The topic 'Relevance of High-Quality PVC Edgeband Tape for Furniture Making" has been discussed in length on PLY REPORTER View Point in association with E3 Group, which is India’s largest PVC Edgeband Tape manufacturer. In the discussion, the panellists included: Mr. Sushil Goyal, Director, E3 Group; Mr. Jay Garg, Director, E3 Group; Mr. Uma Kant Yogi, Director, Fusion Kitchen (OEM); Mr. Kishan Baldeva, Shri Pawan Plywood, Delhi (Trade); Mr. Arun Sihotia, Balaji Plywood, Bangalore (Trade); and Mr. Rajesh K. Chhabria, Pooja Plywood, Mumbai (Trade). After roti, kapda, and makan, furniture is the fourth most important need for people. The furniture industry is growing in India at a fast pace, and with that the edge band industry is also growing considerably since the last ten years. It is to be noted that for furniture making, edge bands play an important role. And PVC is an important ingredient for making PVC edge band tapes. The panel discussed how good-quality edge band tape will help grow this industry. Here is a brief about the discussion.
The discussion moved forward with the welcome address by Mr. Sushil Goyal, Director, E3 Group, a brief address to the viewers, and introducing the panellists. Mr Jay Garg, Director, E3 Group, elaborated on the value of E3, which means Elegant, Everlasting, and Economical. He said that the vision behind E3 was that whatever they offer to the market must fulfil its values. So, with it, they are giving 100% cost-effective solution with high-quality products to the market. The industry stake holders elaborately talked on the issues and the success stories.
Q & A with Directors of E3 Group
Q. How has been the journey so far?
Mr Jay Garg, Director, E3 Group: We began in 2013 with a small factory that had four lines of edge banding machines with a manufacturing capacity of 30.000 metres per day. It took one year to start supplying the market with good-quality products. Since then, we have been continuously improving our quality. Today, our manufacturing capacity is 5 lakh metres per day, spread over an area of 1.75 lakh square feet, and we are working with all the big companies in India. Currently, we are using 80% of our installed capacity. Our success came from continuous innovation in product manufacturing and markets. Offering small sizes revolutionised the industry, and the market accepted our products wholeheartedly, saying that its quality is on par with European’s.
Q. What are the silent features of E3? How do you prove that it is superior?
Jay Garg: We always moved ahead with quality and economical pricing. To keep the price lower, we never compromised with quality. Throughout this journey, we developed many new features, such as the super high gloss in 0.8mm which is exclusive. Later, to cater to the needs of the market, we also introduced metallic, sparkles, etc. When we first ventured into PVC laminate, we noticed that there was a good market for edge banding for them. Today, we are the only edge banding manufacturer who also offers edge banding tape for PVC laminate. So, I think matching is a quality parameter along with the material used in the making, and we are experts in it now.
Q. What are the driving factors that helped the company grow?
Jay Garg: The reason behind it is to fill the gap with E3 offerings. If you see, the company is offering those types of products, which were not available in the Indian market but should have been here. Edge banding tape is also one of them. It is a European concept because they don’t use wooden beading. We brought it to India and made efforts to popularise by creating awareness about it. When we first introduced edge banding to retailers, we held a series of meetings with them. We also met with adhesive manufacturers to develop glue that can be applied with edge banding to assist carpenters.
Slowly, people's tastes changed, and they moved towards Italian furniture and started to accept edge banding with their furniture because wooden beading was not a perfect match for them. With the emergence of more players in this sector and their efforts, the product experienced a surge in growth, owing to rising demand for ready-made furniture and OEMs. As a result, ready-made furniture is a major driving force, and product quality has also contributed to its rapid growth.
It protects the furniture from borers, termites, and water damage. Most of such affection comes from the edge, and after the application of tape, the furniture is protected. As a result, it doubles the life of furniture and has a much lower application cost than wood beading. It also gives a seamless look at the edge with matching colors, and the furniture looks good.
The middle class of society wishes to have modular furniture in terms of its looks and designs, but it is never affordable for them. The wooden beading never gave such a look, but when the carpenters started to apply edge banding tape, their furniture also looked seamless from every side, as the edge banding enhanced the looks of the furniture like modular furniture. So, economy, supply, quality, matching, and enhancing the looks and life of the furniture are the driving forces for the industry to grow
Q. What is your initiative for creating awareness among carpenters, contractors, and OEMs?
Jay Garg: We regularly do carpenters' meets, and our marketing team moves everywhere, from small cities to large ones, and they convince retailers, hardware shops, and other such establishments that can deal with edge band tape. They give assurance with product offerings that in any case, like non-sold material, it will be taken back. These assurances work, and with the placement of the product, demand is also created. I believe it has a lot of potential in tier two and three cities across the country.
Q. There is a product called UPVC that is deemed better than PVC, so technically, which types of resin, film, etc. are used in them?
Jay Garg: When our distributors visit the market, the retailers always compare it with others and say, "Why should we take a costly product if others are giving it at a lower cost?" The price factor is very important, as it is directly related to the life of the furniture. In India, all types of raw materials are available for making edge bands of different qualities. As a result, the quality of the raw material is also an important factor in producing high-quality edge banding tape. Our offerings can be used by anyone, whether carpenters or OEMs. Our edge banding is available everywhere, even in the region of Shirdi and other places where there is no distributor operating.
Currently, there are over 50 edge band tape manufacturing factories that have been installed. Seeing this, now a company is innovating to manufacture the raw material domestically. As of now, we are procuring them from Europe, which includes coating to ensure very good quality. Here comes the price difference: if we use local suppliers, the cost will be lower, but the product quality will be lower.
In terms of UPVC, we often faced the question, "Why don’t you make edge banding based on UPVC?" This product appears to be more commonly used with window and door profiles. Scientifically, it is used for outdoor objects that provide hardness and longevity, while edge banding must be soft, as it can destroy the machine plates during application if it is hard. So, common PVC is more suitable for edge banding tapes.
Q. Is there any standard certification or parameter, like BIS, for edge banding?
Jay Garg: Since it is a new product for the Indian market, there is no such standard defined by the government for it, but at E3, we ourselves test them at in house labs and then only supply them to the market.
Q. What is your future plan?
Jay Garg: We are going to start commercial production in South India very soon. In fact, we are also planning to start production overseas. In India, there is no availability of ABS edge band tape, and we are doing a trial on it. It is famous overseas, but its visibility is very low in India. According to the need of the time, we will increase our production, but currently, we have been working for OEMs for over two years. We are currently associated with many OEMs and big laminate companies. Laminate and edge banding have become things that go hand in hand. Prelam companies are also associating with us. These are positive signs for us all, and together we are growing well for a quality offering.
Q. How can a common man check the quality of the edge band and decide this is genuine and good?
Mr. Sushil Goyal, Director, E3 Group: E3 edge band tape is available all over India with its wide network of dealers and distributors. If we talk about how a common man can check quality, if they buy E3 edgeband, they are sure they are getting quality products. Despite that, they can check the quality by taking a piece of edge band and bending it back and forth for five to seven times; if it breaks, this is a sign of low-grade quality. Secondly, take a piece of cotton, dampen it, and rub it on the edge band up to ten times. If the edge band surface colour gets fed, this is also a sign of low quality. Thirdly, sleet the edge of the edge band tape, and if the inside colour does not match the surface color, this is also a sign of low quality edge band tape.