The development of the Refractories Industries in India is inextricably linked with the growth of Tata Refractories Limited (TRL). To achieve the twin objectives of self reliance and development of backward areas, TRL was setup in 1958 by Tata Steel and Dider-Werke at Belpahar in Odisha. It has also equity participation from SAIL, the largest public sector steel producer of India. Refractories are used in all high temperature processes to protect the reactors and personnel from the influence of heat and hot materials. Thus, Refractories are critical consumables in metallurgical and other industries where pyro-processes are involved. TRL today has grown into the leading refractory manufacture in India meeting the demands of Refractories for the Steel, Glass, Non-ferrous and Petrochemical industries both in India and Abroad. TRL is the number one Refractories company in India with around 23% of the market share. TRL has widest range of products in its basket.

With an annual capacity of 3,88,760 MT the company has got the largest facility under one roof in the world. Its main Works is strategically located at Belpahar, Jharsuguda dist. Odisha, which is close to major steel plants and some raw material sources. TRL has also plants and operations in Gujarat, Hyderabad, Jhansi, Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Karuppur (Salem, Tamilnadu) and captive mines in Chuinpali and Talbasta in Odisha. As a strategic measure on raw material security, plants have been setup in China for magnesia based, Gujarat for bauxite based and in Hyderabad and Jhansi to manufacture alumina based refractories. TRL china is a separate joint venture company and other three plants are operated on a special arrangement of virtual acquisition.

Products and Services, Delivery Mechanisms:

Products:
TRL initially started with the production of three product groups namely Silica, High Alumina and Basic. Later Monolithics and FCP were added in early eighties to meet the requirements of changing steel technologies. Finally, Dolomite was added in early nineties in the product basket to cater to stainless steel industry. TRL is the only commercial producer of Dolomite in India. With the above product lines, TRL is the only company in India and one of the few in the world to have such wide range of products in its basket.

Services:
In response to the unarticulated needs of its major customers, TRL has pioneered a unique service called “Refractories Engineering and Management Services, (REMS)”. It has got two refractories related services, namely “Total Refractories Solution: TRS ” and “Total Refractories Management: TRM” in India. TRS is a full range of services starting from design, supply, installation & heat-up of refractories of customers equipments both for expansion/new projects of existing and new customers. TRM is refractories management of current operations of customer industries. TRM takes care of all refractories related jobs of the customers, so that the customer can concentrate on their core functions. REMS differentiates TRL from the competitors. The Customer Relationship Managers (CRM) are other initiatives which have given an extra edge to our customer services.

Delivery Mechanisms:
TRL primarily delivers its products directly to the customers (89%). Other route of delivery is through channel partners (11%). The products are palletized and protected against hydration, physical damage during transit & storage and to facilitate efficient & safe mechanized handling at all points. Competent, qualified and experienced teams at the customers equipment site and back up from plant provide the after sales services for its selected customers. Road transport, Sea route, Container, Air, Railways are the mediums of delivering the materials to all the customers. State of the art FIFO system is used for the fast dispatch of Dolomite products. The concept of “On-time and in full, OTIF” delivery has been implemented as per “Theory of Constraints, TOC” guidelines to derive a competitive advantage.

Organizational Culture:
Consistent with Tata Group’s philosophy, TRL has developed a unique culture, which is articulated in its vision, mission and values. TRL firmly believes that the purpose of an industrial enterprise is to improve the quality of life of the people and community it serves. Towards this, it creates economic, social and environmental values. The vision, strategic goals, objectives and the behavior it demonstrates are guided by this philosophy. TRL is an equal opportunity employer and promotes high ethical values, improvement orientation, innovation, agility with respect to manpower, technology and products, learning and sharing and equal opportunity to all. TRL was the first Tata Steel group company to adopt TBEM and has used it as a change driver for the last 12 years. One of the major improvement initiatives launched recently is implementation of TOC for higher profitability through existing facilities and for developing OTIF as a future core competency for gaining competitive advantage.

