This document provides an overview of reengineering efforts in the building material industries of paints, stone, tiles, and marble in India. It discusses new technologies and strategies being used to improve production processes and reduce costs for various materials. In the paint industry, color dispensing machines and IT systems have optimized production scheduling and inventory management. For stone, new drilling technologies increase drilling speed while reducing noise and vibration, and fracture detection and repair systems are being developed. The document also provides brief histories and descriptions of the different types of tiles and marbles used in construction.

1. PROJECT REPORT
ON
Reengineering Building Material (Tiles/Paint/Marble) Industry
Table of Contents
1. Paint Industry 1
1.1 Organization System 3
1.2 Business Process Re-Engineering 3
1.3 Asian Paints: Postponement for Managing Product Variety in the Chain 6
1.4 Eco Friendly Paint a Healthy Choice 7
1.5 Future of Paints Industry 8
2. Stone 8
2.1 Natural Stones in construction 8
2.2 Significance of Stone Sector 8
2.3 New Drilling Technology 8
2.4 Technology for fracture detection 9
2.5 Technology for repairing fractured blocks 9
3. Tiles
9
3.1 History 10
3.2 Different Types of Tiles 10
3.3 Key Players 18
4. Marble Industry 19
4.1Types of Marbles 20

2. 4.2 Production areas 20
4.3 Production Technology 21
4.4 Factors affecting the demand and supply of marbles in India 21
4.5 Impact of Government Policies on the Industry 22

3. 1. Paint Industry:
The Indian paint industry is over 100 years old. Its beginning can be traced back to the setting up
of a factory by Shalimar Paints in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1902. Until World War II, the
industry consisted of small producers and two foreign companies. After the war, the imports
stopped, which led to the setting up of manufacturing facilities by local entrepreneurs. Still, the
foreign companies continued to dominate the market. Initially British paint companies such as
Goodlass Walls (now Goodlass Nerolac), ICI, British Paints (now Berger Paints), Jenson &
Nicholson and Blundell & Eomite dominated the market.
The size of the paints market in India is estimated at Rs 110 billion, with the contribution of the
organized and unorganized segments in the ratio of 65:35. Reduction of excise duties over the
last few years, from 40% to the present level of 14%, has helped create a level playing field
between the unorganized and the organized segments, as the former is not subject to excise duty.
As the unorganized sector loses its competitive edge, it is also losing market share to the
organized sector players. There are now twelve players in the organized sector of India's paint
and coatings market and over 2,000 in the unorganized sector
The major players are Asian Paints, Goodlass Nerolac, Berger, ICI and Shalimar. Recently,
world leaders like Akzo Nobel, PPG, DuPont and BASF have set up base in India with product
ranges such as auto refinishes, powder coatings and industrial coatings. Kansai Paints of Japan,
which entered into collaboration with Goodlass Nerolac in 1984, is now the holding company for
Goodlass Nerolac with 64.52% equity holding. PPG has a joint venture with Asian Paints to
manufacture industrial coatings. Jenson & Nicholson and Snowcem India are no longer active
players because of dwindling sales in recent years.
The Indian paint industry has two main market segments--industrial and decorative paints. While
industrial paints are used for protection against corrosion and rust on steel structures, vehicles,
white goods and appliances, decorative paints are used in protecting valuable assets like
buildings.
The Indian decorative business has a share of approximately 77% in total sales. In foreign
countries 50-70% of the business is from the industrial segment.
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4. The trends are likely to shift in India too, but at a slower pace, in favor of industrial paints. The
per capita consumption of paint in India is 700 grams versus 19 kg in the U.S. and 2.7 kg and 5.8
kg in other developing countries like China and Brazil. Because consumption relates to
affordability, the low Indian figure is not a surprise.
Within the decorative segment, the share of exterior paints is 21%, interior emulsions 11%,
distempers 30%, solvent-based enamel paint 36% and wood finishes two percent.
The exterior category, particularly exterior emulsions, is the fastest growing segment at 20% for
the last three years.
The industrial coatings segment includes high performance coatings with 30% market share,
powder coatings with ten percent, coil coatings with five percent, marine coatings five percent
and automotive coatings 50%.
