Orient Bell Ltd 
Technological Innovations - New Tiles for New Dawns
Orient Bell Limited is only pure tile focused company amongst the top ones in ceramic industry and prides itself in providing innovative products and solution to Indian customer. They also make the process of the tile selection and purchase easier by providing several display points and innovative & interactive computer tools like “tile-styles' i-pad application and online e-showroom on their website. While Orient and Bell represent the best in Indian manufactured tiles, Orient International brings the latest in imported tiles from Europe and Asia.
OBL now provide customers across the country easy access to products manufactured from three modern and integrated plants with eight state-of-the-art digital printing machine imported from Europe and installed across three different parts of India – North (Sikandarabad), South (Hoskote – Bangalore) and West (Dora – Vadodra). This large production capacity of close to 30 million square meters of tiles from three plants together gives customers the ease of buying tiles anywhere in the country in any quantity at short notice.
It’s the only tile company in the world with highest number of patented products. OBL has achieved the unique distinction of filing maximum number of patents in the tile industry. The introductions of a major innovative technological breakthrough are Forever Tiles (FT), Germfree Tiles (GFT) and Cool Tiles.
Forever tiles (300x300 mm ; 400x400 mm ; 148x600 mm ; 600x600 mm) are porcelain floor tiles with 40% higher* abrasion and scratch resistance than other brands which means durable floors that continue to look good for a very long time. These Tiles also have 50% lower water absorption and higher mor compared to other tile in same category. (for more info please visit us at www.forevertiles.com)
Germfree tiles (available in all size and in digital print too) are not only beautiful, functional, cost effective but also take care of family health. Bacteria kill rate of more than 99.5%.Germfree Tiles are also tested by Indian, British & Italian laboratory for safety and proven to be safer than even ceramic cookware. Orient Bell patent pending technology discourages the antimicrobial activity in ceramic glaze coating. For today’s health conscious consumers, orient’s are perfect life style fit to protect family health 24 hours. (For more info please visit us at www.germfreetiles.com)
Cool tiles (exterior tiles 200x200 mm ; 200x300 mm ; 300x300 mm) it is one of the unique tile in tile industry which can reflect most of solar heat and this unique collection only available, developed & patented by OBL in India.
OBL-Digital Tiles
Driven by consumer trends and retailer demands, Orient offers plethora of digital products and designs which are available in different sizes like 300x600mm, 300x450mm, 300x300 mm, 245x325 mm, 224x448 mm, 600x600 mm, 800x800 mm, 600x1200 mm and many more sizes to come.
Designed in Spain made in India
For centuries, the art of ceramic design and development has centered in Europe. Whether reproduction nuances of stone & slate, or replicating the veins & colour combinations of marble slabs, European artists have constantly used the ceramic medium, including tiles, to transport the mystique & beauty of nature to living and working spaces.
The OBL design studio is located in Castellon, Spain’s hub of ceramic tile design & development. This is where OBL’s chief product & solution designer Ms. Maria Jose Castillo & her team conceptualize and translate decor dreams into reality on the ceramic medium.
New Products
To know the recent market trends prevailing in the flooring industry, Built Expressions spoke to Mr. Vijay Shankar Sharma, CEO - Orient Bell Ltd. Mr. Sharma says, "Digital Glazed matt and Digital Polished Glazed products are recently launched in Indian flooring industry. OBL has launched such tiles in 600*600 mm, 800*800 mm, 600*1200 mm sizes, with dual patent pending technologies called Forever Tiles, a technology that give tile surface immense scratch and strain resistance than other brands which means durable floors continue to look good for a very long time. These Tiles have 50% lower water absorption and higher more compared to other tile in the same category. Germ Free tiles kill more than 99.5% disease causing bacteria while being safer to human beings than ceramic cookware."
Creating Visibility
Considering the intense competition in the flooring market, OBL have been participating in all tile exhibitions across the country, investing in research and creating tools for consumers, architects and interior designers to visualize home spaces. To make the process of tile selection easier OBL provides online tool application called "Tile- Styles catalogue" for i-pad which can be downloaded from Apple store. The application helps selection of tiles and its visualisation. The tiles and ambiance can also be saved or emailed for records or enquiry.
