non-linear scale of productivity while manufacturing at larger volumes with product quality remaining at the highest standards. IGP has testing equipment such as CMM’s, Contracer, Methane testing chambers, clean rooms for oxygen service applications, and trained personnel to manage all these, which have helped to earn customers’ trust and confidence. “IGP operates a centrifugal casting unit and heat treatment facility for our input material for RTJ’s. This equips us to fully control the entire manufacturing process across both upstream and downstream the value chain. IGP continually upgrades the technology involves in its manufacturing operations including the updated standards and specifications that can meet different customer requirements and business applications”, mentions Dr. Ganesan.
IGP has developed very strong human resource processes that ensure competent personnel are carefully picked for each activity across the supply chain, including memorandum of understandings with some of the best technical universities in the city. IGP has a zero-tolerance policy for wastage. “This means many of our processes have been engineered to minimize wastage, reuse and recycle across different stages of manufacturing. This helps us to do our small bit to contribute towards a more sustainable environment while excelling in our operations”, adds Dr. Ganesan
Future Projections
Established in 1955, IGP is a pioneer of the industrial gasket industry in India and was the first company to indigenously manufacture gaskets in the country. Initially, IGP manufactured a host of technical components such as rebound valves, rubber bellows, table washers, and UC clips aside from industrial gaskets. Over the last 30 years, IGP took the strategic decision to pivot from these components and specialise only on industrial gaskets, Monolithic Insulation Joints, and related valve components. This decision was made because of two reasons - we foresaw the exponential growth of the industrial gasket market, and we believed in the dynamic power of deep expertise.
Igp has built its brand on decades of trust through the ability to meet customer needs and provide sealing solutions
The company’s future roadmap is poised on three pillars that include Horizontal integration, Operational and Capital Investment, and Sustainability. IGP plans to expand its industrial gasket range to suit the needs of emerging industries, and therefore be a one-stop solution for all pipeline sealing needs, and for equipment with critical operations and service conditions. IGP will be investing in new tools and machineries, and in people capital to take its operational competency up a notch in order to support its already existing in-house technical competency. IGP is an ESG-conscious company, and sustainability is one of the core pillars of our growth plan for the next decade. There will be efforts to ramp up and widen the implementation and effectiveness of our zero-wastage processes and policies, bring in an element of conscious capitalism within our corporate governance, and enable wider growth of communities within the team to ensure the highest level of employee well-being. “We believe the industry will grow manifold with the scaling of petrochemical, thermal, hydro and nuclear power, and heavy water application industries”, concludes Dr. Ganesan.