Source: http://www.managementparadise.com
1.1 Organization System
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5. Most of the organized companies in India's paint and coatings market have a nationwide
presence with multi location manufacturing facilities. The companies in the unorganized sector
are mostly regional, spread in and around their manufacturing facilities and deal in low value
products.
Asian Paints has created a nationwide marketing campaign focusing on all small interior
markets. Not only was the company able to establish itself in interior markets, the demand
percolated to main towns allowing the company to enlist support of large customers.
Being restrained by FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulations Act) and MRTP (Monopolies &
Restrictive Trade Practices Act), most players were not allowed to increase production capacities
until the Nineties. With liberalization, these shackles were removed and other companies have
expanded, though the gap between Asian Paints, which could expand continually and others has
widened.
Another winning point for Asian Paints was its strategy to focus on smaller packs while others
were focusing on larger packs. Asian Paints has also been introducing new product categories,
which helped in expanding the market.
This made distribution still more complex as precise forecasts for more than 3,000 SKUs became
a challenge for every organization. With the advent of color dispensing machines supported by
all paint companies and sophisticated IT enabled distribution tools, the situation have eased
considerably.
1.2 Business Process Re-Engineering:
With the industry business becoming complex, most companies have restructured and have used
information technology as the key driver for reengineering. They have aligned their organized
structures on the basis of expanding business and its complexities. This was essential in order to
tighten controls.
Today, companies have divided their sales organizations into decorative, industrial and high
performance coatings business units. The national level organization structure is split into zones,
regions and branches.
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6. Color dispensing machines, both computerized and manual, have transformed the business,
particularly on the manufacturing and distribution sides. Earlier, paint companies were required
to manufacture all the shades (30-50 depending on a product line) in all the packs (five to eight
packs).
The demand pattern was difficult to predict even with the support of historical data/trends as
consumer preferences were changing fast. The machines altered the production pattern from
shades to producing bases thus providing economies of scale, reduced inventory levels and
eliminated redundancy of stocks. It has cut down the new products introduction cycle
considerably. This has helped expand the range of shades for each product category, offering a
choice of shades to consumers in the hundreds. For the retailers also, it eliminated the sales loss
for want of range/desired shade. The machines have brought a total change in the way business is
transacted and revolutionized business processes as well.
There are approximately 11,000 color-tinting machines installed at the dealers' end including
multiple machines on some counters. Also popular are the gear mixers for 2K finishes in auto
refinishes, which are installed at the dealers' end and at leading garages.
The dependence on information technology has increased remarkably from a corner room EDP
operation to playing a pivotal role in the way business in transacted. While Asian Paints has
invested in i2 technology, Goodlass Nerolac has backed up IBM enabled APO and has upgraded
to the latest 3.1 version to improve its distribution and optimize production scheduling. Both
companies are operating on an ERP (SAP R3) operating system through full connectivity across
the factories and branches via V-SATS, thus virtually working on live data for sales, accounting
and purchasing.
Goodlass Nerolac has moved one step further by launching its intranet-employee portal to
capture knowledge sitting in the minds/desktops of individuals to a common platform, which can
be accessed by all employees. It has also invested in advanced business plan performance
measurement tools like balanced score cards to track, review and align performance.
Most companies in the Indian paint industry are functioning on multi-division models with
individual functions controlled by business heads. Some manage their business through sub-
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7. committees. As in the case of Goodlass Nerolac there are two levels of teams managing/guiding
business.
While all the policy and major decisions are looked at by the management committee (MC),
which reviews operations on a monthly basis, there is a parallel team--business analyst team
(BAT)--which analyzes the businesses and discusses new initiatives, working as the think-tank
for the company. Recently CAT (Creative Analysis Team) has been created to work on new
long-term initiatives.
Most companies have an identical range of products for the decorative-paint market. In the
industrial segment, the range of products is more customized and guided by the technology
support provided by the collaborators. In the case of decorative products the technology has been
mostly indigenously perfected over the years and the products can be divided on the basis of
interior and exterior application or in categories like water-based and solvent-based. Moreover,
most companies have been advertising their products in the exterior emulsions category, which
has expanded the market and triggered a shift from cement paint.
