Gravis combines 6 flexible IBC firms into nationwide competitor

A private equity firm that rolled up a handful of different companies in the flexible intermediate bulk container business is now uniting those companies under one banner.

Gravis is the new name for six different firms owned by New Water Capital, replacing the previously independent Bulk Lift International, Bagwell Supply, Norwood Paper, BulkSak, JumboBag and Powertex.

Vishal Rao has been hired as CEO of the newly united Chicago-based company, which has a network of 18 locations in the United States and Canada. Most of those sites are warehouse and service facilities, but the company does make its own plastic container liners as well as operate two manufacturing plants.

Gravis makes container liners in both Houston and Rouses Point, N.Y., and paper-based slip sheets that are used to separate layers of product on pallets during transportation in Chicago. Rao estimated 80 percent of the company's overall sales come from plastic products.

FIBCs are typically used to transport larger quantities of dry goods and are designed to fit on pallets for transportation.

Combining forces under the Gravis banner gives the unified company a broader portfolio to serve clients and engineer new products. It's Rao's job to integrate the operations, create strategy for the combined firm and "put together these wonderful building blocks," he said.

"We do now have a broader portfolio of complementary products," Rao said. "What we have is legacy businesses that have been in these complementary business lines for decades. We have decades of product market expertise in a much broader portfolio of products. We can address a broader range of needs our customers might have."

Markets served include food and beverage, agriculture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other materials.

"We have both some manufacturing, some converting and a lot of distribution capabilities. I would say the core value add from a Gravis perspective is being able to engineer the solution," Rao said. Along with domestic suppliers, Gravis sources products from Mexico, China and India.

Gravis, Latin for 'heavy,' already is seeing more interest in larger corporations now that the company has combined to create a larger network of locations. "That scale helps you service large customers that have a dispersed manufacturing footprint," Rao said.

The company's current footprint includes two locations in Eastern and Western Canada as well as sites concentrated in the Southeast and Midwest in the United States. "The concentration is more where our customers are today," the CEO said. "We are developing the ability to build more warehousing."

New Water said Gravis is "North America's largest provider of engineered bulk transportation packaging solutions."