Manufacturing Headers, Pallets, Pipe Products. 1983:
Dec 23rd, in Richmond, Virginia decision was made by the ‘Giri Brothers” to start a business. Mr. Kiran P.
Giri, a Mechanical Engineering graduate was assigned the task.
1984:
Giri Consultants, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Virginia. Decision was made to pursue foundry products, both raw castings and fully machined castings from India. Company executed several contracts for products made from alloy steel, stainless steels, ductile and grey iron materials.
1985:
Company moved their operations
to Kansas City. The Company was only a marketing Company relying on producers in India to support their operations in Kansas City. This became increasingly difficult as vendors were unable to deliver quality products on time. This began having a negative impact on the Company‘s reputation in the USA market. Company changed direction with a decision to market only products where the Company had control on all aspects of production, quality and delivery. This decision paved the way for "Construction Castings Division" of the Company to take shape. All products used by municipalities within Kansas City Metro were identified, drawings made and approvals obtained from the respective Cities. The Company then began marketing products to Cities and private developers of real estate. Five hundred square feet of warehouse space was leased, an exclusive tie up with a foundry in India was made and products were imported.
1987:
The construction castings were being marketed under the name of Giri Consultants and the product was being marketed under the trade name of “GCI”. In 1987, In an effort to bring the name of the Company synonymous with the products sold, a Company named "GCI Castings, Inc." was incorporated in the State of Kansas. In an effort to keep the overheads low, the business was run out of the residence. There were no employees.
1988 - 1998:
Business began to gain steam and in 1988, a regular office was established and the first employee was added. In the initial years, Mr. Giri oversaw both quality of products before shipment from India and also sales. Over the next 15 years the company grew and extended markets to include a six state area around Kansas City. The warehouse operations grew from 400 to 20,000 square feet. By 1998, the Company employed 7 employees including sales personnel, a Sales Manager, warehousing personal, administrative personnel.
1992:
GCI successfully developed the first Pallet for a customer in Kansas. GCI made its first appearance in the Concrete Pipe industry by participating in its first trade show organized by the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) in Dallas. The show was truly a success. After the show, GCI received its first major orders for Pallets and headers from The Hawkeye Group for a project in Republic of Korea. Even though no infrastructure or employees were in place, GCI still delivered the products to the satisfaction of the customer.
1993:
On 29th January, GCI EXPORTS PRIVATE LIMITED was registered in State of Karnataka, India. A 300 square feet office was rented and GCI (INDIA) added its first employee. Orders were flowing in and all jobs were outsourced including packing and shipping. The Hawkeye Group still remained the single largest customer for GCI. The Cretex Companies, one of the largest producers of concrete pipes in the Midwest, placed their first order with GCI.
1994:
On October 24, 1994, GCI Exports purchased a 5000 Square feet manufacturing building, purchase 2 CNC machines and started machining its components. The employee strength grew to increased from to 10. The sales of construction castings and pallets and headers were divided. In May, GCI PIPE PRODUCTS, INC., was incorporated in the State of Kansas, USA. This Company was responsible for all sales of Pallets and Headers.
1995 – 1998:
GCI PIPE PRODUCTS, INC:
These 3 years was a phase of rapid growth. Inquiries from domestic Companies within USA started growing. The Hawkeye Group did not want GCI to do business in USA and threatened to stop doing business with GCI. Giri made a decision to break away from The Hawkeye Group and create his own customer base. Almost 100% of The Cretex Companies business was given to GCI. The customer base swelled from 1 to over 30 during this phase. GCI CASTINGS, INC. Sales of Construction Castings also grew. The Company grew out of Kansas City Metro and began selling products in Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas in the Mid West. The Company rented a 2000 square feet office with over 5000 square feet warehouse. The pressure was on GCI to keep pace with the growth and provide the sales and support services. A Sales Manager, 2 sales persons, one warehouse manager and one Office Administrator was appointed. Sales went up by over 100%. GCI EXPORTS PRIVATE LIMITED
The increase in customer base in USA also created a back pressure on this Company. A pattern shop was established in order to maintain delivery times. Two more CNC machines were purchased. Employee strength grew to 22. These additional machines and employees created a space constraint. Further expansion at this location was ruled out. GCI now acquired 2-1/2 acres of industrial land in Jigani Industrial Area, in South Bangalore, and began construction of a new facility.