Workforce Profile:
TRL has achieved significant improvements by building a competent workforce. Our people are the most important assets and through their capabilities and use of their knowledge, we have been able to maintain our leadership position in the market. Employee training & development, competency mapping through HRRA, career progression, succession planning is given utmost attention by top management for developing a world class workforce. Focus is on strengthening the number of professionals among officers and improving technical training levels of workers. HR programs are tailored to meet these objectives. Our training man days of 10 man days/man/year is one of the highest in the country and highest among the refractories companies in the world. TRL’s employees are in two broad categories of officers and workmen. Team work, learning organization, compensation, subsidized education, free medical benefits for self and family, clean environment etc. are some of the key factors motivating the workforce accomplishing our Mission. Workforce expect rapid growth of TRL driven by its visionary leadership. TRL injects fresh talents from campus interviews from reputed engineering colleges, institutes and through lateral recruitments. Contract workers are employed in areas having a low skill and non-permanent nature of work (such as cleaning, sorting & packing) or in such areas where the specialized agencies can provide better services (e.g. security, gardening, packaging etc.). Marketing personnel are located across the country and abroad near the clusters of customers to provide prompt service. TRL’s employees are from diverse back ground represented by female employees and employees from other states. TRL has the highest percentage of professional and well-trained staff for any refractories company in India and compares favorably even with the global refractories companies.
The specific safety and health requirement is to prevent dust pollution, inherent to refractories industry. TRL has very effective dust extraction systems, which keep the dust levels in the plant well below the CPCB (Centre Pollution Control Board) and SPCB (State Pollution Control Board) norms. TRL has implemented IMS (Integrated Management System) in its entire Works to ensure a safe and healthy environment for its workforce and contract workers and is the first refractories company in the country to acquire IMS. Safety, health and environmental issues are reviewed on monthly basis by top management.

Major Facilities, Technologies, and Equipments:
TRL strives to achieve manufacturing excellence through regular updation of its facilities and equipments with the state of the art technology available in the world. This is evident from the fact that TRL has current generation equipments in all its manufacturing units. Manufacture of refractories involves processing of a variety of raw materials, natural minerals and synthetic products along with organic and inorganic additives into refractory products that may be shaped or unshaped. Accordingly, different technologies involved are grinding, batching, mixing, shaping, drying and firing. Equipments used in different steps of processing are a variety of crushers, grinders, batching systems, mixers, presses and high temperature kilns. TRL boasts of being the only company in India to have tunnel kiln for firing of Silica bricks. Through Fortune 500 program, it has spent about Rs.200 Crore in building plant capabilities and plant capacities. Under the program, apart from expansions, large number of old, low productivity mixers and presses have been replaced by a small numbers of latest and of modern design mixers and fully automated SACMI presses which have resulted products of superior quality and with high productivity. Further, TRL has launched a major capital investment programme of Rs490 crores under its Mission 2000 program. TRL plans to achieve Rs.2000 crore turnover by 2012-13 through this program. Various schemes are being planned and worked out such as a green field project in Vizag (AP), SRM Plant, New R&D Centre, IT investments, capacity enhancements etc. TRL has implemented BaaN ERP, intranet, lotus Mail, KM solutions for its transactions capturing and informed decision making. TRL has launched the implementation of TOC wherein a planning software called Symphony and project management software called CCPM is implemented.

Technology:
TRL has an excellent R&D Laboratory situated in Belpahar. Activities in the division include day-to-day quality control, closed monitoring of RM/NR, testing and inspection, and different ST/LT development projects. A group of bright and talented scientists is engaged for the development of new and/or improved products, utilizing different state-of-the art facilities. To facilitate and strengthen the breakthrough innovations, TRL is setting up a new R&D centre with world class infrastructure located at Vizag (Andhra Pradesh). R&D laboratory of TRL is certified with NABL accreditation to the standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005.