vineet - factory vist

Yesterday’s factory visit was a real eye opener for all of us, as we came face to face with the practicalities and limitations regarding mass production and while working with a medium. On the other hand I also realized the various possibilities that can be worked upon on one or more than one material.

Our first visit was to an Aluminium sheet manufacturing unit in Sudershanpura industrial area. The raw material for the unit was aluminium scrap (utensils, bus bodies, wires etc) collected from traders all over the city. Bauxite (aluminium ore) is used only by bigger factories like Hindalco etc. The sheets they produced of thickness 1mm to 3mm were supplied to utensil making units where bowls and pressure cookers are made from aluminium sheets.

The scrap metal was first melted in an air blasted oil( highly viscous oil) fired furnace. Pure metal is extracted by oxidation process, in which the oxidized impurities are bubbled up. A quenching chemical, (cover flux , Salts + ZnO)is added to the metal for faster oxidation of impurities, which are collected from the surface of the molten metal.

The pure metal is then poured in cast iron book moulds so that we get rectangular blocks of pure aluminium. These blocks are then sent for hot rolling to form sheets. When cold these sheets are again rolled (cold rolling) to get the required thickness, in 30 hp roller machines.

When the desired thickness is achieved the sheets are then cut to size as rectangles, squares or circles.

Since rolling hardens the metal and it becomes very stiff, the metal sheet are sent for annihilation , in another furnace where indirect heat is applied till the temperature is maintained at 400 degree C and the metal becomes more flexible.

Mr.Rajendra Singh, the owner of this aluminum unit, also showed us another machinery manufacturing unit nearby for the continuous casting of aluminium, which was originally devised in Italy by Mr.Propergene.

Next we visited Mr.Sameer Wheaton’s Wood processing unit. Though the manufacturing units of his firm are in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore the raw material is processed here. The logs of wood brought here are cut into huge slabs and then seasoned in the seasoning chamber for 15 days. It is an air tight insulated chamber with blowers on two sides for the moisture in the wood to dry out (15-20 lts. drained out everyday). Usually it costs about 17-18 lacs, but the one there was a cheaper but efficient one. Though their production is low quantity wise (300-400 chairs per month), but they are high on quality.

Their unit had less manpower but they were well equipped with the latest machinery.

All the machines ( Wadkin) were imported from U.K. Few of the machines that we were shown were

• Pneumatic multiple boring machine – More than one hole at a time (with standard distances).
• Four sided planer – planes all 4 sides of a plank at once.
• Spindle moulder-- works from top to bottom for planing curved surfaces.
• Router – For making grooves , works from top to bottom.
• Panel saw – For cutting more than one planks together, or cutting wood at an angle (chamfer)

All machines worked with digital precision and all had saw dust suction mechanism, so that the workplace remained clean and the workers don’t inhale too much of saw dust.

The unit also had a tool shop where machinery was repaired regularly to maintain speedy production.

He also showed us his design studio and a few of his products which he tested for shelf life simultaneously. Apart from wood he had experimented with metal, stone, leather, bone and semi precious stones too.

We also went to two units which manufactured small plastic parts.

One of them was a submersible Water pump manufacturing unit belonging to Mr.Y. S .Bhati. Pastic granules were being injection moulded (at 80 degree C) by hand for small parts of the pump. The plastics being used by them were Nylon 66 (non recyclable), Delrine (non wearing plastic) , ABS plastic (opaque) and Poly carbonate (transparent).

We all really enjoyed the day, I specifically enjoyed the wood processing unit. It was very well managed and organized. Even with less manpower it was very efficient as they had invested in the best machinery to produce products high on quality. They also had a very strong design team which caters the export market.