Conventional materials used for packing are wood, polythene sheets or shrouds, bitumen paper or Hessian cloth, silica gel, etc. These traditional products may be adequate for packing many products. But, surely not the engineering products. Many exporters of engineering goods experienced problems of rusting, after using these packing materials, as each one of these materials leads to rusting/corrosion of the machineries and equipments packed. Some of the shortcomings of conventional packing materials are enumerated below.

Almost all kinds of unseasoned wood are found to release acetic/formic acid fumes under hot and humid conditions, which is the case during the sea journey and rainy season. Naturally, these acidic fumes spread inside the pack leading to corrosion. Wet wood is also susceptible to the growth of fungus and vermin.

Bituminised Hessian cloth tears during transit. At temperatures above 40°C, the tar, coated to the cloth melts and seeps through the punctured area and deposits on the packed component. There is always the chance of moisture and other pollutants also seeping inside. Needless to say, Hessian cloth being of an organic fibre is prone to fungus attacks, as it retains moisture for a long period. All this leads to the damage of the packed components.

Silica Gel works on the principle of absorption. Given quantity of Silica Gel can absorb a given quantity of moisture. Excess ingress of moisture obviously doesn’t get absorbed, as Silica Gel is fully saturated. The unabsorbed moisture then deposits directly on the components causing rust. To increase absorption capacity of Silica Gel, it needs to be heated to about 150 Deg. C. in an oven, which is seldom done. Silica Gel also has a tendency to release the absorbed moisture back in to the package, which again increases the humidity level within the packing. In excess humid conditions and due to diurnal change, Silica Gel also hydrolyse and turns acidic in nature. During sea voyages, the absorbed moisture becomes acidic and re-deposits on the metal surface on condensation. All these become reasons for heavy rusting on machined as well as plated surfaces of components. Often painted surfaces also develop blisters. The corrosion is particularly pronounced in areas, where the Silica Gel pouch comes in direct contact with the metal surface.

An idea towards a real solution took root in the mid 60’s when a mechanical engineer working for an Indo-Swedish bearing firm made an interesting observation. He came across bearings with no oil application that were directly imported from America without a spot of rust. They came wrapped in a certain paper that looked pretty much like any wrapping paper. He traced the source of the paper and began acquiring information on patents that swere available. The paper was impregnated with chemicals that had properties to protect metals from corrosion. Thus was born the concept of VCI packaging in India and the engineer who made it happen was J S Betrabet.

Mr Betrabet began his career with Tata Chemicals in Mithapur where he was involved with setting up infrastructure indigenously to double the plant capacity. The job gave him the valuable experience in fabrication of chemical plants. In his next job, he was associated with an Indo-Swedish bearing corporation where he made his novel observation, which inspired his vision. Over the past few years, he had established his personal credibility with his customers who supported him by giving him their business.

Drawing on inspiration from this breakthrough, his son-in-law, Mr Prabhakar Rao Bantwal focused his efforts on transcending this novel concept into specific industrial applications through a wide range of products. Under the name of Suprabha Protective Products Pvt. Ltd., he developed products that would include Surface Treatment Liquids, Rust Preventive Oils and Water-based Liquids, Desiccants, Barrier Material for Packaging and Sealing, as well as a liquid for protection of the wooden cases. He believed that metal components needed to be protected at each stage as they are under constant attack of corrosion and thus the concept of ‘Life Cycle Protection of Components’ took shape.