Web exclusive: It's all in the mind

Aasif. A. Khan, Director of Fabtech Technologies International Pvt Ltd has over 22 years of business experience, He started his business with Fabtech in Mumbai in 1999. Starting modest with a 1,000 sq ft rented facility manufacturing unit, Aasif expanded rapidly and today his production facility is an expansive 1-lakh sq ft, equipped with machines from Europe and Japan.

Initially Khan started his company with a product known as laminar airflow units (LAF) for exports, and gradually moved on to domestic market with modular prefab partitions. His grandparents migrated from Pakistan during the Partition. It was Aasif’s dream to tap the Indian market for modular prefab partitions, especially after his visit to an American maker of panels in Syracuse, New York in 1991.

Innovations, he says, comes is driven by inspiration. When we caught up with him at his head office in Mumbai, he was in his effacing self. Though his product can make a remarkable change in all kinds of construction, be it resi, commercial space or SEZs, the potential of the Indian market sent his team into a tizzy.

On the dynamics of the Indian marketplace:

I was awarded 'Outstanding contribution to engineering industry' by Chemtech in 2008. I was also a managing committee member of the Indian Pharma Machinery Manufacturers Association. I strongly believe expansion and exploration, and the subsequent diversification in various verticals of business can help in creating a forte in the market. This, in return, brings global recognition.

In India the most suitable way is to grow organically with no alliances or joint ventures. I can also sell internationally without any market restrictions. My vision is to establish Fabtech as the preferred partner of choice for any construction and engineering need internationally.

I was hugely inspired by the Late Dhirubhai Ambani. Fabtech Technologies International Pvt. Ltd. designs and builds Pharmaceutical & Biotech facilities internationally. In 14 years, Fabtech has executed more than 75 projects spread across 20 countries.


On Fabtech’s innovation thrust:

I am a first generation entrepreneur. When setting up the country's largest manufacturer of modular prefabricated panels, I knew my company will have the first mover advantage in being a leading player in the Indian Cleanrooms market for modular panels and doors with a 25 per cent market share. We have established business in West Asia, the Persian Gulf and Africa and Afro-Arab countries, with certification from Warrington Fire.

Fabtech has forged alliances in the US, Europe, Latin America and South Africa to make a footprint in these territories. With Bio safety labs, Modular Prefab Pre engineering internal walls, and Isolation systems, we aim be ‘a Specialist construction company’. For this, Fabtech aspires to get into the outer box (external construction) segment.

We are headquartered in Mumbai with a manufacturing facility at Umbergaon, Valsad Gujarat, it is a fully integrated manufacturing facility, with an installed capacity of around 100,000 sq mts of modular panels and doors for pharmaceutical and allied markets.

Fabtech has built infrastructure to manufacture pre-fabricated and pre-engineered modular panels (inner construction), isolation and containment solutions and clean air equipment including sterilizing tunnels which it supplies in the Indian and international market.

Sterling Construction has patented a new construction technique, which basically uses pre-engineered custom made work systems consisting of modular wall panels, used in construction of buildings. This is a dry construction technique, which reduces time and cost significantly.

Fabtech technologies has tied up with Sterling construction and Development Corporation to form a joint venture named Fabtech Sterling Building Technologies (FSTB). Fabtech and Sterling FSBT has been given exclusive franchisee by Sterling to utilize this technique in India, West Asia, GCC, Persian Gulf and Africa region for residential, commercial ,industrial construction.

Our clientele include Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, Sanofi, Aventis, GSK, Baxter, Becton Dickinson, Ranbaxy, Dr.Reddy’s, Aurobindo, Bosch, Terumo Penpol, Proctor&Gamble, Volkswagen to name a few.

Fabtech will hold 77 per cent in the joint venture. FSBT shall sub franchise this technology (tech know-how, supplying production plant, manpower training to produce panels). FSBT will charge royalty on the revenue generated by the sub franchisee)


On the new technology called Plaswall:

Fabtech Sterling Building Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (FSBT),, a joint venture between Fabtech Technologies International Pvt. Ltd. and Sterling Construction and Development Corporation, introduced Plaswall in the Indian market recently for a very specific prupose.

The technology is essentially about easy build-construction technique that is proven its credentials in Philippines, Australia and West Asia. Homes built using Plaswall promise to be better, safer, highly durable and more energy efficient.

According to a United Nations Habitat report, 3-billion people will require homes over the next 24 years. Getting down to essentials, the requirement becomes construction of 300 homes every five minutes, the world over. A large portion of this need stems in our country. We have been celebrating the boom of the construction industry for some time now. It is time we realized the need is far bigger than our present technology.

The use of Plaswall will bring down the time of construction, save costs, and provide a better, safer, highly durable and more energy efficient option than the present technologies available in India.

The Construction Industry is one of the most vibrant and fast-growing industries in
India and responds to challenges faster and better than most. To help it meet the mounting need of delivering faster and better quality, we aim to help replace costly aluminum and plywood frameworks.

This exceptional technology of Plaswall produces a completely load bearing wall when rendered. With the economies of scale, this technology is low cost. Plaswall is easy to transport, and the production facility can be assembled at the construction site itself. This, coupled with the fact that due to the very nature of the product, wastage and pilferage is reduced to a minimum. Many of our customers ahev told us that the savings make Plaswall the preferred construction technique.

The production process of Plaswall is also green, with the fibre-cement manufacturing process barely creating any industrial dust, dirt and oil. The production also uses the pulp from farmed trees, which means that no green forest covers are sacrificed or harmed in the process. HIMI Spacers are also manufactured from 100 per cent recycled plastic. During several stages in the production process, the water is reused and recycled, and also to all stages and materials used in the process. As a responsible member of IGBC, FSBT has certain policies to be followed within the organization after recognizing the impact (both negative and positive) that daily activities can have on the environment.

We are keen to promote the use of faster technologies that are green, effective which
would meet the nation’s need for housing. Plaswall is suitable for all types of construction, right from small housing projects, to villas, to commercial structures. Its clean building system is the fastest and the cleanest concrete walling system in the market, ideal for both warm climates and for insulation in cold temperatures as
well.

Additionally, FSBT provides training, services and support at the construction sites, to ensure efficient handling of this technology. It has been approved by AITECH - Accreditation of Indigenous Technologies for Housing, a Committee tasked to evaluate and accredit various innovative technologies/systems for housing.