The Hindu Business Line : Grasim pursues new product lines for `Birla Viscose'

THE tapering consumption of viscose staple fibre (VSF) has set Grasim Industries Ltd, the country's largest VSF producer, on devising new products/application course for its man-made cellulosic fibre brand `Birla Viscose'.

The Aditya Birla group company, which has repositioned `Birla Viscose' from being a mere `comfort' fibre into a `fashion' fibre, has also redefined its marketing strategy by promoting customer-partner programme involving select VSF fibre consuming textile manufacturers across the country. Unlike its earlier practice of focussing on just the spinners of VSF, Grasim is spreading its net wide, targeting the entire value chain of textile manufacturing from spinning to fabric finishing/garmenting units.

Grasim's marketing strategy includes strengthening customer-value creation service, product-specific fibre brand-building campaign and promoting new applications for VSF. The company has started off these new marketing initiatives at a substantial investment outlay over the next one-to-two years.

"New product development and promotion of new application areas for VSF will be our future focus", said Mr Thomas Varghese, Executive President (Marketing), Grasim Industries Ltd. Grasim, which registered a 17% growth for its VSF in 1999, has seen it sliding to 11% in 2000 and since then it has hovered at that level.

The company feels that the market growth for VSF could be sustained at the 4-5 per cent level in the coming days provided the new product line/new applications are taken up vigorously. Grasim, with its 630-tonne per day capacity in VSF production split between its four operating units, looks at fashion knitwear and non-woven textiles as new growth areas.

Mr Varghese who was participating in a roadshow on Birla Viscose put up specially by his company for the knitwear industry in Tirupur told Business Line that Grasim Industries had proposed to spend about Rs 6-8 crore on brand-building exercise over the next two years, though the company was yet to finalise the specifics of `brand delivery vehicle' to reach out the intended customers.

As a part of the marketing revamp, Grasim Industries has been working on setting up a product development centre at its Kharach plant at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore which would provide VSF-based product solution to both the knitwear and woven fabric/processing and garmenting units who are inclined to use the fibre.

"The idea behind setting up the Kharach product development centre is to handle supplying new VSF product sampling — right from yarn to fabric ranges to cater to leading ready-made garment units or the buying houses. This is because not even the best of units would be able to give small order supplies of specific yarn/fabric/garment at short notice," said Mr Varghese.

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