Magazine
The need for packaged goods has risen given the development for infrastructure being on the rise. So, the market for protective packaging is steadily increasing. The global protective packaging market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.67 per cent. With the growing market and the number of products produced also increasing, the effect on the environment is also increasingly becoming impactful. To meet this challenge, there is need for products to be used efficiently and for them to create a lesser impact on the environment.
Addressing this challenge, a leading protective packaging company, Owens Corning uses the circular economy for their products. Their products, after being used and the lifetime getting over, are brought back into the system and are being transitioned into new products. The focus is basically on reducing the carbon footprint.
The company being headquartered in Ohio has most of its products, about 92 to 93 per cent being supplied to North America and Europe. The company mainly being into plastics processing and products also find applications to contain oil spillages, water harvesting, lumber packaging and steel packaging.
When asked about the impact of the pandemic on the company, Opender Singh, Director - Operation of Owens Corning India says, “In these pandemic times, the most important part is supply chain, which is disrupted and of course, manpower availability is another issue. But I think every challenge, if we take it positively throws us an opportunity. In fact, I would say even in these pandemic times, we almost had a record output last year and this year also we have started on a good note.
One part of our business is roofing components. Earlier we were supplying underlayment, and this has come in a big way to us now. Because originally, Owens Corning was buying these underlayment from Interwrap Inc. prior to acquisition, but now it has become a part of the product portfolio. So that way, it was backward integration for the company in this roofing segment. And that's where our market also grew.”
Owens corning focuses on energy efficiency, product safety, renewable energy, longlasting infrastructure, and labour productivity via innovative products, manufacturing methods, and sustainable solutions
Customized solutions
The company has a good chunk of its business in lumber packaging since there are a lot of opportunities in the lumber business in North America. When asked about the differentiating factor from other similar companies, Singh says, “We provide our customers with customized solutions; whatever the specs are, whatever the requirements are, whatever their compliances are, we provide solutions for them.
We are also working on replacing some of the products in certain applications for the customers, which are much better suited for their applications. So, we suggest them the solutions for the products which are being used. And the most important part would be in this segment is, all our products are recyclable. So, these are sustainable products.”
The company is present in around 40 countries with around 60 plants. And the company is in process of adding some capacity upstream by the end of this year.
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