Technology adaptation to enable cost efficient manufacturing

By OEM Update Editorial June 9, 2022 6:34 pm IST

Any technology that will help increase productivity such as welding robots, special purpose machines and innovative welding technologies will see a sharp growth.

Talking about automation Nimesh Chinoy, Marketing Director, Electronics Devices WorldWide Pvt. Ltd., says, welding on shop floor can be monitored from central server. 

Innovative trends impacting welding automation systems

 Key hole Tig is an excellent process for speeding up TIG Welding application. SigmaWeld Accelerated TIG (S.W.A.T) is an Key hole TIG variant developed to be used on Automated Systems for Square Butt zero root gap welding of critical material such as Titanium, Stainless Steel, Nickel Alloy, Cobalt Alloys etc. It helps weld up to 8mm Thickness in single pass without the need of any edge preparation. This is an Automated solution can be used in conjunction with existing automated solution such as Column & Boom, Seamers or Robots. Laser based Key Hole Welding is another trend used for high speed production along with robotics.

Manufacturing with Industry 4.0/ 5.0 to optimize production 

Industry 4.0 or 5.0 in Indian sense it is more to do with data monitoring and analysis. Once the data is available about the number of machines being used the time for which they are used, the parameters at which they were used; the welder information who welded, what was his qualifications etc and TPM data such as why was the machine not in use. The analysis of this data offers a great deal of insight into resource management, utility and expansion needs. It also allows the end users to take an informed decision based on actual utility of resources.

There is also the quality aspect which is taken care. As the system monitors the parameters in which the welding was done, the WPS is more likely to be followed even by the contractual employee. It can further be integrated in a way where the welding parameters are decided by the supervisor and allocated to the welder. When the welder logs in, his parameters are predetermined by the equipment and deviations not allowed. The complete welding happening on the shop floor can be monitored from the central server anywhere.

Any technology that will help increase productivity such as welding robots,special purpose machines and innovative welding technologies will see a sharp growth. India has a good scope to compete with China in manufactured goods, if we are able to compete with their delivery periods. Pricing will not be too much of a concern as much as delivery periods. To enhance efficiency at manufacturing more and more automation and innovative technologies will be used. As technology adaptation increases the cost of the same shall also come down.

Considering the growth in various Infrastructure projects, Welding Consumables market is expected to grow exponentially in coming years For Stainless steel, Titanium and other exotic materials SigmaWeld has developed S.W.A.T ( SigmaWeld Accelerated Tig ); this helps make Tig welding process 10 times faster. This process allows square butt single pass welding. One of our customers is welding Nickel Alloy material of 6 meter length 6mm thickness within 15 mins. This would have taken at least 2 shifts to complete the edge preparation and welding. This kind of technology will help increase productivity, improve quality and reduce cost to become internationally competitive.

PLI may encourage Indian manufacturers to attract investments to ensure efficiency and cutting edge technology. Your opinion. 

The PLI scheme is very good and encourages Manufacturers with incentive to produce within India. It is great for upcoming sectors such as EV automotive and battery development. Other industries covered under PLI scheme as of now do not have much impact on welding sector. So far a total of about 13 industries are involved In the PLI scheme. This will have great impact on these industries and help meet the domestic capacity. It has a dual impact, first to reduce dependency on import and second to boost exports.

How are the smart factories evolving with AR and autonomous robotics welding implementation and welding cobots? 

India still has a long way to go with basic automation and integration of robotic welding and Cobots. This will help increase efficiency, productivity and reduce cost. Large scale adaptation is yet to happen. Over the past couple of years, we have seen lot of modernization of workshops in both public and private sector. People realize that if the automation can help increase through put and reduce cost, it will pay back for itself soon. AR and VR are playing a great role in training and maintenance. We have developed AR modules for helping our customers maintain and service our welding Equipment’s without the need of a trained manpower. We have also expanded this to help adapt change parts by customers in our automation systems. This helps a lot when you are exporting. Our customers today can easily install and maintain our products using AR and VR technology implementation.

Foreign collaboration and tie-ups lead to expansion of manufacturing units’ capacity 

India is home to 1.3 billion people we are also in the growth phase as a country trying to reach the 5 trillion dollar economy. Many technologies needed to progress may not be available with us at the moment, however with each foreign collaboration and tie up initial technology adaptation happens and over the years this helps increase the use and hence need for production in the country. We have to learn, adapt and grow quickly as a country and manufacturing will play a vital role in this.