1999:
GCI CASTINGS, INC. A need for a permanent office cm warehouse became critical, since the warehouse at any point of time had several hundred thousand pounds of castings in the yard. So in 1999, two acres of land was purchased in Bonner Springs, a part of Kansas City Metro, GCI finally had a permanent home where all its Companies were able to consolidate their operations. A 2500 square feel office, with 75000 square of storage space was built. The office houses both Companies
GCI EXPORTS PRIVATE LIMITED: 2-1/2 Acres of land was purchased at Jigani Industrial Area in South Bangalore as part of an expansion program.
2001 – 2004:
January 1st, GCI EXPORTS PRIVATE LIITED moved into their brand new facility with was built on 2-1/2 acres of land with 15000 square feet manufacturing building and a 5000 square feet office building in Jigani Industrial Estate in South Bangalore. Another 6 CNC machines, including 2 numbers of 3 axes horizontal machining enters, were purchased to keep up with the increasing demand.
2004:
In the last phase of the backward integration, GCI Group of Companies made the decision to start its own captive foundry. It had already bought over 4-1/2 acres of property about a block behind GCI Exports. This decision gave birth to GCI CASTINGS (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED. The initial setup for the foundry included a batch mixer, induction melting furnace. It employed the 3 part no bake system. The first trial production was made on 09/09/04.
2006:
GCI CASTINGS (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED
The foundry settled down and over come it initial teething problems and stabilized production. The foundry was modernized by importing a complete no-bake system from IMF, Italy. It included a 10 MT/hr sand reclamation plant, a 20 MT/Hr continuous mixer, and a 2M x 2M compaction table. Furon was the choice for the binder. Production increased from 75 Mt to 159 MT. The foundry was made an independent profit center which enabled it to develop products for other industrial users.
2007:
GCI in India started experiencing a very high call volume with requests for information on manufacture of concrete pipes using the dry cast method. GCI began referring all such queries to machinery manufacturers overseas. The pressure on GCI to enter the Pipe Machinery market began increasing and the requests were numerous. So in mid 2007 GCI decided to enter the Pipe Machinery Market. It went into a loosely held relationship with Schlosser-Pfeiffer in Germany and began quoting Pipe machinery for the domestic market. The relationship with Schlosser-Pfeiffer (A division of The Hess Corporation) was based entirely on mutual trust and respect for one another. Based on this strength, GCI participated in the first domestic trade show catering for Construction machinery called EXCON 2007, in November at Bangalore. It was a great success as GCI was flooded with inquiries.
2008:
While USA and other western countries entered the recessionary face, the Indian economy also started slowing down. Several potential customers made a conscious decision to defer project with a ‘wait and see’ attitude. However, in late August, GCI/Schlosser-Pfeiffer combination received its first order for a Dry Cast Pipe Plant in India. Delivery was set for December 2008. Work started feverously and GCI had a number of hurdles to overcome. It had to combine the dual task of learning and manufacturing at the same time. Engineers at GCI stepped up to the plate and the product was dispatched as per schedule in December 2008. GCI also participated in a trade show in Hyderabad called 'COMEX 2008'. This was a show catering exclusively for construction machinery. GCI was awarded the ‘BEST DISPLAY AWARD’ at the show.
2009:
Installation was completed and on Sunday, January 18th, the first concrete pipe was made successfully. No problems were encountered and the product stripped without any problems. GCI/Schlosser-Pfeiffer had their first satisfied customer in India. Truly a milestone for GCI.