While solvent-based enamels are still popular in India, outside India there is a clear shift visible
from solvent- to water-based glossy enamels. India will take some time before this change is
accepted on account of three hurdles currently faced including cost (water-based is expensive),
low level of gloss in water-based enamels and the psychological barrier that water-based
coatings cannot be superior to solvent-based coatings for protecting wood or metal surfaces.
Companies not working on operational efficiency business models have been losing. Asian
Paints and Goodlass Nerolac have been aggressively working on cutting costs/operating
expenses. Berger has been managing well with economical yet acceptable formulations and low
operating costs.
1.3 Asian Paints: Postponement for Managing Product Variety in the Chain
Asian Paints is an Indian paint manufacturing firm that has employed the postponement strategy
successfully in us emulsions product category. Asian Paints offers four emulsion brands. In turn,
each brand offers 150—250 shades. Offering a wide variety of color shades is essential in the
emulsions market, an emulsion comprises of a “base” and a combination of “stainers”. The base
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8. provides the functional aspects while the stainers provide the required shade. The base accounts
for 99 per cent of the final emulsion volume. A wide range of shades is developed using just 10
stainers. At Asian Paints, the mixing of the base and the stainers. Also known as “tinting”, is
carried out at the various sates points (SPs) distributed across the country. On an average, there is
one SP for every 400 retailers. Ar the retailer point, the customer chooses from a range of 150—
250 shades. The retailer immediately forwards this order to his SF The effective time for tinting
is about 10 minutes. The customer collects the shade of his choice within 1—2 days of placing
his order. Except for certain fast-moving shades, the inventory at the SP is mainly bases and
stainers, The SPs order these periodically from their designated regional distribution centers
(RDCs). The factory warehouses replenish the RDC inventories periodically. The periodicity of
ordering depends on the demand volumes. The RDC lead times (factory to RDC) arc in the range
of 2 weeks to I month while the SF lead times (RDC o SI’) are in the range of l--2 days. Thus,
the delivery period will have been close to a month had the tinting operation taken place at the
factory itself. Tinting is a low-technology operation, due to low capital expenditure and
simplicity. The delayed differentiation due to postponement of the tinting operation has reduced
the inventory levels drastically. The customer service is high due to the reduced delivery period.
Forecasting errors are also reduced considerably. There is no loss of scale economics owing to
the postponement of the tinting operation. Being a simple operation, product quality is not
diluted due to the transfer of the operation from the factory to the SPs. Asian Paints
revolutionized the postponement concept in the Indian paint industry. Asian Paints has been
offering substantially higher number of shades and is maintaining its finished goods inventories
at about 60 per cent of the industry average. This has helped them to maintain profitability that is
consistently higher than the industry average, and has probably contributed to increasing its
market share over a period of time. Other firms are also following suit, Jenson & Nicholson
(India), through its “Instacolour” scheme, is taking postponement strategy to a higher level by
carrying out tinting operation at the retailer points. Of course, you cannot install a mixing
machine in every retailer but for large retailers it is economical to shift the tinting operation at
the retail level so that fluxing can be done after getting an order. We can say that for those retail
points where mixing is done after getting an order the retailers have managed to move ro the
CTO model from the MTS model.
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9. 1.4 Eco Friendly Paint a Healthy Choice:
Green paints are the future of the industry. Environmentally friendly products are the green
living choice. Natural paints help to keep the air pure and healthy for people with multiple
chemical sensitivities. The carbon footprint of paint is very high as the chemicals evaporate
quickly. Hence, the recent focus was on water-based paints where only the water gets
evaporated. Berger has switched its entire formulation in synthetic enamel to non-lead
formulations.
Eco-friendly paints are paints with fewer toxic chemicals than the commonly used latex and oil
based paints. The majority of people are not bothered by the smell of fresh paint, but there is a
segment of the population that becomes severely sick when exposed to the fumes that come off
of that paint smell. Eco-friendly paints are natural, Low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) or
Zero-VOC.
The advent of eco friendly paints has been slow but they are starting to become more popular
and people become more environmentally aware. Eco-friendly paints are less likely to cause
allergic reactions in sensitive people although there is no guarantee that there will be no reaction.
Latex paint contains Formalyn, a commonly used chemical that can cause allergic reaction to
sensitive people. The chemical can cause severe allergic reactions with serious health
consequences for people who have multiple chemical sensitivities.
