G M Engineering marks 25 years of quality products and exemplary service

There’s plenty to celebrate at G M Engineering in Gujarat. The company recently notched up its first quarter century of business activity during which time it has established itself as a premier manufacturer of valves and specialty flow control systems for industrial use. Moreover, new products continue to be added to the impressive portfolio as the company extends its reach into more and more applications and end-user sectors. However, the cherry on the cake has to be the recent opening of a brand-new manufacturing facility which, once all operational changes have been implemented, will boost production capacity from 60,000 to 1,50,000 valves per month.

By David Sear

World-class factory

Set up in 1996, G M Engineering has gone from strength to strength over the years. Over time, these successes resulted in the formation of four distinct manufacturing locations as G M Engineering’s directors looked to boost production capacity. However, when demand meant that even these four facilities were working at top speed, the directors took another well-considered step, namely to invest in a single location where all production facilities could be consolidated and capacity ramped up even further. Says Managing Director Mr Mitesh Javiya: “to facilitate our ambitions we therefore purchased an extensive plot measuring 18 acres close by. This site now houses a purpose-built, brand-new factory with 5,00,000 square feet of space which is large enough to accommodate all our existing operations as well as the future plan for backward integration of our own forging shop, sand-casting foundry and actuator manufacturing operation.”

At the time of writing, one of the existing manufacturing plants of G M Engineering has already been relocated to the new building, with the remaining three plants all scheduled for relocation by December 2023. “Once all our plants are operational then with manpower of more than 350 employees we shall be able to produce more than 1,50,000 valves per month from this single site, which is a major boost up from the current capacity of 60,000 valves,”adds Marketing Director Mr Bhavin Javiya.

Projects and MRO sales

Thanks to its proven expertise in designing and manufacturing quality valves, G M Engineering has built up a loyal clientele amongst engineering companies and end users alike. From around the world, these organizations turn to G M Engineering for both project and MRO requirements. Comments Mr Mitesh: “fulfilling project orders requires an extensive skill set. Our entire team pulls together to ensure that all valves are built, tested, packaged and delivered according to the client’s exact specifications. We respect our client’s timelines because we know that delivery hiccups can cause production delays and, ultimately, can lead to expensive consequences.”

Giving an example of the size and scope of the projects G M Engineering often works on, Mr Bhavin recalls that fully 1,25,000 forged gate, globe and check valves were dispatched to Nigeria for the Dangote refinery. Many other large projects are ongoing for clients throughout India and abroad. “Thanks to our organizational strengths, we can easily accommodate requests for large-scale project orders as well as more modest orders for maintenance and repair needs.”

Customers also appreciate the fact that G M Engineering can assemble complete flow control units, incorporating valves, actuators and accessories. Mr Bhavin: “with good links to all leading actuator manufacturers, we can easily acquire electric as well as pneumatic actuators which we then install and test. Hence we can deliver ‘plug and play’ flow control solutions to our clients. Incidentally, we have also started to manufacture our own pneumatic actuators. We are doing so with the full support and ongoing technical collaboration of our partners in Germany. I can tell you that this news has been welcomed with open arms by customers.”

Global presence

Be it for projects or MRO needs, an ever-increasing number of clients from outside India are beating a path to G M Engineering’s HQ in Gujarat. Comments Mr Mitesh: “Our extensive product range and innovative business strategies have made us one of India’s top industrial valves exporters. Clients appreciate our transparency, our track-record in serving other leading players and the fact we hold certificates for quality, etc, from recognized agencies and institutes. It is not for nothing that export sales continue to account for 20 per cent of our turnover and are growing all the time.”

Asked why G M Engineering enjoys such a good reputation internationally, Mr Bhavin replies that: “our valves are accepted by global customers thanks to their competitiveness, the trustworthy quality and the reasonable costs. Moreover, we understand and respect the often unique requirements of companies active in many different countries. At G M Engineering, we provide better solutions for your flow requirements. We will build on our strong commitment to product quality and technical expertise while becoming even better at customer orientation, speed & reliability.”

