Elite Paints: Best in the business

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TBS Report
14 September, 2023, 12:55 pm
Last modified: 14 September, 2023, 05:05 pm
Elite Paint's dedication to quality and innovative solutions has allowed it to gain the trust of thousands of users all over the country

"The best product has the best story." - For Elite Paints, it all started under the guidance of their founder and chairman, the late Serajuddin Ahmed, in 1952. From a small manufacturing base, modest capital and simple machinery right from the start, Late Seraj's dedication, hard work and attention to detail allowed Elite Paints to flourish and become a household name in the industry. 

After his untimely and sad passing in 1985, his two sons, Feroz Ahmed and Salim Ahmed, are now heading the organisation as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. Feroz's two sons, Rabez Ahmed and Rahil Ahmed and  Salim's only son, Shajir Ahmed, are the three directors who are now carrying the flag of their family legacy and striving to sustainably navigate the company to greater heights.

Elite Paint's primary aim was to prioritise customer satisfaction by delivering high-quality products at competitive prices. Over the years, this ethos, coupled with perceptive marketing campaigns, propelled Elite Paint to the top of the industry. Today, its operations have been set up all over the country. The state-of-the-art paint laboratory is home to highly qualified chemists and specialists constantly working to add new and innovative products to an attractive product line. 

The R&D department of Elite Paint is aware of the onslaught of weather. It understands this country's harsh environment better than anyone, which is reflected in the products created to suit every need and ensure the safeguarding of properties. Elite prides itself on the quality of its products and develops them before others.

Elite also started venturing into chemicals, considering the importance of their use by many companies. In 1991, a DOP unit (Dioctyl Phthalate) was established to supply electric cables, plastic and polymer products, and the leather and shoe industries as a general-purpose plasticiser. In 1997, the Honourable Vice Chairman of Elite Paint, Salim Ahmed CIP, became the proud founder of Super Refinery, the first private sector refinery in Bangladesh to locally manufacture mineral turpentine (MTT), a crucial raw material for making oil-based paint, industrial coatings, and thinners. 

Thanks to Super Refinery, there was no need to import any more MTT, as Super refinery is supplying all the local paint companies, saving the country huge amounts of foreign currency and creating hundreds of new jobs. In 1997, Elite Paint unveiled "Elite Colour World", later "Colourfest" for the first time in Bangladesh.

"Elite Care" division has several products to meet different solutions to solve construction problems with its flagship product, "Super Strength," which is already leading the market in 2019. In 2020, during the pandemic, the "one-day painting" service introduced to meet the necessity has now become a regular service.

Elite Paint's dedication to quality and innovative solutions has allowed it to gain the trust of thousands of users all over the country. By launching new ideas, products, and solutions to the market on a regular basis, the company tries to stay ahead of the curve, which is crucial in this day and age to fight against the multinationals that are its competitors. Today, the company is recognised for unleashing an industrial revolution in Bangladesh.

The thought of protecting valuable assets triggered Elite Paint to push the limits and go beyond providing only painting solutions. They launched "Elite Care", a complete range of construction chemicals that provides solutions to all problems stemming from poor finishing work. Super Strength, being the face of the range, is the only VOC-free concrete admixture in the country. The other superheroes in this range are Super Seal, 3-in-1 Putty Mix, Salt Seal, Water Reducer, Super Plaster 2K, and Super Latex. These products help ensure that buildings are well protected from problems such as dampness, cracks, water leaks, and any kind of concrete-related damage.

A new service, known as One Day Painting, which is the first of its kind, as the name mentions, is now being offered by Elite to apartment owners so that they do not need to take time out of their valuable schedules to look after the paintwork in their homes. A team goes into the apartment with all the equipment and completes the repainting job within 24 hours. The apartment owner finds their place exactly as it was before, but without having to go through all the hassle of colouring their homes.

One of our proudest moments occurred during the midst of the pandemic, with Elite Paint joining hands with Transocean Coatings to manufacture internationally certified high-performance industrial and marine coatings in Bangladesh. Transocean Coatings, a Netherlands-based company with the famous "smiling dolphin" as its trademark, has a strong presence in 60 countries all across the globe with a strong focus on marine, protective, and industrial coatings. 

In view of this collaboration, Elite Paint will be entitled to manufacture locally 250 global standard marine, protective, and industrial coatings certified by renowned class certifying societies. The journey will start with manufacturing class-certified primers, tie coats, and antifouling products for the underwater parts of ocean-going vessels. Transocean Coating will also help Elite Paint build up world-class service support for the specialised coating segments in Bangladesh.

Elite Paint is adaptive in the face of adversity and more prone to making changes as they fit on the go. During the pandemic, in order to come to community aid, they manufactured hand sanitisers and donated a lot, helping to address the crisis. They even placed several hand-washing booths and points throughout the country. Applicator promotions include painter meets, shop meets, and seminars to demonstrate and educate applicators on products and the application process, training programmers, and certifications for painters on newly launched products that use tokens or scratch cards. Among these, passbooks and tokens have been the most lucrative promotional tools for them. 

Most of the painters and contractors are covered by these promotions. Painter meets and shop meets are held to introduce new products, and regular, detailed user guides and manuals are provided. In the last three years, Elite Paint has trained more than 45K union-level painters and organised CPD for engineers in government sectors to supervise painting works and their effectiveness.

Elite Paint and Chemical Industries is considered the best in the business. It is a thriving enterprise, always striving to win through its services, and is proud to offer good value for money through its wide range of products aimed at a wide range of consumer needs. Elite Paint brought many "First of Firsts" products to Bangladesh and will continue to bring new innovative lines of yield, adding value to Bangladesh's thriving economy.

 

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