1.5 Future of Paints Industry:
The focus is also on ways to reduce a building’s energy cost with paints. Soon, paint that
insulates the building from the heat of the sun, thereby reducing energy cost of air-conditioning
is under research.
2. STONE (marble, tile, limestone):
Re-engineering of natural stone production chain through knowledge based processes, eco-
innovation and new organizational paradigms
2.1 Natural Stones in construction
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10. Natural stones (marbles, granite, limestone etc) with their unique physical and aesthetic
properties, comprise an ideal raw material for the construction industry
2.2 Significance of Stone Sector
Natural stones find numerous uses in the construction industry in indoor and outdoor
applications and they significantly contribute to the improvement of the quality and the overall
aesthetics and performance of buildings and open spaces
2.3 New Drilling Technology:
2.3.1 Main issues to be addressed:
• Low drilling speed (up to 2 m/min) Low drilling speed (up to 2 m/min)
• High noise and vibration levels High noise and vibration levels
• Hydraulic system Hydraulic system
2.3.2 New Technology
• High drilling speed (up to 3m/min) High drilling speed (up to 3m/min)
• No vibration, low noise No vibration, low noise
• Electrical motor
2.4 Technology for fracture detection:
No currently available technology for detection and reinforcement of for detection and
reinforcement of fractured blocks
2.4.1 Fault detection system:
Non- -destructive techniques based destructive techniques based on sonic and ultra sonic waves:
on sonic and ultra sonic waves:
• Detection depth up to 2.5 m Detection depth up to 2.5 m
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11. • Detection accuracy Detection accuracy ± 1 cm
2.5 Technology for repairing fractured blocks:
2.5.1 Block impregnation system
• Vacuum bag and metal chamber technology Vacuum bag and metal chamber technology
• Infiltration of resins into stone block fractures Infiltration of resins into stone block
fractures
• Consolidation of fractures up to 1m depth
3. TILES
A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even
glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as
tabletops. Alternatively, tile can sometimes refer to similar units made from lightweight
materials such as perlite, wood, and mineral wool, typically used for wall and ceiling
applications. The word is derived from the French word tuile, which is, in turn, from the Latin
word tegula, meaning a roof tile composed of baked clay.
Tiles are often used to form wall and floor coverings, and can range from simple square tiles to
complex mosaics. Tiles are most often made from ceramic, with a hard glaze finish, but other
materials are also commonly used, such as glass, marble, granite, slate, and reformed ceramic
slurry, which is cast in a mould and fired.
3.1 History
Fired roof tiles are found as early as the 3rd millennium BC in the Early Helladic House of the
tiles in Lerna, Greece. Debris found at the site contained thousands of terracotta tiles having
fallen from the roof. In the Mycenaean period, roofs tiles are documented for Gla and Midea
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12. The earliest finds of roof tiles in archaic Greece are documented from a very restricted area
around Corinth (Greece), where fired tiles began to replace thatched roofs at two temples of
Apollo and Poseidon between 700-650 BC. The spread of the roof tile technique has to be
viewed in connection with the simultaneous rise of monumental architecture in ancient Greece.
Only the appearing stone walls, which were replacing the earlier mudbrick and wood walls, were
strong enough to support the weight of a tiled roof. As a side-effect, it has been assumed that the
new stone and tile construction also ushered in the end of 'Chinese roof' (Knickdach)
construction in Greek architecture, as they made the need for an extended roof as rain protection
for the mud brick walls obsolete.
3.2 Different Types of Tiles
3.2.1ROOF TILES:
Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available
materials such as clay or slate. Modern materials such as concrete and plastic are also used and
some clay tiles have a waterproof glaze. A large number of shapes (or "profiles") of roof tiles
have evolved. These include:
• Flat tiles - the simplest type, which are laid in regular overlapping rows. Flat roof tiles are
usually made of clay but also may be made of stone, wood, plastic, concrete, orsolar
cells.
• Imbrex and tegula, an ancient Roman pattern of curved and flat tiles that make rain
channels on a roof.
• Roman tiles - flat in the middle, with a concave curve at one end at a convex curve at the
other, to allow interlocking.
