Reproducing natural stone and marble effect in tiles

Reproducing natural stone and marble effect in tiles
Digital printing has been the latest technology trend in tiles industry. Over the years, the industry has experienced how customer choice has shifted from mosaic tiles to ceramic and now to vitrified. Nitco Group has unveiled Nitco TruLife – a lifestyle product with an exciting range of tiles. Vivek Talwar, CEO, Nitco Group, shares his opinions on the tiles market, their expansion plans and the latest offering.
How big is the tiles industry in India? What is your company’s share in the market?The Indian tile industry is expected to be around 600-million-square metres (MSM) in FY 12. The industry is growing at 12 per cent CAGR and expected to retain this rate, primarily driven by increasing disposable income, urbanisation and higher per capita consumption of tiles. As of FY12, Nitco’s market share is around 2.5 per cent. However, our market share is higher in glazed vitrified tile (GVT) segment. In value terms, we are among the top 5 organised players in the country.
What’s your view on the industry’s growth?We expect the tiles industry to grow over 12 per cent, largely due to growth in real estate sector which is growing at a CAGR of 15-16 per cent during FY 10-15. We also anticipate replacement demand to be a key growth driver. Hence the focus on retail customer segment will be critical for future growth. This implies that stronger consumer brand and extensive distribution network will be the differentiators. In the last 2 years, Nitco has invested extensively in reach and penetration. We are present in over 437 towns, working with more than 1,300 dealers directly. Our unwavering commitment to quality and customer focus has also helped us strengthen our brand.
Tell us something about digital floor tile, TruLife, which you are unveiling?Nitco TruLife is a lifestyle product with an exciting range of tiles, featuring vibrant images, razor sharp detailing and the finest resolution which a human eye can perceive. We wish to leverage digital tile technology to produce ‘near-to-life’ look. Using this technology, we wish to reproduce natural stone and marble effect in tiles.
Our unique six-colour prism printing technique enables us to print on a plethora of surfaces and sizes, including flinty, flat, glossy or matt surfaces with impeccable uniformity and even tonality. We wish to offer our clients, a wide range of styles and designs to revel in the perfection of designer TruLife tiles.
What is the new technology coming up in the tiles industry in India?Technology innovation in tile industry has had significant changes in customer preferences. Over the years, we have seen shift from mosaic tiles to ceramic and now vitrified. Longer kilns and larger presses also provide several options to product large format tiles. Digital printing has been the latest technology trend in tile industry. It provides flexibility to print a wide range of designs and reduces batch size of tile production. Going forward, technology innovations enable us to produce thinner and larger-sized tiles. It will considerably improve user experience without much impact on cost. This is evident from the trends in Europe and the US.
Could you brief us about your expansion plans?We have recently invested in capacity expansion though joint venture and commissioned a new manufacturing unit in Gujarat. This is completely a SACMI plant and has the longest kiln in India which enables us to manufacture a wider and better range of products in floor and wall. This facility also has digital manufacturing capability which we believe will complement our existing capabilities. At Morbi, our plant will be among the very few plants which have a computerised sorting system, enabling our customers to get Nitco quality.
Furthermore, we have shifted our product sourcing from China to Gujarat which provides us better flexibility in production and inventory management. Going forward, we wish to improve out retail footprint in Tier-2 and -3 cities without losing focus on B2B business.

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