Ultra Tech launches mobile concrete testing lab

Ultra Tech Cement Ltd, part of the Aditya Birla group, is to commission mobile concrete testing laboratories in major towns as part of its marketing initiative to provide 'product plus services'.

Launching a mobile lab here, Balachandran Nair, senior executive of the company, said this was the third centre to be covered under the technical services network offering advices to small builders who want to verify the quality of cement being used in construction.

The company already has testing labs in Kochi, which provides value-added services like concrete cube testing facilities and training programmes for masons and site supervisor.

This apart, it also organises field visits for civil engineers, imparts education to individual house builders on the intricacies of building materials and construction and also responds to customer specific services.

The company plans to deploy mobile labs at Pondicherry, Coimbatore and Kozhikode in two months. The customer is expected to register before one week of concreting and the mobile lab would visit the site and provide the requisite tips on quality construction practices.

Every year, the company convenes masons meet in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, besides holding house builders meet frequently.

As regards recruitment of dealers, the company which has 650 stockiest in Tamil Nadu and about 200-plus in Kerala, plans to up these numbers to 1,000 and around 350 respectively over a period of two years, Nair said.