• Pantiles - with an S-shaped profile, allowing adjacent tiles to interlock. These result in a
ridged pattern resembling a ploughed field.
• Mission or barrel tiles are semi-cylindrical tiles laid in alternating columns of convex and
concave tiles. Originally they were made by forming clay around a curved surface, often
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13. a log or the maker's thigh. Today barrel tiles are mass produced from clay, metal,
concrete or plastic.
Roof tiles are 'hung' from the framework of a roof by fixing them with nails. The tiles are usually
hung in parallel rows, with each row overlapping the row below it to exclude rainwater and to
cover the nails that hold the row below.
There are also roof tiles for special positions, particularly where the planes of the several pitches
meet. They include ridge, hip and valley tiles.
3.2.2 Floor tiles
The elaborate floor pattern of the Sydney Queen Victoria Building
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14. Floor tile in Karpas, northeastern Cyprus
6"x6" porcelain floor tiles
Patio with stone tile, Hawaii, 1960
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15. These are commonly made of ceramic or stone, although recent technological advances have
resulted in rubber or glass tiles for floors as well. Ceramic tiles may be painted and glazed. Small
mosaic tiles may be laid in various patterns. Floor tiles are typically set into mortar consisting of
sand, cement and often a latex additive for extra adhesion. The spaces between the tiles are
nowadays filled with sanded or un-sanded floor grout, but traditionally mortar was used.
Natural stone tiles can be beautiful but as a natural product they are less uniform in color and
pattern, and require more planning for use and installation. Mass produced stone tiles are
uniform in width and length. Granite or marble tiles are sawn on both sides and then polished or
finished on the facing up side, so that they have a uniform thickness. Other natural stone tiles
such as slate are typically "riven" (split) on the facing up side so that the thickness of the tile
varies slightly from one spot on the tile to another and from one tile to another. Variations in tile
thickness can be handled by adjusting the amount of mortar under each part of the tile, by using
wide grout lines that "ramp" between different thicknesses, or by using a cold chisel to knock off
high spots.
Some stone tiles such as polished granite, marble, and travertine are very slippery when wet.
Stone tiles with a riven (split) surface such as slate or with a sawn and then sandblasted or honed
surface will be more slip resistant. Ceramic tiles for use in wet areas can be made more slip
resistant either by using very small tiles so that the grout lines act as grooves or by imprinting a
contour pattern onto the face of the tile.
The hardness of natural stone tiles varies such that some of the softer stone (e.g. limestone) tiles
are not suitable for very heavy traffic floor areas. On the other hand, ceramic tiles typically have
a glazed upper surface and when that becomes scratched or pitted the floor looks worn, whereas
the same amount of wear on natural stone tiles won't show, or will be less noticeable.
Natural stone tiles can be stained by spilled liquids; they must be sealed and periodically resealed
with a sealant in contrast to ceramic tiles which only need their grout lines sealed. However,
because of the complex, non repeating patterns in natural stone, small amounts of dirt on many
natural stone floor tiles do not show.
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16. Most vendors of stone tiles emphasize that there will be variation in color and pattern from one
batch of tiles to another of the same description and variation within the same batch. Stone floor
tiles tend to be heavier than ceramic tiles and somewhat more prone to breakage during
shipment.
Rubber floor tiles have a variety of uses, both in residential and commercial settings. They are
especially useful in situations where it is desired to have high-traction floors or protection for an
easily breakable floor. Some common uses include flooring of garage, workshops, patios,
swimming pool decks, sport courts, gyms, and dance floors.
Plastic floor tiles including interlocking floor tiles that can be installed without adhesive or glue
are a recent innovation and are suitable for areas subject to heavy traffic, wet areas and floors
that are subject to movement, damp or contamination from oil, grease or other substances that
may prevent adhesion to the substrate. Common uses include old factory floors, garages, gyms
and sports complexes, schools and shops.Medieval letter tiles were used to create Christian
inscriptions on church floors.
3.2.3 Decorative tile work and colored brick
Blue Turkish tiles
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17. Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace
Decorative tilework should be distinguished from mosaic, where forms are made of great
numbers of tiny irregularly positioned tesserae in a single colour, usually of glass or sometimes
ceramic.