Applications

G M Engineering’s ability to design and produce quality products is founded on both its ‘deep domain’ engineering knowledge as well as the sophisticated tools and machinery which populate its manufacturing lines. The valve portfolio encompasses all the main types, such as ball, gate, globe, check, butterfly, plug, piston, lined and bellow-seal valves. Moreover, G M Engineering offers these valves in a multitude of configurations, including designs often perceived as ‘challenging’ by competitors.

As a result, the company can serve a wide variety of sector and applications, such as chemicals (including abrasive and/or corrosive fluids like brine, acids, chlorinated liquids, etc), power generation (fly ash, river cooling water, lime slurries, etc), food & beverage (waste handling, mashes, syrups, sugar-beet slurries, etc) and also general industrial applications (coal slurries, tailings, pulp & paper streams, etc).

The company remains alert to changes to the industrial landscape in India and is determined to support emerging sectors wherever possible. “Right now for example sectors such as oil &gas, chemicals and water are in the ascendancy. Hence we are seeing plenty of inquiries from companies in these markets. As a result, our order books continue to present a healthy picture,” states Mr Mitesh.

Covid-19 resilience

In mid-2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting life in many parts of the world, G M Engineering responded quickly to safeguard the all-important supply of raw materials and to ensure that workers could soon re-start production in a safe environment. Today, G M Engineering remains vigilant but is nevertheless characterized by its positive ‘business as usual’ ethos.

The company doors are, for example, now long open for legitimate visitors such as inspection teams, states Mr Mitesh. “When Covid-19 effectively stopped business travel we quickly ramped up our online inspection capabilities. This service continues to be popular amongst more remote clients as it can save them considerable time and expense. However, once restrictions were relaxed we saw that quite a number of clients wished to resume face-to-face contacts and inspections, which we are of course happy to facilitate.”

Whilst the pandemic had an inevitable financial impact on the valve sector, G M Engineering demonstrated its resilience and quickly bounced back. “Prior to Covid we were experiencing strong and sustained company growth,” notes Mr Bhavin. “Looking ahead, figures indicate that we will be back on track with 30 per cent growth year on year very soon.”

Joint achievement

At the end of our interview, Mr Mitesh and Mr Bhavin gave a final comment on their company’s past and future. “In 2021, G M Engineering celebrated its 25^th anniversary which was a moment for reflection and a genuine sense of satisfaction amongst all colleagues. While a lot has changed over our 25-year history, we have remained true to our promise to provide only the best quality solutions and service to customers. We take pride in supplying specialty valves to various sectors hence we certainly appreciated the many kind words we received from our stakeholders as they helped us to mark this joyful milestone,” says Mr Mitesh.

“Looking forward, we are as determined as ever to support India’s energy and industry leaders as the economy recovers and our companies emerge more competitive and ready to play an important role in the global energy transition. With so much innovation and transformation taking place in the industries we serve, our team is excited about the future. Our aim is to provide a work environment that fosters talent and to deliver on our commitments to customers and suppliers,” states Mr Bhavin.

And last but by no means least, Mr Mitesh reflects again on G M Engineering’s new premises. “Investment in infrastructure of a company is a long-term requirement for growth and a long-term factor that will make that company’s growth sustainable. That is why we will continue to invest in the very latest machinery which will further notch up the quality of our products and the efficiency of our production lines. But ultimately, our positive results since 1996 are due to the continuous commitment of many and especially the trust our customers have guaranteed in us. So whilst we at G M Engineering celebrate our anniversary, at the same time we say a very sincere ‘thank you’ to all our stakeholders. It is an absolute truth to state that everything we have achieved, we have achieved together.”

About this featured story

This featured story is an article originally published in Valve World India & Middle East journal (November 2022 issue). Interested in reading more articles about technical developments, company presentations, case histories, etc? Then why not take a print subscription or a free digital subscription? DIGITAL MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW FREE.

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