Shavo Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a part of the Shavo Group with a standing and reputation spanning over five decades, is in the frontiers of niche high technologies cutting across diverse disciplines. The company represents some of the world leaders in their respective fields for technology solutions like static elimination, precision air movement, high quality instrumentation, high purity gas delivery, corrosive gas handling, energy absorption and so on. With a vast product portfolio, the company serves over a thousand customers from diverse key sectors including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, chemical, oil & gas, automobile and so on. In an interview with Mr. P.K. Balasubbramaniian, Mr. Rushil Shah, Managing Director, Shavo Technologies gives a vivid account of his company’s capabilities and commitments to give better value to the discerning customer by leveraging the technologies from the world over. Excerpts:
Q. From static elimination solutions to precision air moving products to instrumentation fittings and high purity gas delivery systems, you are dealing in a wide spectrum of products and technologies. What is the common thread in all these?
Our endeavour has always been to work in niche high technology areas across industries where we can offer significant value for a variety of problems.
Our products and their applications find solutions in a diverse range of industries such as Semiconductor, Aerospace and Defense, Converting, Automotive, Chemical and many more.
Q. What are the pioneering efforts you have taken in concept selling?
Our core selling concept, which we believe differentiates us, would have to be our deep application knowledge and command over the technologies we sell. For any solution oriented company, this is critical. We have gone from selling component to systems and solutions and turnkey capability in an effort to keep offering better value by leveraging the technologies we provide.
Q. Across the board, which are the technologies you would call as cutting edge?
All our Principals have specific technologies that would be classified ‘cutting edge’ considering that almost all our principals are world leaders in their fields. For Static Elimination, we have ‘cutting edge’ integrated power supply ionising bars with full feedback control ( a first in the industry), for Gas Delivery, we have some of the most sophisticated fully automated systems capable of dealing with the most dangerous gases , we offer from HORIBA a multi gas , multi range Mass Flow controller again a first in the industry and many more such products across our range.
Q. Your principals, Gast has been a leader in air moving products. What are the technological innovations they have displayed in recent years?
Our journey of working with High Technology Industries has started with Gast which today remains one of the world leaders in Air Motors and Fractional horsepower. Over the years, we have released many new pumps that have extended typical service life to new frontiers especially with the new rocking piston technology pioneered by Gast. Our latest 87 R series offers industry leading pressure performance at lowest noise levels.
Q. What’s the challenge in designing and offering high pressure regulators for corrosive fluids? Which are the industries that benefit from these?
Corrosive gases are used in a wide range of industries from Chemical, Tooling and the new areas of Nanotechnology, Photovoltaics, etc. Handling corrosive gases requires deep application knowledge, understanding of the materials to be used especially soft goods. Many corrosive gases are also liquefied which need special considerations, from heating to weight measurement, etc.
Q. What’s the level of awareness of the ill-effects of static electricity in the industry and the need for neutralization?
I can say that the awareness on the causes and cures for static electricity are low in industry but steadily growing. A lot of problems of contamination, material misbehavior, etc., are often attributed to other causes when they really are static related issues. We continue to publish articles and bring awareness to the industry by working with a number of industrial associations.
Q. What’s special about the instrumentation valves you offer to say petrochemical industries? Do they require any approvals here from labs like NABL or FCRI?
The valves and regulators we supply to the Chemical Industry in general have a wide range of certifications. For valves, we have course type approvals from various third parties like Llyod’s, TUV, DNV, etc. and the products meet all industrial standards and wherever required such as ASTM F-1387, for Oil & Gas , ECR 110 for Automotive NACE, for Sour Service and many more. In fact our Tescom vaporizing regulators, in addition to having ATEX Approval, is the first such unit to have PESO / CCOE Approval from Nagpur.
Q. Which are the applications where energy absorption is crucial – I mean where you recommend your Enidine products?
Generally of course ‘Energy Absorption’ has applications wherever we need to decelerate motion, in the Industrial space. Factory Automation especially with Pneumatics is the key application, but we also find safety applications such as end stops for large cranes like those found in steel and ports as an important area.
Lately our focus has been vibration isolation with special attention to strategic electronics in the Defense Sector which has some of the most stringent requirements for G force transmissibility.
Q. Where do your fluid control products go?
Our Fluid Control products once again find applications in a very diverse range of industries, but the main would have to be Oil & Gas, Chemical, Analytical and general manufacturing.
Q. What’s the significance of ultra high purity gas delivery systems and what are their applications in Indian industry?
I believe the growth areas in the Fluid Control Industry lie in Semiconductor manufacturing and Photovoltaics which demand ultra high purity gas delivery systems. Equipment to service these industries is typically made to the exacting specifications of the SEMI code which controls all processes from raw material to manufacturing, testing and even packaging. The surface finish and cleanliness requirements for these industries are extremely demanding often requiring products to be assembled in Class 100 environments.
Q. If you take one industry, for instance, you must be offering several products from your basket. As a test case, which are the products you offer to the automotive industry?
Our supplies to the Automotive Industry almost cover the entire breath of our product lines e.g. all engine testing for the now EURO IV and Euro VI norms use our Tescom Central Gas Supply Systems for calibration gases.
We supply Gast Air Motors almost extensively to all automotive paint kitchens. You will find our Enidine shock absorbers at the end of travel on many assembly lines. Our Meech Jet Stream Ionizing Systems clean & neutralize car bodies and plastic parts prior to painting and our other Fluid Control products find extensive applications in the CNG space and the automotive testing area such as car air bag testing for example.
Q. What must be the head count of your customers today? Can you mention some prominent ones?
We are fortunate to be working with some of India’s Top Companies such as Reliance, Tata’s, Biocon, GE, Department of Space, Ministry of Defense and many more. I believe we have in excess of 1000 live accounts.
Q. These products are highly service-oriented. What’s your service set-up?
Our service set-up / service team has been growing from strength to strength.
We have full service capability at our Pune office and are in the process of building a world class center in our Bangalore Factory. Our service support is a key pillar of the value we provide.
Q. How wide is the technology gap that you find in India as a provider of overseas products and technologies?
Being in niche areas, I find the technology gap to be considerable but I believe this is largely related to fewer players in this kind of area. But as we all know over the last decade, the technology gap has been fast shrinking and will continue to do so as we see more FDI in Indian Industry.
Q. Addition of any more agency lines in the anvil?
We have generally been extremely selective and have refrained from having a long line card, preferring a deeper involvement with our current partners to fully exploit their potential, but we have recently signed with Horiba to introduce flow control solutions and we would probably close with 2 more agencies in the Fluid Control area over the course of the next year.
Q. What’s your greatest contribution to Indian industry?
It would not be correct to say that I have made a contribution to indian industry but the Shavo Group started by my Father, Mr. H.K. Shah is widely recognized as the Indian pioneer in Industrial Pneumatics and we can safely say that we continue to provide new solutions and contribute to the growth of our customers.
Q. What are the challenges ahead for you?
The economic situation continues to remain strained and we, as an importer, remain under pressure due to exchange rate fluctuations. Also as we offer customized solutions, it is a constant challenge to seek out new areas and new applications to provide our solutions.