The earliest evidence of glazed brick is the discovery of glazed bricks in the Elamite Temple at
Chogha Zanbil, dated to the 13th century BCE. Glazed and coloured bricks were used to make
low reliefs in Ancient Mesopotamia, most famously the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (ca. 575 BCE),
now partly reconstructed in Berlin, with sections elsewhere. Mesopotamian craftsmen were
imported for the palaces of the Persian Empire such as Persepolis.
3.2.4 Islamic tiles
The Persian tradition continued, and after the Islamic conquest of Persia coloured and often
painted glazed bricks or tiles became an important element in Persian architecture, and from
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18. there spread to much of the Islamic world, notably the İznik pottery of Turkey under the
Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. Palaces, public buildings and mosques were
heavily decorated with dense, often massive patterns and friezes of astonishing complexity,
including floral motifs and calligraphy as well as geometric patterns. In Safavi era there are quite
samples of Persian decorative tile. the capital of Safavis was Isfahan at the time and there are
popular mosques, churches, palaces, bazaars and public places decorated with decorative motifs
of Persian Tile in that era. Isfahan is still the main city to find this product.
3.2.5 Western tile work
Decorative Portuguese wall tiles, after François Boucher's Diana Leaving the Bath, installed
2001
Transmitted via Islamic Spain, a new tradition of Azulejos developed in Spain and especially
Portugal, which by the Baroque period produced extremely large painted scenes on tiles, usually
in blue and white. Delftware tiles, typically with a painted design covering only one (rather
small) tile, were ubiquitous in Holland and widely exported over Northern Europe from the 16th
century on. Several 18th century royal palaces had porcelain rooms with the walls entirely
covered in porcelain in tiles or panels. Surviving examples include ones at Capodimonte, Naples,
the Royal Palace of Madrid and the nearby Royal Palace of Aranjuez.
There are several other types of traditional tiles that remain in manufacture, for example the
small, almost mosaic, brightly coloured tiles of Morocco. With exceptions, notably the Porcelain
Tower of Nanjing, decorated tiles or glazed bricks do not feature largely in East Asian ceramics.
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19. Portugal and São Luís continue their tradition of azulejo tilework today. In the United States and
other Western counties, decorative tiles were in vogue in the 1920s and 1930s. Notable among
tilemakers of the period were Ernest A. Batchelder and Pewabic Pottery.
3.2.6 Pebble tiles
Similar to mosaics or other patterned tiles, pebble tiles are tiles made up of small pebbles
attached to a backing. The tile is generally designed in an interlocking pattern so that final
installations fit of multiple tiles fit together to have a seamless appearance. A relatively new tile
design, pebble tiles were originally developed in Indonesia using pebbles found in various
locations in the country. Today, pebble tiles feature all types of stones and pebbles from around
the world, but are still generally associated with pebbles found in exotic locations.
3.2.7 Ceiling tiles
Ceiling tiles are lightweight tiles used in the interior of buildings. They are placed on a steel grid
and they provide thermal but especially sound insulation. They are fabricated from perlite,
mineral wool, and fibers from recycled paper. They usually have patterns of holes to improve
their sound reflection properties.
3.2.8 Digital tiles
Printing techniques and digital manipulation of art and photography have converged in custom
tile printing. Dye sublimation printers, inkjet printers and ceramic inks and toners permit printing
on a variety of tile types yielding photographic-quality reproduction. Using digital image capture
via scanning or digital cameras, bitmap/raster images can be prepared in Photoshop and other
photo editing software programs. Specialized custom-tile printing techniques permit transfer
under heat and pressure or the use of high temperature kilns to fuse the picture to the tile
substrate. This has become an increasingly popular method of producing custom tile murals for
kitchens, showers, and commercial decoration in restaurants, hotels, and corporate lobbies.
3.2.9 Ceramic Tiles:
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20. Ceramic tiles are essential materials used in the construction industry. Widely used in interior
and exterior architectures, ceramic tiles represent a highly variable market dependent on factors,
such as economic conditions, growth in GDP, consumer purchasing power and the overall health
of the domestic housing and construction industry. The world economic slowdown triggered
sharp declines in housing starts in developed regions, such as, the United States, and Europe,
which not surprisingly impacted the ceramic titles market. Rising levels of unemployment,
reduction in household wealth, and discretionary spends, falling consumer confidence, lack of
credit availability, and budgetary constrains have driven down construction and renovation
activities both in the residential and commercial construction sectors. In the post recession
period, re-emergence of growth driving market fundamentals and refreshing technological
innovations are expected to kindle consumer interest and re-energize demand patterns.