OBL will be launching a unique toll free service from January 1, 2013 called "Tiles Talk" to provide education to general public and answer any specific queries of architects or interior designer on 1800 208 1015.
Share a unique visualisation software is offered by OBL using which customer and dealers can see how any combination of wall and floor tiles will look in bathroom, kitchen, living room, bed room and so on. This software can be downloaded and run it offline.
For more information, please log on to www.orientbell.com/orient/eshowroom ; www.orientbell.com/bell/eshowroom.
Infusing Newer Technologies
When asked Mr. Sharma about the latest technology available in the flooring industry he says, "Apart from digital printing which is the latest trend in India, OBL has been pioneered in creating various patent pending technologies and will be marketing the technology aggressively to create consumer awareness. In Digital Printing, OBL has acquired the latest machines that can apply advanced materials like reactive and metallic ink other than normal inks on tiles and create customized designs."
Green Flooring
With growing awareness and need for Green technology the market for green flooring product is set to see a rise in coming months and years. Sharing his views on the green flooring products Mr. Sharma says, "The current status of consumer awareness about green products is relatively low. OBL is a pioneer in taking green initiatives. We are the only tile company in the country that has received carbon credits for saving more than 45000 tons of CO2 emissions. We also use a significant amount of recycled material in manufacturing tiles. We do not discharge any waste water outside our plants as we use the same water after reprocessing to maintain the extensive plantation within our plants. We have also recently filed for a patent for green technology called 'COOL TILES'."
Cool tiles reflect a significant amount of solar heat back in to the atmosphere, thereby, keeping building cooler during summers and warmer during winters. This helps in reducing air conditioning or heating needs which in turn saves burning of fossil fuel and emission of harmful CFC gases in atmosphere. Cool tiles (exterior tiles 200x200 mm; 200x300 mm; 300x300 mm) are a unique collection available, developed & patented by OBL in India.
Vision for New Dawns
Briefing about his plans for the coming few years, Mr. Sharma concludes, "Our vision is to be amongst the top 3 companies till 2015. Our strategy is to invest in research, digital printing and offer more products and solutions to our retails and project customers in both the brands. We plan to open our 100 Orient Tile Boutiques and Bell Tile Boutiques in coming 6 months to enhance our market visibility and offer a richer consumer experience."
Mr. Vijay Shankar Sharma, Chief Executive Officer
| Mr. Vijay Shankar Sharma is an all India rank holder Charted Accountant with approximately 20 years of distinguished career in leading MNCs like ICI India, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Idea Cellular and Vodafone. His previous organization was Vodafone, the largest telecom company in the world. He was heading a team of nearly 100 professionals as CFO of Vodafone Karnataka and was responsible for Corporate Finance functions at Vodafone Essar South Ltd. |
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Mr. Sharma joined OCIL as CFO in early 2008. His vision has been to make Orient a leader in the industry based on product quality, ethical business practice and customer satisfaction. He has implemented world class systems in the company in various fields. After taking charge of procurement and logistics and implementing many innovative and path breaking solutions, in 2009-10, Mr. Sharma was also given charge of Sales and Marketing in H2 of 2010-11. He was instrumental in acquiring Bell Ceramics Limited, making the Orient Ceramics group the company having the largest own manufacturing capacity in the industry and the only one to have plants in north, West and South. Bell Ceramics is a perfect strategic fit to Orient and will enable the group to achieve a lot more than they could have done individually.
Recognizing his multi faceted role and potential, Mr. Sharma was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer from April 2011. He has identified brand building and improved product distribution as the major focus areas of the company. With the new brand strategy that includes outdoor displays, product display centers, online initiatives on Facebook and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives like Kill Civil Evil and online tools for customer and influencers like Tile-style catalogue application on I-pad, e showroom software on orientbell.com and Toll free service for customer & influencers called 'Tiles Talk' the brand popularity and recognition has visibly gone up.
He has defined organization's core values of Integrity, Quality, Customers, Agility, Partners and Performance which are followed by all employees. These values help define an organization’s basic fabric and help it move towards its organizational goals in unison.
Website: www.orientbell.com
Tel: +91-11-47119100-200