Registering a CAGR of around 3.05% over the analysis period, Asia-Pacific represents the
fastest growing market for ceramic tiles.
Sustainability and style factors have continued to influence ceramic tiles industry. For instance,
most manufacturers from Italy, as well as those from other countries such as Spain, France,
Germany, Japan, and others have demonstrated significant interest and made major investments
in sustainable production of ceramic tiles to meet the ever tightening environmental standards
and regulations.
Ceramic tiles market, Asia-Pacific and Europe collectively account for more than 80% share of
the global market. Market in the United States is expected to witness erosion in sales by
approximately 1,268 million square feet between the period 2007 and 2011.
3.3 Key Players
Key players in the marketplace include Boral Ltd, Canteras Cerro Negro SA, Cecrisa S.A,
Ceramica Lima S.A, Ceramiche Atlas Concorde S.p.A, Ceramika Tubadzin II Sp. z o.o,
Ceramicas Malpesa S.A, Cerypsa Ceramicas S.A, Cristal Cerámica S.A, Crossville, Eagle Brand
Holdings Ltd, Eliane Revestimentos Ceramicos, Florida Tile Industries, Florim USA Inc, Gainey
Ceramics, Gruppo Ceramiche Ricchetti SpA, Imerys SA, Internacional De Ceramica SA DE CV,
Iris Ceramica SpA, Jordan Ceramic Industries Company Ltd, Lamosa Revestimientos, Lira
Keramika, Mannington Mills, Marazzi Group S.p.A, Mohawk Industries, Nitco Tiles Ltd,
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21. Pilkington Group Plc, Portobello SA, Roca Sanitario, Sanex SA, Somany Ceramics Ltd, The
Siam Cement Public Company Limited, and Villeroy & Boch AG among others.
4. Marble Industry:
The marble industry in India has been flourishing ever since ages, which has made India the
fourth largest producer of marbles in the world after Belgium, France and Greece. The Indian
marble industry is not only confined at production or supply of the marbles but export of highly
acclaimed stones such as blocks, flooring, calibrated (ready to fix tiles), monuments, slabs,
structural slabs, tomb stones, cobbles, cubes, sculptures, artifacts, pebbles, kerbs, and landscape
garden stones has also been its important part. . India is amongst the largest producer of raw
stone material.
The constant growth of Indian marble industry is because of the reason that they are highly
acclaimed and possess characters like low cost, beautiful looks and longevity. The industry is
also equipped with state of the art resource of machinery and tool manufacturers who cater very
well to the rising demands of this sector.
Technically marble is a recrystallised (metamorphosed) limestone .In commercial terms, marble
is any crystalline rock composed predominantly of calcite, dolomite or serpentine, having 3-4
hardness, which can be excavated as block sand can be sawed and takes good polish.
Amongst the building stones, marble occupies a unique position. Since time immemorial, marble
has been used in temples, mosques ,palaces .monuments etc .As an ornamental and decorative
stone because of its pleasing colors ,attractive patterns and designs .Suitability of marble for any
purpose does not depend on chemical composition or genetic aspect ,but on physical properties
that is fascination for its color ,shade ,luster and design preferred by the user.
Marble has been classified into 10 groups by Bureau of Indian Standards (Indian Standards
Institute, .ISI (IS 1130-1969 on the basis of color, shade and pattern
4.1 Types of Marbles:
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22. 1. Plain White Marble
2. Panther Marble
3. White veined Marble
4. Plain Black Marble
5. Black Zebra Marble
6. Green Marble.
7. Pink Adanga Marble.
8. Pink Marble
9. Grey Marble
10. BrownMarble
4.2 Production areas:
Marble deposits are widespread in India: concentration in states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh. Next Gujarat also produces some very fine marble
followed by Madhya Pradesh.
Rajasthan is the main depository of marble; accounts for over 90% of total marble production in
India [1100 m tons]. Newer varieties of marble are being developed in Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir,
Maharashtra, Sikkim, and Uttar Pradesh & Bengal.
4.2.1 Important commercial marble deposits of Rajasthan
Nagur distrct Makarana
Udaipur Ametlava, Sardargarh, Babrirmal, Rajnagar, Kewa, Rekhabdeo
Sirohi district Parwar, Serwa, Pariwa, Selwara, Dhanvev, Koteswar
Jaipur district Bhaisal, Bhailo, Andhi
Palai disrict Bar
Banswara district Tripura-Sundari, Bhanwari, Talai
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23. Jaisalmer district Yellow marble in Jaisalmer
Alwar district Jhiri-Rajgarh
Ajmer district Kishengarh, Kalyanpura-Narwar
Bundi district Umar deposit
Sikar district
Dungarpur district, Chittorgarh district and Bhilwara district
4.3 Production Technology
Industry has evolved into the production and manufacturing of blocks, flooring slabs, structural
slabs, calibrated - ready to fix tiles, monuments, tomb stones, sculptures, artifacts, cobbles,
cubes, pebbles and landscape garden stones. Advent of sophisticated mining machinery & new
mining fields has led to increase in marble production. Although India produces machinery, there
is an excellent opportunity for exporting machineries for working stone: cutting, sawing,
grinding and polishing.
4.4 Factors affecting the demand and supply of marbles in India
Studies have shown an increasing trend in both demand and supply of marbles. The factors
which highly influence the demand and supply of marble in the country are due to the following:
4.4.1 Increased Production- The production of marbles has increased manifolds in recent years
with the introduction of mining machinery and development of new mining fields. Furthermore,
in recent years few marble producing regions have been discovered. Makarana and Ambaji were
only regions in Rajasthan where producing marbles on large scale but at present marbles are
being produced at more than 20 centres of the state.
4.4.2Decrease in construction activities- It has been observed that the production of marble is
increasing day by day whereas the consumption of marble is decreasing with the decline in
construction activity. So, the production of marble is huge as compared to its utilization.
4.4.3 Global recession faced by the industry- The production and supply of marble was
severely hit by recession wherein the demand of marble had greatly decreased with the decreased
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24. purchasing power of common consumers. According to the experts, the industry will take quite a
lot of time to come back on track.
4.5 Impact of Government Policies on the Industry
Government in India has introduced many laws in order to promote and expand marble industry
globally.
4.5.1. Removal of Excise Duty: Government's decision to remove excise duty on marble (up to
the annual sales of Rs.1 Crore) is a great relief for the industry. The removal of the excise duty
from marble will prove less costly to the one at receiving end, which would ultimately increases
the demand of marble in the global market.
4.5.2. New Marble Policy- Under this new policy, the search for new marble regions in the state
is facilitated. This also permits the prospecting work for the new findings of marble deposits. In
short it can also be said that after realizing the importance of the industry, Indian Government is
now taking every possible action to expand and promote the industry.
The Government of India has set a target of raising Indian stone industry to 50% in the
next 5 years. The bulk of the Indian marbles are being produced in the states of Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and several others. About 90% of the marble is
produced alone in Rajasthan, and Gujarat including few other states of Southern India produces
granite at larger scale.
Bibliography:
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25. 1. Janat Shah. (2009). Supply Chain Management. Text and Cases. (pp. 239-245). India,
Delhi: Pearson Education.
2. Writankar Mukherjee. (2010, June 7). Green paints is the future of the industry from
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6017878.cms
3. Coatings World. (2007, October 1)The Indian paint industry: paint majors continue to
invest more dollars in India, which is one of the fastest growing markets across the globe
from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-7149993/The-Indian-paint-industry-
paint.html
4. Paul. (2009, January 12) Paint Industry Analysis from
http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/publish-upload-project-download-
reference-project/72869-paint-industry-analysis.html
5. Aman kumar. (2010, January04). Overview of Marble Industry in India from
http://www.articlealley.com/article_1321831_15.html
6. Dr D.Venkat Reddy. (2008, August 20). Geology - Related to Marble industry in India.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Geology-1359/2008/8/Related-Marble-industry-India.htm
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